Troubador Publishing strana 10 z 16

Set against the turbulent backdrop of the early 20th century, this sweeping saga follows the intertwined fates of three families, bound by love, a terrible crime, and the scars of war.Squadron Leader Robert Banster, an RAF pilot, is deeply in love with Elizabeth, a beautiful young woman he met in 1937. Their marriage is blissful—until war shatters their world.During the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940, Robert is shot down over France and taken prisoner, enduring the brutal hardships of a German POW camp. But it is not enemy bullets that wound him most deeply—it is a letter from Elizabeth that plants seeds of doubt and heartbreak.Returning home, he faces the painful reality of a family that has changed during his absence, and the joyful reunion he dreamed of is tainted by guilt, suspicion, and unspoken resentment. Their once-loving marriage begins to crumble, leading to devastating consequences that leave Elizabeth alone and heartbroken, but just when she has given up on love, fate intervenes, offering her a second chance at happiness.

When Inspector King is challenged by a string of difficult cases, he and his team of detectives struggle to cope. Pressure mounts as he puts together a plan to catch a deranged misogynist striking fear in the Plymouth Barbican, to solve the mystery of a glamper found dead on the beach at Bovisand and identify the culprits of increasing dognapping across Devon. Will the predator ever be apprehended? Was the glamper murdered? Were the dognappers opportunist thieves or a gang operating across the county? And what will the inspector do when his emotional involvement with one of his team becomes a key factor in his plans for his future… Return to South Devon in The Barbican Predator, the fourth standalone story following Inspector King and his detective team.

Carla-Jane Lewis balances working in recruitment in the city with being a single-parent to her inquisitive seven-year-old son, Kasey. Having recently broken up with her long-term partner, she draws on the whims of her somewhat unhinged best friend, Julez, to help her to deal with the fallout. A chance encounter with the sultry, suave, impossibly attractive, successful businessman Michael Swain ends up being more than what Carla-Jane bargains for and has far-reaching consequences when she eventually decides to call him. Awakening within her a plethora of sleeping fantasies she didn’t know she harboured, Michael takes her on an inexplicable journey to a destination unimagined. Parallel to this, Carla-Jane must pluck from the past teachings and wisdoms of her beloved, late grandmother and her own integral necessities to navigate her way out of a mental prison she has, since a young age, been ensnared within. This daringly steamy page-turner explores the complexities and upshots of self-discovery and embodiment, interwoven with prickly themes of abuse and trauma around parenthood and childhood.

A Reluctant Memsahib shares the story of Isabel Richards, who travelled out to India in 1904 when her husband was appointed to the Viceroy’s Council. A lively correspondent with an eye for detail, and an ear for social nuance, Isabel wrote over 500 letters to her mother documenting her insights. This unique correspondence provides a ringside view of the key players and events over five years, which were amongst the most significant in the history of the British Raj with an impact still felt in India today. Isabel’s letters and diaries provide a totally fresh impression of the extraordinary way the Indian Empire conducted itself, Not having worked their way up the ladder of the Indian Civil Service, the young couple were totally unprepared for life at the very top echelons of the British Raj. Seen through the fresh eyes of a liberally educated, middle-class London woman, she offers a first-hand account of Curzon’s battles with the India Office and Kitchener, and the hugely negative impact he had on Indians, which strengthened demands for Independence and helped set India on the road to partition. She takes nothing for granted and describes frankly what she saw, most especially the extraordinary social demands her husband’s role imposed on her and her struggle to balance this with her expectations as a mother.

An exciting journey through aerial dog fights and naval battles of W.W.1, Washington high society and diamond mining in South Africa.Three brothers are growing up, after the unexpected death of their father, just before America enters the First World War. The youngest brother, Eddy, after finishing school, joins the R.F.C., sees action in northern France, is then seconded to the R.N.A.S. and send to East Africa to tackle the German cruiser, Königsberg. Gerald, the middle brother and an opportunist, marries the heiress of a social climbing neighbour in Washington DC to solve his financial problems when he no longer has his father´s support. Chadwick, the oldest, after the funeral in Scotland, takes his mother to their estate in South Africa. There he gets involved in diamond mining and meets Adelaide, the daughter of a neighbour, whom he marries, with tragic results. His mother returns to Washington and he then joins the Cape Squadron of the Royal Navy and is posted to Mafia Island, where he is reunited with Eddy.Fiction based on fact, the story develops with the three brothers playing a pivotal role in each others lives and the war in its separate parts.

