David Almond

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

New York

From the bestselling, award-winning author of SKELLIG comes a vivid and moving story, beautifully illustrated, which commemorates the hundred-year anniversary of the end of the First World War. "I am just a child," says John. "How can I be at war?" It's 1918, and war is everywhere. John's dad is fighting in the trenches far away in France. His mum works in the munitions factory just along the road. His teacher says that John is fighting, too, that he is at war with enemy children in Germany. One day, in the wild woods outside town, John has an impossible moment: a meeting with a German boy named Jan. John catches a glimpse of a better world, in which children like Jan and himself can come together, and scatter the seeds of peace. Gorgeously illustrated by David Litchfield, this is a book to treasure.

War Is Over

ffbb79b2-4c20-4dca-8036-0855b4af06a5-0

Texas

An Absolutely Gripping and Emotional World War 2 Historical Novel

'I absolutely loved it!... An emotional, heart-wrenching story of love and loss amidst the horror of war... Will tug at your heartstrings... Will have you reaching for the tissues throughout... Wonderful.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars A heart-wrenching, poignant and totally unforgettable tale of a young woman who must finally face up to the secret she has hidden for a lifetime. A beautiful World War Two novel for fans of Wives of War, Lisa Wingate and Diney Costeloe, that will have you reaching for the Kleenex. 1943, England: On a foggy night during the blackout, twenty-five-year-old May Robinson's mother is tragically killed. Heartbroken, May isn't sure she has the strength to harbour the secret she has kept for so many years - a secret her mother devoted her life to hiding, that would tear their broken family even further apart. Vowing to make her mother proud, May trains to be a nurse at Edgemoor General hospital in South Shields, against a backdrop of wailing air-raid sirens and the eternal drone of enemy planes. Tending to wounded, ashen-faced soldiers, fighting to save lives, May is immediately drawn to kind-hearted Richard Bentley, who works tirelessly alongside her. He has sparkling brown eyes, and makes her laugh. In the darkest of days, amongst death and despair, May and Richard are beacons of hope for one another. But why isn't he fighting in the war like thousands of other brave young men? May knows how she longs to escape her own past, and her mother's. In this perilous time of such uncertainty, she finds herself asking - how well do they really know each other? And when the shocking truth of May's secret comes to light, just as the war comes too close to home, can their love survive the impossible? Readers are absolutely loving Our Last Goodbye: 'What an emotional journey... Had me spellbound... From picking the book up, I didn't want to go anywhere as I was so wrapped up as I was so wrapped up in the era that I had been transported to... A truly emotional read that had me shed tears of happiness and sadness... May's story is one that will certainly pull on the heart strings and I loved every minute of it.' By The Letter Book Reviews, 5 stars 'I'll say no more except Our Last Goodbye by Shirley Dickson is a must-read for everyone. So emotional, a beautiful story.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars 'What a fantastic book... Loved this beautiful story... Fabulous... Have tissues handy.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars 'Wonderful... Your heart will just ache... I didn't want to leave.' Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars

Our Last Goodbye

a482153e-56ef-4175-9d1a-461659b958c3-1

Kate Morton

Virginia

A Novel

Edie Burchill visits Milderhurst Castle where her mother stayed during World War II, discovering the three elderly sisters of the castle still alive but haunted by the secrets of their past life with their father, a famous children's author.

The Distant Hours

430d1d2c-85b3-413d-b8f8-03cda37df5b6

#hardcover #1942 #england #historicalfiction #thepianoteacher 

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Illinois

In the sweeping tradition of The English Patient, a gripping tale of love and betrayal set in war-torn Hong Kong. In 1942, Will Truesdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, falls headlong into a passionate relationship with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite. But their love affair is soon threatened by the invasion of the Japanese as World War II overwhelms their part of the world. Will is sent to an internment camp, where he and other foreigners struggle daily for survival. Meanwhile, Trudy remains outside, forced to form dangerous alliances with the Japanese --- in particular, the malevolent head of the gendarmerie, whose desperate attempts to locate a priceless collection of Chinese art lead to a chain of terrible betrayals. Ten years later, Claire Pendleton comes to Hong Kong and is hired by the wealthy Chen family as their daughter's piano teacher. A provincial English newlywed, Claire is seduced by the heady social life of the expatriate community. At one of its elegant cocktail parties, she meets Will, to whom she is instantly attracted, but as their affair intensifies, Claire discovers that Will's enigmatic persona hides a devastating past. As she begins to understand the true nature of the world she has entered, and long-buried secrets start to emerge, Claire learns that sometimes the price of survival is love.

