Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly

$34.99 NZD

$37.00 (5% off)

Category: Historical Fiction

From the author of the million-copy global bestseller Lilac Girls, comes a captivating new historical novel, set during the American Civil War. It's a sweeping story of women caught in a country on the brink of collapse, in a society grappling with nationalism and unthinkable racial cruelty. Georgeanne "Georgey" Woolsey isn't meant for the world of lavish parties and demure attitudes of women of her stature. So when the war ignites the nation, Georgey follows her passion for nursing during a time when doctors considered women a bother on the battlefront. In proving them wrong, she and her sister Eliza venture from New York to Washington, D.C. to Gettysburg and witness the unparalleled horrors of slavery as they become involved in the war effort. In the South, Jemma is enslaved on the Peeler Plantation in Maryland, where she lives with her mother and father. Her sister, Patience, is enslaved on the plantation next door and both live in fear of LeBaron, an abusive overseer who tracks their every move. When Jemma is sold by the cruel plantation mistress Anne-May at the same time the Union army comes through, she sees a chance to finally escape-but only by abandoning the family she loves. Anne-May is left behind to run Peeler Planation when her husband joins the Union Army and her cherished brother enlists with the Confederates. In charge of the household, she uses the opportunity to follow her own ambitions and is drawn into a secret Southern network of spies, finally exposing herself to the fate she deserves. ...Show more

Mirror and the Light (#3 Wolf Hall) TPB by Hilary Mantel

$37.99 NZD

Category: Historical Fiction | Series: Wolf Hall Ser.

With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferociou s contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.     ...Show more

Tell Me Lies by JP Pomare

$29.99 NZD

Category: Thriller

Psychologist Margot Scott has a picture-perfect life: a nice house in the suburbs, a husband, two children and a successful career. On a warm spring morning Margot approaches one of her clients on a busy train platform. He is looking down at his phone, with his duffel bag in hand as the train approaches . That's when she slams into his back and he falls in front of the train. Margot's clients all lie to her, but one lie cost her family and freedom. A fast-paced psychological thriller for fans of The Silent Patient.   ...Show more

Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi

$34.99 NZD

Category: Contemporary Fiction

An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives in this brilliant and compelling novel from the bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, The House Without Windows, and When the Moon Is Low. Kabul, 1978: The daughter o f a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan's thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan's progressive president, and Sitara's beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara's world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara's entire family. Only she survives. Smuggled out of the palace by a guard named Shair, Sitara finds her way to the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her in America. In her new country, Sitara takes on a new name-Aryana Shepherd-and throws herself into her studies, eventually becoming a renowned surgeon. A survivor, Aryana has refused to look back, choosing instead to bury the trauma and devastating loss she endured. New York, 2008: Forty years after that fatal night in Kabul, Aryana's world is rocked again when an elderly patient appears in her examination room-a man she never expected to see again. It is Shair, the soldier who saved her, yet may have murdered her entire family. Seeing him awakens Aryana's fury and desire for answers-and, perhaps, revenge. Realizing that she cannot go on without finding the truth, Aryana embarks on a quest that takes her back to Kabul-a battleground between the corrupt government and the fundamentalist Taliban-and through shadowy memories of the world she loved and lost. Bold, illuminating, heartbreaking, yet hopeful, Sparks Like Stars is a story of home-of America and Afghanistan, tragedy and survival, reinvention and remembrance, told in Nadia Hashimi's singular voice. ...Show more

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

$34.99 NZD

Category: Historical Fiction | Reading Level: near fine

The Four Winds is a deeply moving, powerful story about the strength and resilience of women and the bond between mother and daughter, by the multi-million-copy number one bestselling author Kristin Hannah. She will discover the best of herself in the worst of times . . . Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli ha d finally found the life she'd yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa's world is shattered to the winds. Fearful of the future, when Elsa wakes to find her husband has fled, she is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life. Fight for the land she loves or take her beloved children, Loreda and Ant, west to California in search of a better life. Will it be the land of milk and honey? Or will their experience challenge every ounce of strength they possess? From the overriding love of a mother for her child, the value of female friendship and the ability to love again - against all odds, Elsa's incredible journey is a story of survival, hope and what we do for the ones we love. ...Show more

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

$34.99 NZD

Category: Fiction

A mesmerising retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Perfect for fans of CIRCE, A SONG OF ACHILLES, and THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS. As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Mi notaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur - Minos's greatest shame and Ariadne's brother - demands blood every year. When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods - drawing their attention can cost you everything. In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition? Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.   ...Show more

Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey

$35.00 NZD

Category: Historical Fiction

Moving away from Munich isn't nearly as wrenching an experience for Frau Greta Hahn as she had feared. Their new home is even lovelier than the one they left behind, and best of all - right on their doorstep - are some of the finest craftsmen from all over Europe, prepared to make for her and the other officers' wives living in this small community anything they could possibly desire: new curtains from the finest silks, furniture designed to the most exacting specifications, execute a fresco or a mural even. The looming presence of the nearby prison camp - lying just beyond a patch of forest - is the only blot to mar what is otherwise an idyllic life in Buchenwald. Frau Hahn's husband, SS Sturmbannfuhrer Dietrich Hahn, has taken up a powerful new position as camp administrator. The job is all consuming as he wrestles with corruption that is rife at every level, inadequate supplies, and a sewerage system under ever-growing strain as the prison population continues to rise. Frau Hahn's obliviousness is challenged when she is forced into an unlikely alliance with one of Buchenwald's prisoners, Dr Lenard Weber. A decade earlier he invented a machine - the Sympathetic Vitaliser - that at the time he believed could cure cancer. Does the machine work? Whether it does or not, it might yet save a life. ...Show more

Everything Changes by Stephanie Johnson

$36.00 NZD

Category: Contemporary Fiction

Buying a rundown motel to start a new life - what could possibly go wrong? In this funny and moving novel, prize-winning author Stephanie Johnson turns her wry eye on us. 'What a fabulous read. Stephanie Johnson's characters choose an old motel with little to offer except an amazing view in order to st art a 'new life'. Their first guests are a classic cast of the sorrowful and dysfunctional that every-day life throws at us these days. They are joined by their pregnant daughter, a mysterious young criminal from next door and a dog that knows more than all of them put together. The story is fast paced, and unpredictable, it's smart, contemporary and heartbreaking all at once. And, just when it was about to make me cry, Johnson startled me into wild laughter. This is her best book ever, and I loved every page of it.' - Fiona Kidman ...Show more

Dangerous Women by Hope Adams

$37.00 NZD

Category: Historical Fiction

July, 1841 A group of young women sit on the deck of a ship headed to the colonies of Australia, heads bent, busy stitching a beautiful quilt together, sunlight glancing from silver needles, overseen by their young matron Kezia Hayter.Until a piercing shriek tears the fabric of their small society apart - a woman has been brutally stabbed, her life hanging in the balance. But this no ordinary ship, the Rajah is transporting female prisoners. Thieves and convicts with crimes too petty to be hanged forced to immigrate to Australia. Trapped at sea, and on a ship full of convicted criminals, it falls to Kezia to determine which criminal is guilty of murder.   ...Show more

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

$29.99 NZD

Category: Contemporary Fiction

Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet's sublime new novel--her first since the National Book Award long-listed Sweet Lamb of Heaven--follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion. Contemptuous of their parents, who pass their day s in a stupor of liquor, drugs, and sex, the children feel neglected and suffocated at the same time. When a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, the group's ringleaders--including Eve, who narrates the story--decide to run away, leading the younger ones on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside. As the scenes of devastation begin to mimic events in the dog-eared picture Bible carried around by her beloved little brother, Eve devotes herself to keeping him safe from harm. A Children's Bible is a prophetic, heartbreaking story of generational divide--and a haunting vision of what awaits us on the far side of Revelation. ...Show more

Last Bookshop by Emma Young

$37.00 NZD

Category: Contemporary Fiction

Cait is a bookshop owner and book nerd whose social life revolves around her mobile bookselling service hand-picking titles for elderly clients, particularly the grandmotherly June. After a tough decade for retail, Book Fiend is the last bookshop in the CBD, and the last independent retailer on a street given over to high-end labels. Profits are small, but clients are loyal. When James breezes into Book Fiend, Cait realises life might hold more than her shop and her cat, but while the new romance distracts her, luxury chain stores are circling Book Fiend's prime location, and a more personal tragedy is looming.   ...Show more

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

$36.99 NZD

Category: Contemporary Fiction

Klara and the Sun is the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2017.From the bestselling and Booker Prize winning author of Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day, a stunning new novel - his first since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature - that asks, wha t does it mean to love?This is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.A thrilling feat of world-building, a novel of exquisite tenderness and impeccable restraint, Klara and the Sun is a magnificent achievement, and an international literary event. ...Show more