Troubador Publishing strana 12 z 16

Set in smoky London pubs, turf accountants and Newmarket racetrack, Odds & Sods introduces McQueen, an engaging grifter, hell-bent on making a fortune by levelling up the score on bookies for the murder of his beloved grandfather.Gabby, his con-artist partner, gets on board, along with French racehorse trainer, Françoise Toussaint. Having recently fled France after losing her husband in a suspicious shooting, then her stables and horses in an arson attack. Hoping for vengeance she joins forces with McQueen and Gabby, securing the best racehorse for their scam and helps McQueen and his dream team of Cockney rebels and Northern souls prepare a ‘race for revenge’.Was anyone up for it? You bet they were.But McQueen’s meticulous planning doesn’t factor in his old enemy, the underworld gang leader, Edinburgh’s Lennox Docherty.Was Team McQueen ready for Docherty? And was Docherty ready for them? Could anyone back down once they were off?

The Reality of LXVE with Venice is an unflinchingly raw and deeply personal debut memoir by 23-year-old Venice, a Gen Z navigating the aftermath of heartbreak. With her world turned upside down, Venice invites readers of all generations on an intimate journey of rediscovery, peeling back the layers of love, loss, and self-identity. Through heartbreak’s haze, Venice reflects on what it means to truly love and be loved — beyond romantic ideals and filtered social media highlights. With moments that are equal parts vulnerable and empowering, she sifts through emotional wreckage and reclaims her voice. Her introspective narration is refreshingly honest, capturing the turbulent highs and lows of a young woman figuring out life and love in real time. Woven with humor, tenderness, and hard-earned understanding, The Reality of LXVE with Venice is more than a breakup story. It’s a testament to resilience, self-love, and redefining intimacy on your own terms. In a world where love is often presented as picture-perfect, Venice’s story will resonate deeply with those of all ages who have loved and lost — and may even dare to love again.

Alex Feinstein’s life is in free-fall. His career has tanked. His wife has left him. And he’s at war with his 15-year-old son. To cap it all, he’s just had a frightening diagnosis. At the end of his tether - literally - he''s about to hang himself from the living-room ceiling when his distraught ex calls to say their son’s been kidnapped at Glasto. The gang is demanding a hefty ransom, and if the cops get involved, Fred’s toast. But who are these people - and why have they targeted Fred? With renewed sense of purpose and nothing to lose, Alex wriggles out of his makeshift noose and embarks on a frantic mission to rescue the boy - and who knows? - perhaps even himself. The House of the Rising Son is a dark comic odyssey through the converging traumas of mid-life and adolescence, with a fresh look at family dynamics through the post#MeToo male prism.

Not another medical scandal This book details the author’s struggle to regain her life after being permanently damaged by the implantation of surgical mesh. Whilst the horrific details of what happened to her will sometimes be distressing, the story is told with humour and disarming candour. After being gaslighted by her implanting surgeon, Louise concludes the Tension-free Vaginal Tape (TVT) used in an operation to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence needs removing but only then discovers it is meant to be a permanent device. Further explorations lead to the discovery that the MHRA licensed the implant and NICE gave it a Gold Standard Award, on the back of no long-term trials. She learns there is no set protocol for treating women with mesh complications and most consultants who implanted the devices do not have the experience to remove them. Trying to establish a firm diagnosis, she discovers radiographers are not trained in identifying mesh using scanning equipment. Finally, Louise finds a surgeon who agrees to undertake a full removal of her mesh which has eroded and migrated. However, the operation neither resolves her pain nor immune response to the device. She later uncovers a litany of lies and coverups on the part of several health professionals. In desperation she goes to the GMC but will they listen?

Revelling in the idiosyncrasies of travel experiences in modern Britian, Meeting Father Salmon describes three apparently chance encounters between Richard, a successful IT professional, and Father Salmon. Richard lives with Michelle and their young family in a new residential estate, typical of those that have appeared across the UK. Richard appears to live a perfectly ordinary, untroubled, upwardly mobile life, but he wrestles with the challenges of work, family, and finding meaning in modern life. Richard’s first impression of Salmon is as an anachronistic, God-obsessed, mystical crank. However, he becomes increasingly intrigued by his very different way of thinking and living. As their conversations progress, Richard and Salmon find themselves exploring whether faith in God offers anything beneficial to a regular person in modern Britain. Richard is attracted to Salmon’s solidity, but we discover Salmon is grappling with his own challenges following the death of his life-long companion. Salmon is acutely aware that what Richard is drawn to might be a mirage, the shadow of a faith that is draining away.