The Piano Teacher

02ca9553-5829-4388-b951-3e357eba91d5-1

#paperback #charlesdickens #fiction #England #classics #victorianengland #industrialrevolution 

New Jersey

Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, is part of theBarnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences--biographical, historical, and literary--to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. Set amid smokestacks and factories, Charles Dickens's Hard Times is a blistering portrait of Victorian England as it struggles with the massive economic turmoil brought on by the Industrial Revolution. Championing the mind-numbing materialism of the period is Thomas Gradgrind, one of Dickens's most vivid characters. He opens the novel by arguing that boys and girls should be taught "nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life." Forbidding the development of imagination, Gradgrind is ultimately forced to confront the results of his philosophy--his own daughter's terrible unhappiness. Full of suspense, humor, and tenderness, Hard Times is a brilliant defense of art in an age of mechanism. Karen Odden received her Ph.D. from New York University, where she did her dissertation on Victorian literature. Most recently a lecturer at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she is now a freelance writer and lives in Arizona.

Hard Times

6d0b423f-3f25-4bfe-8991-f2d592ab5781-1

Anne Perry

The pages of this book are recycled♻️.

Florida

When a clairvoyant is found murdered following a late night sâeance, Thomas and Charlotte Pitt become entangled in a battle over a crucial seat in Parliament when they discover that the wife of one candidate participated in the fatal sâeance.

Southampton Row

ad8edef3-3349-44dc-9953-8b383250ef65-1

Ursula Moray Williams

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Michigan

The Good Little Christmas Tree (1st American Edition-1991) 

a0891735-f72d-46bf-b080-016917f116aa-1

Philippa Gregory

The White Queen

14fbfcd0-f14f-4f12-bd32-fc57f1d84c43-1

Tim Powers

Really Great Condition! Smoke free environment 

Missouri

From Last Call to On Stranger Tides to Declare to Three Days to Never, any book by the inimitable Tim Powers is a wonder. With Hide Me Among the Graves, it's possible that the uniquely ingenious Powers has surpassed even himself. A breathtaking historical thriller in which art and the supernatural collide, Hide Me Among the Graves transports readers back to mid-19th century London and features a reformed ex-prostitute, a veterinarian, and the vampire ghost of Lord Byron's onetime physician, uncle to poet Christina Rossetti and her brother, the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. A novel that, like all his others, is virtually impossible to pidgeonhole--or to resist--Hide Me Among the Graves is the taut, gripping, and utterly remarkable literary thrill ride that Tim Powers fans have been eagerly waiting for.

Hide Me among the Graves

47884337-e968-43be-a34c-836f15352347-1

Anya Seton

Barbara Samuel

6 months on The New York Times bestseller list!!
Rated 4 out of 5 on Goodreads
Book is in excellent+ condition with the exception of the front cover, which does have a crease down the middle and a ripple across the top. ￼

Maryland

After a young American woman named Celia moves to England with her new husband, she finds herself haunted by a strange dread, a fear she can only escape by traveling four hundred years into the past and reliving her life as a beautiful servant in the sixteenth century. Reprint.

Green Darkness

fd93be7e-96de-49fe-88e7-2ee5c9d49629-1

Bill Bryson

"Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain-which is to say, all of it." After nearly two decades spent on British soil, Bill Bryson-bestsellingauthor of The Mother Tongue and Made in America-decided to returnto the United States. ("I had recently read," Bryson writes, "that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another,so it was clear that my people needed me.") But before departing, he set out ona grand farewell tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. Veering from the ludicrous to the endearing and back again, Notes from a Small Island is a delightfully irreverent jaunt around the unparalleled floating nation that has produced zebra crossings, Shakespeare, Twiggie Winkie's Farm, and places with names like Farleigh Wallop and Titsey. The result is an uproarious social commentary that conveys the true glory of Britain, from the satiric pen of an unapologetic Anglophile. "Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain-which is to say, all of it." After nearly two decades spent on British soil, Bill Bryson-bestselling author of ,i>The Mother Tongue and Made in America-decided to return to the United States. ("I had recently read," Bryson writes, "that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, so it was clear that my people needed me.") But before departing, he set out on a grand farewell tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. Veering from the ludicrous to the endearing and back again, Notes from a Small Island is a delightfully irreverent jaunt around the unparalleled floating nation that has produced zebra crossings, Shakespeare, Twiggie Winkie's Farm, and places with names like Farleigh Wallop and Titsey. The result is an uproarious social commentary that conveys the true glory of Britain, from the satiric pen of an unapologetic Anglophile.

