by Marcel Proust (1992)
Ma mere, quand il fut question d'avoir pour la premiere fois M. de Norpois a diner, ayant exprime le regret que le Professeur Cottard fut en voyage et qu'elle-meme eut entierement cesse de frequenter Swann, car l'un et l'autre eussent sans doute interesse l'ancien Ambassadeur, mon pere repondit qu'un convive eminent, un savant illustre, comme Cottard, ne pouvait jamais mal faire dans un diner, mais que Swann, avec son ostentation, avec sa maniere de crier sur les toits ses moindres relations, etait un vulgaire esbrouffeur que le Marquis de Norpois eut sans doute trouve selon son expression, "puant".
Harriet Martineau
When the Ibbotson sisters, Hester and Margaret, arrive at the village of Deerbrook to stay with their cousin Mr Grey and his wife, speculation is rife that one of them might marry the local apothecary Edward Hope. Although he is immediately attracted to Margaret, Hope is ultimately persuaded to marry the beautiful Hester. The unhappiness of their marriage is compounded when a malicious village gossip accuses Hope of grave-robbing.
[by] Naomi Jacob
The penultimate volume of the much-loved Gollantz saga. The Gollantz family experience both hope and heartbreak in the aftermath of the war. Meanwhile, Emmanuel and Julian's sibling rivalry reaches a dramatic conclusion. A poignant, compelling story of love and the family ties that bind.
Ruth Hamilton
From one of Liverpool's most famous and evocative writers, comes A Liverpool Song. Containing Hamilton's trademark warmth, humour and drama, this in an unputdownable novel from a writer at the top of her game.
Nadine Dorries
In the Four Streets in Liverpool, a dreadful murder has been committed, and 14-year-old Kitty Doherty is pregnant with the dead man's child. This secret is so dangerous that her mother, Maura, and the redoubtable Kathleen, her best friend Nellie's grandmother, decide the girls must be spirited away quietly to Ireland to await the birth of the baby. But back in Liverpool, the police are not giving up their search for the truth. Somewhere, in this tight-knit Irish Catholic community, someone must know something. Someone surely will talk one day. The streets are alive with gossip and rumour and it isn't easy to keep a secret that big.