1587. England is at war with Spain. The people of Devon wait in terror for King Philip of Spain’s mighty armada to unleash untold devastation on their land. Roberda, daughter of a French Huguenot leader, has been managing the Dartington estate in her estranged husband Gawen’s absence. She has gained the respect of the staff and tenants who now look to her to lead them through these dark times.Gawen’s unexpected return from Ireland, where he has been serving Queen Elizabeth, throws her world into turmoil. He joins the men of the west country, including his cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh, and his friend Sir Francis Drake, as they prepare to repel a Spanish invasion. Amidst musters and alarms, determined and resourceful Roberda rallies the women of Dartington. But, after their earlier differences, can she trust Gawen? Or should she heed the advice of her faithful French maid, Clotilde?Later Roberda will have to fight if she is to remain Mistress of Dartington Hall, and secure her children’s inheritance. Can she ever truly find fulfilment for herself?

Tessa is enjoying life as a librarian, but when she is made redundant, her partner Mark, encourages her to come and work in the City for a company which he is a director of. The move is a dramatic change for Tessa, who is soon immersed in a life of extravagance and socialising. The highlight of her career comes when she is made a director of the company. Out of the blue the company collapses, and Tessa and Mark face the possibility of corruption charges against them. The situation becomes even worse for Tessa when she discovers that an innocent act of compassion has caught up with her and she finds herself at the mercy of the law, with the threat of a prison sentence. Abandoned by friends, colleagues and the man she loves, Tessa wonders whether she will ever know happiness again. Intrigue and romance are blended together in this engaging story that will keep the readers guessing until the last page.

As a child, Emma develops a talent for equestrian sport. She follows her passion and moves from England to Canada to compete at the highest level. Over time though, her great success pales into insignificance next to the overwhelming suffering that she comes to experience in the most brutal forms of betrayal, rape and violence until eventually, when the opportunity arises, she moves to Belgium with her husband, in the hope of a new start. For a while, normality is restored. Everything appears to be fine – until they come to the realisation that there is a problem emerging within their family. Emma is increasingly troubled and challenged by the worrying traits that her eldest son is developing. She wonders why she encounters the dark side of men repeatedly. The situation worsens until one day, she despairs and reaches for their hunting rifle. It’s time for an intervention. Just as suffering can co-exist with triumph, sometimes there is hope in despair. An encounter with Death provides answers that allow Emma to better understand her existence. She comes to understand that her life is just one part of a much larger plan and that things tend to happen for a reason. She also discovers that she is right at the cusp of achieving that much-desired state of existence, equilibrium.

When the Second World War broke out, Miss Daisy Baker of Kingsbury County School reached out to every former scholar serving their country. Two hundred Old Kingsburians replied, sending five hundred letters between them. Those letters survive – and they are the subject of this book. To read the Letters to Miss Baker is to follow those former scholars as they trained, travelled, camped, fought, were imprisoned and died in the struggle to save democracy. They may have expected to spend their working lives in London or its environs and might never have travelled abroad. Yet, from 1939 to 1945, they found themselves bumping into each other in the most unlikely of places; fighting in brutal, historic battles, whether on the western front, in the deserts of North Africa or amid the melee of Italy; flying missions to bring destruction upon the enemy, the odds stacked against them, flailing frantically to free themselves from blazing planes; guarding the high seas, shelled, going down with their ship; huddled in secret, decoding messages, providing vital intelligence to the Forces; even ferrying a Prime Minister around. Letters to Miss Baker is a tribute to those Old Kingsburians and to their remarkable teacher.

Amid the Alien Corn is a vivid, stylishly written memoir that takes its narrator from the bewilderment of childhood and youth towards the unfolding of a mother’s secrets, long suspected from a pervasive sense of something missing at the heart of his family. The book charts the journey from personal and political disorientation in apartheid Cape Town to professional fulfilment in Britain, where the discovery of an identity framed by the author’s commitment to literary study prompts a quest to explore the relationship between the individual and their times. To understand the roots of his mother Ruth’s emotional detachment, the writer pursues the truth about a family entwined within the systems of oppression that devastated the lives of Black Africans and European Jews throughout the 20th century.