Notes from a Small Island

9095f2a1-2cda-4e97-8575-75f50ed9c3b2-1

Mary Sharratt

In the tradition of Philippa Gregory's smart, transporting fiction comes this tale of dark suspense, love, and betrayal, featuring two star-crossed sisters, one lost and the other searching.

Bright and inquisitive, Hannah Powers was raised by a father who treated her as if she were his son. While her beautiful and reckless sister, May, pushes the limits of propriety in their small English town, Hannah harbors her own secret: their father has given her an education forbidden to women. But Hannah's secret serves her well when she journeys to colonial Maryland to reunite with May, who has been married off to a distant cousin after her sexual misadventures ruined her marriage prospects in England.

As Hannah searches for May, who has disappeared, she finds herself falling in love with her brother-in-law. Alone in a wild, uncultivated land where the old rules no longer apply, Hannah is freed from the constraints of the society that judged both her and May as dangerous--too smart, too fearless, and too hungry for life. But Hannah is also plagued by doubt, as her quest for answers to May's fate grows ever more disturbing and tangled.

The Vanishing Point

4b2025a0-2c46-422a-af4a-cf716e798b0f-1

Good, readable condition. Small tear and bent  on front cover. 

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Elmet 

Jennifer Ryan

California

A Novel No

Three plucky women lift the spirits of home-front brides in wartime Britain, where clothes rationing leaves little opportunity for pomp or celebration--even at weddings--in this heartwarming novel based on true events, from the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir.

After renowned fashion designer Cressida Westcott loses both her home and her design house in the London Blitz, she has nowhere to go but the family manor house she fled decades ago. Praying that her niece and nephew will be more hospitable than her brother had been, she arrives with nothing but the clothes she stands in, at a loss as to how to rebuild her business while staying in a quaint country village.

Her niece, Violet Westcott, is thrilled that her famous aunt is coming to stay--the village has been interminably dull with all the men off fighting. But just as Cressida arrives, so does Violet's conscription letter. It couldn't have come at a worse time; how will she ever find a suitably aristocratic husband if she has to spend her days wearing a frumpy uniform and doing war work?

Meanwhile, the local vicar's daughter, Grace Carlisle, is trying in vain to repair her mother's gown, her only chance of a white wedding. When Cressida Westcott appears at the local Sewing Circle meeting, Grace asks for her help--but Cressida has much more to teach the ladies than just simple sewing skills.

Before long, Cressida's spirit and ambition galvanizes the village group into action, and they find themselves mending wedding dresses not only for local brides, but for brides across the country. And as the women dedicate themselves to helping others celebrate love, they might even manage to find it for themselves.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle

5da6003e-c8f0-49e0-880e-186b8438227b-1

Dolly Yates

New Mexico

Hidden Treasures found in the History of Tea

Tales from the Teapot

84f7a6bc-2ba7-4f5d-b619-a6a66f554d30-0

Smoke free home. Please look at photos to see book condition. Dust jacket has some wear.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. 

Pennsylvania

Majesty -Elizabeth II and The House of Windsor

Nancy Springer

"First published in the United States by Philomel Books, 2006."--Title page verso.

Enola Holmes: the Case of the Missing Marquess

f237a588-79a3-4267-a95d-5a84f1be5577-1

Iowa

With brilliant wit, idiosyncratic intelligence, and a bold grasp of intricate political realities, the celebrated author of Flaubert's Parrot turns his satiric glance homeward to England, in a sparkling collection of essays that illustrates the infinite variety of contemporary London life.

Letters from London

c78abf09-7f61-4ddf-9e21-e1ae1f425a71-1

Garrett Mattingly

Wisconsin

Catherine of Aragon

5f5885c4-aded-402e-ae27-ebe3a6b4587c-1

T. H. White

Massachusetts

The Sword And The Stonerecreates, against the background of magnificent pageantry and dark magic that was medieval England, the education and training of young King Arthur, who was to become the greatest of Britain's legendary rulers. Growing up in a colorful world peopled by knights in armor and fair damsels, foul monsters and evil witches, young Arthur slowly learns the code of being a gentleman.  Under the wise guidance of Merlin, the all-powerful magician for whom life progresses backwards, the king-to-be is trained in the gusty pursuits of falconry, jousting, hunting and sword play.  He is even transformed by his remarkable old tutor into various animals, so that he may experience life from all points of view.  In every conceivable and exciting way he is readied for the day when he, and he alone of all Englishmen, is destined to draw forth the marvelous sword from the magic stone and become the rightful King of' England.