As Imperial Rome forges its empire upon the ashes of war, its provinces feverish with religion, ambition and a thirst for power compete in the shadows without conscience. Save for one. An adopted Jew of a long dead son of Rome who is playing a dangerous game. Driven by a vision he is certain is the future if he does not act, he is forced to make an unlikely alliance. An alliance that is fated to bring unwelcome attention. Not all those seeking prominence in Rome are men.At great personal cost, a provincial governor and his unwitting sons will be caught in the middle. Cassius will choose for vengeance, the ripples of his actions destined to echo across time. His brother Justus will seek the safety of obscurity. Their only allies are Caeso, a haruspex and long-time friend of their father, and Hector, a forgotten hero of the Tenth Legion. And the only clues in their search for the truth, and possibly their only hope for salvation? The discovery of a secret that could start a war!

When Isabel Mendes left Brazil for London the dictatorship under which she had grown up was coming to an end. Instead, she arrived during Thatcher’s crushing of the miners’ strike, resonating with repressions left behind. Engaged in new work and a different culture she changed. Choices arose which distanced her from her origins in ways she never expected. Intellectually and love hungry, she became the partner of a high-flying academic, leading to a shared life in the United States, where they had a daughter, and later in England to where they returned. Now, Isabel is retired. She has had an academic career. Her mother is dying. She has never wanted to erase her Brazilian family from her life, but her four siblings act as though she has cut ties with them and their history. As her mother dies and leaves her thirty-five years of letters between London, Boston, Leeds, and Brazil, the archive provides a guide for her memories of choices, risks, fear, loneliness, and courage. Not to Fall on Ice is the story of a woman remembering and accounting for the strangeness of her place in divergent cultures, changing times, and family connections.

A fascinating, well-illustrated and internationally researched biography of Richard Henry Brunton, a talented civil engineer in the nineteenth century and a proud representative of his profession in a rapidly changing world. Brunton was born in Muchalls, Aberdeenshire and initially worked on railway line development. He then came to prominence as Chief Engineer to the Japanese Government when the country was forced to ”open up”. As well as eventually supervising the building of 26 Western-style tower lighthouses along with various other navigational initiatives, he additionally established a groundbreaking staff training and technical complex for this move. Furthermore, he also took a lead in town planning of the chief trading settlement of Yokohama, and in other matters too. Returning to the United Kingdom, Brunton eventually became manager of a large petrochemical plant in the central ‘belt’ of Scotland, getting involved as well with working man’s’ broader education and then, moving back south, took over an architectural ornaments business in London. The company won prizes and worked at home and around the globe. Unfortunately, although extensive, the work was over-stressful and he over-dipped into its income to the extent he was declared personally bankrupt. However, one of his theatrical clients, based in Ireland, approached him to become their architect and there he created three gems of theatre design, two of which, in the cities of Dublin and Cork, still successfully function.

Penelope Irving’s ordinary life in Pastel Bay changed forever when her parent’s ship went missing at sea. But on the evening before her fourteenth birthday, as the sun set behind a pastel-coloured horizon, a sudden storm sweeps her away and changes her life forever… After waking up in a strange cave covered in sand and salt, Penelope finds a shell necklace and takes it home where she now lives with her grandparents. Suspicious of her own grandfather, Penelope decides to hide the necklace and keeps her stormy adventure to herself. The more she tries to forget, the more secrets begin to emerge, and a series of unexplainable dreams haunt her day and night. Led only by her shell necklace and the feeling that her parents are alive somewhere across the ocean, Penelope makes a discovery that takes her deeper into the secrets of Pastel Bay than she ever imagined she would go. Will Penelope find her parents and uncover the mystery behind their disappearance? What will she decide to do when her beloved Pastel Bay is threatened, forcing her to face her fears and make the biggest decision of her life?

Nothing ever worked out for Suzie. She was an ordinary girl, with an ordinary life, dreaming of doing something extraordinary. Tired of her humdrum life, she is determined to escape, so when her boss announces he is moving Suzie and her best friend Isabel to the Marrakesh office, they both accept. But has Suzie made the right decision to take the risk on a new job in a new country? As the two friends take the plunge and jet off for the adventure of a lifetime, neither knows what’s in store for them. Sharing a flat together provides many laughs and heartache in equal measure. However, Suzie soon learns that Isabel has got the better part of the bargain when she is posted to the swanky new HQ building, while Suzie is sent to a print shop on its last legs. Enter the enigmatic ‘carpet man’. This local businessman offers to help her but instead sets Suzie on a journey she could never have imagined… but can Suzie save the shop before it goes under completely?