Battles, Boudoirs & Bedsports. Glory Beckons, the first of a two-part series, is set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and drawn from real-life accounts. This action-packed character driven epic follows three very different men, whose lives become entwined from the moment Napoleon crowns himself Emperor, to the eve of his ill-fated Russian campaign.Michel Ney: Napoleon’s “Bravest of the Brave”, legendary Marshal of France, with a fiery mistress who follows him through the chaos of war – while harbouring a secret that could bring down the Emperor himself.Sir Robert Wilson: A sharp-elbowed British General and diplomat, whose relentless hatred of Napoleon fuels a dangerous ambition to kill him.Michael Bruce: A dissolute Etonian playboy. Plucked from the erotic pleasures of the Grand Tour and thrown unwillingly into the maelstrom of Europe’s greatest conflict.The fate of Europe is at stake, as well as love, honour and survival, but above all Glory. All dictated by the insatiable ambition, iconoclasm and ego of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The best stories are true stories Tehran, 1969. An Assyrian fortune teller, who is well-known for her accurate predictions, informs a young woman, Mahin, that she would soon meet a young man with blond hair and blue eyes and travel the world. John, a British Engineer, is posted on a temporary assignment to Iran to estimate the costs of one of the Shah’s most prestigious construction projects. Following his arrival, he receives an unexpected invitation to the races where he catches sight of a breathtakingly beautiful young woman sitting with her friends. To his utter astonishment she appears to be pointing at him! Stunned by her appearance, and bewildered by her attention, his heart is in his mouth. What follows is a remarkable true story of love, passion… and good fortune, set in pre-revolution Iran – a country of cosmopolitan glamour that could not be further from the Iran of today.

Love, loss and betrayal; the life of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York and mother of two kings. A beloved daughter who made a great dynastic marriage, Cecily Neville’s future was bright and promising. Changing fortunes saw her live through the Wars of The Roses between the Houses of York and Lancaster. During this time, she watched her husband, and four sons go to their graves amid the violence of fifteenth century England. She dedicated her life to her family and to God, but this was not enough to save them from treason and battle.Cecily was a woman of influence with royal blood, from whom all English and British monarchs now descend. She experienced tumult and heartbreak during her remarkable life but would only find her way back to her family in death.Renowned historical author Toni Mounts says ‘This poignant and well researched book is a delight to read for all lovers of history and family sagas, but keep the tissues handy because only those with the stoniest heart won’t require them. Rachel Di Placito knows her stuff and writes with great charm and deep feeling for her subject. A most enjoyable read.’

How do you identify a psychopath? That’s the question Dr Emilia Dalton, a young psychology academic, and her colleagues are trying to answer. When Emilia’s mentor and the head of the psychopathy lab at Burley Griffin University is murdered, all members of the lab are on high alert. When another member of the lab is murdered, it appears that staff at the lab are being targeted. Emilia is worried about her safety. She is supported by two of her colleagues, Harry Swinburne, and her best friend, Layla Simpson. Emilia and her colleagues suspect that Anders Karlsson, the new, ambitious head of the psychopathy lab, might have a compelling reason for the murders. Can the police find the murderer before anyone else is killed? And do the murders have anything to do with Emilia’s research? When the police fail to track down the murderer, Emilia takes matters into her own hands. The Psychopathy Project is an unforgettable love story, a whodunnit and a whydunnit. It is filled with twists and turns that will leave you reeling.

Mam gone. No Mam. No Mam’s house. Tom’s sister Emmy has almost become one of the family with Rachel, Beth and Alice. But learning-disabled Emmy lives with her fiercely protective mother. A mother who has let her own fears constrain Emmy’s life and made no attempt to prepare for Emmy’s future. Emmy is thirty-six when her mother dies, and their rigid home routine has left her unprepared for change. Walk with Emmy as she takes tentative, scary steps towards independence with support from Rachel and her friends. It takes a while, but Emmy finds that she has a role to play in other people’s lives. And discovers where she truly belongs. The author has a lifetime’s experience working with people like Emmy. He has walked alongside them as they journey towards empowerment and a sense of their own agency. Sometimes, the smallest steps are the most significant.

Southern Tracks, Trails & Twittens is a walkers guide that explores the varied, stunning landscape of southern Sussex. Walks from the High Weald, where the 16th century iron industry ruled the day, along the springline and across the great domes of the South Downs, onward to the western coastal plain. Early settlers tilled the soil, leaving field systems, burial mounds and earthworks. Drovers forged routes into the Wealden forest. Romans built villas and roads that remain to this day. Later invaders constructed castles and churches and took stock of their acquisitions. Settlements, villages and towns evolved. Footpaths, bridleways and deep holloways became the trodden earthen network for people in their workaday lives. Land was farmed, oxen dragged ploughs, shepherds tended sheep; in towns markets traded, pilgrims passed through, rivers were highways, and all were linked by a cat’s cradle of tracks and trails, some of which this book explores. There were rebels too, taking on injustice, creating a stir, Sussex people not being druv – walk with them in this book.