The Sword in the Stone

139d6910-7dcc-4b8d-af3a-aa6ebea44ee0-1

#paperback #fiction #historicalfiction #worldwar2 #england

NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "A delightful debut."--People For readers of Lilac Girls and The Nightingale, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir unfolds the struggles, affairs, deceptions, and triumphs of a village choir during World War II. As England becomes enmeshed in the early days of World War II and the men are away fighting, the women of Chilbury village forge an uncommon bond. They defy the Vicar's stuffy edict to close the choir and instead "carry on singing," resurrecting themselves as the Chilbury Ladies' Choir. We come to know the home-front struggles of five unforgettable choir members: a timid widow devastated when her only son goes to fight; the older daughter of a local scion drawn to a mysterious artist; her younger sister pining over an impossible crush; a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia hiding a family secret; and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past. An enchanting ensemble story that shuttles from village intrigue to romance to the heartbreaking matters of life and death, Jennifer Ryan's debut novel thrillingly illuminates the true strength of the women on the home front in a village of indomitable spirit.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

de4f8ce8-780f-4301-acdc-6b5fd380ceb9-1

Diana Gabaldon

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Idaho

Eighteenth-century Britain and the Seven Years War form the backdrop for Lord John Grey's quest to uncover the truth about his father's death, a search that leads to deadly peril, personal betrayal, forbidden love, and an encounter with a Jacobite prisoner, Jamie Fraser, who may hold the key to his quest. 150,000 first printing.

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

ac2d6419-4c03-4e5c-a2b4-c9d311412bf3-1

Gretchen Rubin

Washington

A Brief Account of a Long Life

A WALL STREET JOURNAL SUMMER PICK A WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER Warrior and writer, genius and crank, rider in the British cavalry’s last great charge and inventor of the tank, Winston Churchill led Britain to fight alone against Nazi Germany in the fateful year of 1940 and set the standard for leading a democracy at war. With penetrating insight and vivid anecdotes, Gretchen Rubin makes Churchill accessible and meaningful to twenty-first-century readers by analyzing the many contrasting views of the man: he was an alcoholic, he was not; he was an anachronism, he was a visionary; he was a racist, he was a humanitarian; he was the most quotable man in the history of the English language, he was a bore. Like no other portrait of its famous subject, Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill is a dazzling display of facts more improbable than fiction. It brings to full realization the depiction of a man too fabulous for any novelist to construct, too complex for even the longest narrative to describe, and too significant ever to be forgotten.

Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill

2866e15e-1c7f-4e3a-9d0d-a8b7304a3eb6-1

Bernard Cornwell

I have the others in this series, The Archer’s Tale and Heretic. Bundle and binge read!

Minnesota

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the sequel to The Archer's Tale--the spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family's honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail.

In 1347, a year of conflict and unrest, Thomas of Hookton returns to England to pursue the Holy Grail. Among the flames of the Hundred Years War, a sinister enemy awaits the fabled archer and mercenary soldier: a bloodthirsty Dominican Inquisitor who also seeks Christendom's most holy relic. But neither the horrors of the battlefield nor sadistic torture at the Inquisitor's hands can turn Thomas from his sworn mission. And his thirst for vengeance will never be quenched while the villainous black rider who destroyed everything he loved still lives.

"Cornwell writes the best battle scenes of any writer I've read past or present."--George R.R. Martin

Browse by categories

Save this search

David Almond

War Is Over

Shirley Dickson

Our Last Goodbye

Kate Morton

The Distant Hours

Janice Y. K. Lee

The Piano Teacher

Charles Dickens; Karen Odden (Introduction by, Intro and Notes by)

Hard Times

Anne Perry

Southampton Row

Ursula Moray Williams

The Good Little Christmas Tree (1st American Edition-1991)

Philippa Gregory

The White Queen

Tim Powers

Hide Me among the Graves

Anya Seton; Barbara Samuel

Green Darkness

Bill Bryson

Notes from a Small Island

Mary Sharratt

The Vanishing Point

Fiona Mozley

Elmet

Jennifer Ryan

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle

Dolly Yates

Tales from the Teapot

Robert Lacey

Majesty -Elizabeth II and The House of Windsor

Nancy Springer

Enola Holmes: the Case of the Missing Marquess

Julian Barnes

Letters from London

Garrett Mattingly

Catherine of Aragon

T. H. White

The Sword in the Stone

Jennifer Ryan

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

Diana Gabaldon

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

Gretchen Rubin

Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill

Bernard Cornwell

Vagabond