I open my eyes. The sky is pale, and black streaks are painted like scars across it, dancing their way to the horizon. The mountains have sunk and the oceans are barren. The earth is flat, and my vision is not hindered. The sun is so close it seems as though it’s only a mile away and yet I feel so cold. The world has changed and any familiarity I shared with it has been lost to the passing of time. What is happening today? People stand in fields of greying crops that synchronise in movement as the wind leaves us too. The Trumpet is blown, like a thunderclap to the ears, people press hard to block out the noise, and the pain, makes them fall to their knees. The echo of the beginning and the end in the same moment. Mankind has been transferred to another world. Fear strikes their hearts and panic consumes their minds. We have been resurrected today; we are witnessing a day that has been promised to us.This is judgement day. It is too late now to go back, to make good on promises made to life. Mankind stands with a naked mind, looking around lost and confused, with guilt in their eyes, wondering if they have done enough for this day. Every deed, every action and every atom of intention is revealed. 

For all you youngsters searching for adventure, this is a story for you. It is a story about twins, a boy and a girl. Their adventure takes place over a day or so. We are introduced to their happy life, living with their parents on their farm and doing the chores that are required of them. As we quickly find out, the stories they have been told by their friends in the village of “a forbidden forest” and wonderful “treasure” has an effect on them. Together they decide to embark on an adventure into the unknown, where they encounter strange creatures, who, in their own way, not only guide them back home but subtly teach them valuable life lessons, such as truth, and honesty. Into the Forest weaves poems of well known tales into its enchanting story.

Missy Big Bungalow examines the effect of European men arriving in Siam and Malaya from 1900, but this is told - unusually - from an Asian woman’s point of view. That woman is the author''s grandmother, Chalerm, poor but beautiful and resourceful. To escape poverty, from the age of 15 she is the paramour over twenty years of a Dane, then a Scot. Marriage is impossible. She lives fairy-tale lives, hence her nickname, Missy Big Bungalow. However, her comfortable life is later punctuated by dark episodes, especially after the Japanese occupy Malaya in 1942. This time of turmoil and terror forces Chalerm to make a brave, heart-breaking decision to save her family by moving in as a Japanese businessman’s concubine. By war’s end, although a survivor, she’s bitter and disillusioned. In 1948 British and Allied Forces fight another war in Malaya against Chinese communists. Chalerm’s half-Scottish daughter marries an English soldier and moves to Nottingham. Chalerm then receives baffling accounts of her daughter’s life in austerity Britain. These provide her with startlingly unexpected views of the British. Later, changing social mores mean Chalerm actually marries a Scot. This mixed-heritage family experiences a rich yet sometimes contradictory life in a British colony. The author''s task has been to try to investigate the varied impact of the British Empire on the local Asian people using her grandmother’s family as a microcosm.

Eve the spider is an adventurous little creature who is so tired of her diet of boring flies, and of living in her dull grey room, in a dull grey town. The family who live in her house are afraid of her, when all she wants is for spiders and people to get along.She decides to try something new, and spins her way down to a local allotment, where she tastes all the delicious green veggies. When Eve weaves her next web, she is stunned by its dazzling shade of green! Eve decides to seek out more wonderful fruits and vegetables, to see what other great colours she can spin.Eve’s friends are not happy about her doing things differently to them, after all, spiders need their webs to stay a dull colour and hidden from view, so the people don’t spot them and tear them down. Can Eve convince her friends to accept her new weird and wonderful ways? And can she convince the people that spiders are friends, not foes?A colourful tale which teaches children about all the healthy fruits and vegetables they can try, and celebrates the beauty of being different.

''No-one will protect what they don''t care about.'' Sir David Attenborough. Baxter has everything a rabbit needs to be happy and healthy, except for some friends to play with. So Pollie, his owner, brings two rabbits home to stay, but will they be well-behaved, friendly and caring, or will they get up to mischief, be unkind and bully him? What could happen to make them change? And what will they, and Pollie, teach us about saving the planet along the way? In this unique book, each chapter in the story has an environmental education issue woven into it, and then a set of questions which explores these issues further. Some of these issues include what animals need from their environment to survive and how we, as humans, are stopping them from obtaining these, and the need for clean water. It teaches children practical ways to care for animals and the planet, but also goes one step further and teaches us why we should care. The last chapter looks at treating each other well, caring for each other and working together, which are often overlooked aspects of environmental education. This gives this book a fresh approach to environmental education and saving the planet.

The Magic Emporium. A place where you can purchase almost anything your heart desires. From elemental dragon eggs to potent potions, the Emporium has it all. What creatures wait beyond the doors, creatures you could only imagine? When Alec Salvatore and his class head off on their trip to the Emporium, he only has three things on his mind (dragons, mermaids and cake). Little did he know he would fall into his daydream featuring creatures of fantasy. Just with a little less cake. Yet not everything at the Emporium is as it seems… Will he be able to discover the truth about magic? Or will a dangerous and deadly reality await?