A Carolina plantation remembered

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Patrick Gale

Beautifully written and deeply compassionate, Rough Music is a novel of one family at two defining points in time. Seamlessly alternating between the present day and a summer thirty years past, its twin stories unfold at a cottage along the eastern coast of England.Will Pagett receives an unexpected gift on his fortieth birthday, two weeks at a perfect beach house in Cornwall. Seeking some distance from the married man with whom he's having an affair, he invites his aging mother and father to share his holiday, knowing the sun and sea will be a welcome change for. But the cottage and the stretch of sand before it seem somehow familiar and memories of a summer long ago begin to surface. Thirty-two years earlier. A young married couple and their eight year-old son begin two idyllic weeks at a beach house in Cornwall. But the sudden arrival of unknown American relatives has devastating consequences, turning what was to be a moment of reconciliation into an act of betrayal that will cast a lengthy shadow.As Patrick Gale masterfully unspools these parallel stories, we see their subtle and surprising reflections in each other and discover how the forgotten dramas of childhood are reenacted throughout our lives.Deftly navigating the terrain between humor and tragedy, Patrick Gale has written an unforgettable novel about the lies that adults tell and the small acts of treason that children can commit. Rough Music gracefully illuminates the merciful tricks of memory and the courage with which we continue to assert our belief in love and happiness.From the Hardcover edition.

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Melissa Bank

After following the advice from a manual called "How to Meet and Marry Mr Right", Jane learns that in love there is neither pattern nor promise. This is a funny collection of connected stories and a portrait of Jane, a woman manoeuvring her way through love, sex and relationships.

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Barbara Cartland

In 1867 Paris, passionate Russian Prince Ivan Volkonski is captivated by a mysterious modern dancer. Lokita performs her own unique dances that directly convey emotions to audiences, but she speaks to no one and promptly departs the theatre cloaked in secrecy. The persistent Prince orchestrates a ruse just to meet her, and perceiving her interest in Russian culture, promises to give a "Russian" party for her the next day. Lokita grew up in social isolation, cared for by servants. Her loving English father visited rarely, her Russian mother never - her very existence had to be kept secret, and no one would tell her why! Financial difficulties after her father's death forced her loving servants to reluctantly allow her to go onstage, but when Prince Ivan manages to meet her, they must whisk her away!

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Frances Burney

First published in 1778, this novel of manners tells the story of Evelina, a young woman raised in rural obscurity who is thrust into London’s fashionable society at the age of eighteen. There, she experiences a sequence of humorous events at balls, theatres, and gardens that teach her how quickly she must learn to navigate social snobbery and veiled aggression. Evelina, the embodiment of the feminine ideal for her time, undergoes numerous trials and grows in confidence with her abilities and perspicacity. As an innocent young woman, she deals with embarrassing relations, being beautiful in an image-conscious world, and falling in love with the wonderfully eligible Lord Orville. Burney gives the heroine a surprisingly shrewd opinion of fashionable London. This work, then, is not only satirical concerning the consumerism of this select group, but also aware of the role of women in late-eighteenth century society, paving the way for writers such as Jane Austen in this comic, touching love story.