King Henry II, exhausted from everlasting conflict with France and the bad habit of his sons rebelling against their father finds love, solace, and passion after falling for the youthful beauty of Alys and makes her his mistress.Alys' father, King Louis VII of France was a man in desperate need of an heir. Alys was his fourth daughter from two wives. After divorcing Eleanor, he married Alys' mother Constance.The desperate need for a son meant that King Louis was striding do...

Young lawyer Sarah Kaplan has grown up burdened by the knowledge of her grandparents' suffering and brutalisation at the hands of the Nazis. To her mother, they were martyrs to the greatest crime in history; to Sarah they were shining examples to be followed. And then a mysterious letter arrives from South America... Could her grandfather, whom Sarah was told had died in her grandmother's arms after being tortured in a concentration camp, have been one of the architects of the Holocaust? C...

Coutts the bank was founded in 1692 but really took off when Thomas Coutts took over at the beginning of the19th Century. He made a fortune, and left it to his second wife, 40 years younger and an actress. When she died, she left it all to Thomas' granddaughter, Angela Burdett-Coutts.Suddenly, Angela became the second wealthiest woman in England after Queen Victoria. She had to hire bodyguards to keep fortune hunters away. But because of her wealth and also because her fathe...

No longer one of the spoils of war, Catherine, Queen of England and France, resolves to fight for hernew life – on her own termsCatherine of Valois, daughter of the defeated king of France, looks down from the battlements as her future rides to greet her.As one of the spoils of war, she is to be married to her father's enemy, Henry V of England. She is prepared to do her duty – what could be worse than continuing to live with her ailing father and cold mother – but sh...

For the past 50 years, the golden treasures of Troy have been lying in the basement of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Now Germany and Turkey are both reclaiming the treasures. But who really owns the precious antiquities? American lawyer Sarah Kaplan, an expert on the reclamation of property, is drawn into the debate when the Turkish government employs her to get the treasure back. But things go horribly wrong and Sarah ends up in a Turkish gaol, accused of theft and blasphemy. Alone in a f...

In the modern world the old traditions are declining - and so is attendance at Rabbi Teichmann's Friday-night sermon. But the rabbi has a plan to win back his congregation, and prove that real faith can embrace both the old and the new. Instigating a tradition that will grow beyond his expectations, the rabbi weaves a simple, entertaining tale around his listeners that resonates with meaning. Soon the rabbi finds that his congregants are not just talented listeners, and stories of universa...

An historical novel based on the life of the 17th-Century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi, who defied her rape and torture through masterful paintings. With words and images, she fought back against the male violence that dominated her world."The works shall speak for themselves." So wrote Artemisia Gentileschi in 1649, in a letter to a patron acknowledging her rare position in the art world at that time: a painter, and a woman. Although all too aware that she had a harder job...

John Ross is a heartbeat away from the American presidency. The darling of the Right, his meteoric rise to the top seems unstoppable... Until FBI agents Stephanie Martin and Mark Elliott come across information connecting him to a shadowy group of right-wing extremists with links going back to the medieval Knights Templar and Richard I of England. As their investigation deepens, Stephanie and Mark reveal an association prepared to ally itself with organised crime, infiltrate secret service...

A cave deep in the Judean desert. A 2000-year-old list. Tantalising clues that Jesus Christ wrote a prophetic testament. The discovery galvanises the world. Does the testament still exist? If so, what will be revealed if it is unearthed? Within hours, scholars, fortune tellers, religious groups and reporters are searching for the testament. Among them are Michael Farber, leading international biblical scholar, and Judith Abramovich, an Israeli archaeologist. Before long Michael and Judith ...

When Josh Krantz wants to reclaim his grandparents' house from the Slovakian government, he has another agenda - to expose the evil crimes committed by Stalin's henchmen against the Krantz family and thousands of others. He engages the services of New York lawyer Sarah Kaplan, and together they travel to Slovakia to begin their fight. Dr Laco Plastov, an archaeologist who is amazed by the engravings on Sarah's ancient amulet - joins the two Americans on their crusade. Armed with informatio...

One small, yellowed photograph of a man on horseback. Old files from Stalin's time, mouldering in the Kremlin archives. An Israeli Prime Minister who seems determined to throw his people into further war. A trail of murder and terrorism across Australia, the Middle East and Europe... Whoever holds the photograph holds the key to unlock many secrets - as Miriam Davis, a Sydney lawyer, and her journalist partner Paul Sinclair, discover when Miriam's grandfather is murdered. But what are the ...

*A career-spanning collection of essays from a leading scholar of avant-garde poetryWriting into the Future*: New American Poetries from “The Dial” to the Digital collects Alan Golding’s essays on the futures (past and present) of poetry and poetics. Throughout the 13 essays gathered in this collection, Golding skillfully joins literary critique with a concern for history and a sociological inquiry into the creation of poetry. In Golding’s view, these are ...