Jane Aiken Hodge

When teenage Caterina Gomez returns from England to Portugal, she comes back to a beloved homeland, a distant father, and a scandalous past. Traveling with Caterina are her cousin Jeremy Craddock, a young Englishman seeking a cure for his ill health, and her dear friend Harriet Brown, who is on the run from an arranged marriage. This unlikely trio arrives ian a Portugal rife with tension, for the country is at war with France, and Oporto, recently liberated, is a city in ruins and full of bitter memories. Caterina's hopes for happiness are initially frustrated, for her father seems determined to see her married or in a convent. Then the note arrives, a voice from the past that changes everything and send Caterina into the center of political and romantic intrigue. Drawn into the tangled web that binds the Portuguese and English communities together in an uneasy alliance, she discovers that no one is quite what he seems. Characterized by Jane Aiken Hodge's trademark blend of historical detail and adventure, Whispering tells the story of a young woman's search for truth and independence in a society that wants to deny her both.

Last Act is the story of a friendly, gentle young woman thrown into an environment that is both unfamiliar and threatening. She finds her life at the Keyes School different and exciting, not least because of her new acquaintances--David and Erik, her suitors; Alice, her tutor: her schoolmates and her neighbors. But the air is fraught with inklings of danger that Hester comes to understand all too late.

In James Mitchell's latest novel, Leading Lady, the central character is struggling to make sense of her life in 1930s' Newcastle. It charts the troubled history of Jane Whitcombe, whose story began in A Woman to be Loved and continued in An Impossible Woman. She's rich, beautiful and loved by wealthy banker Charles Lovell, but she is concerned and distressed about her dead fiance's home town of Felston. She travels with Charles to Hollywood and then on to Mexico, where he secures a contract to build a destroyer for the Mexican government — a contract that might just save Felston from ruin. On their return to England, Jane and Charles marry, but she soon finds other causes to fight for and finds herself in Spain helping the casualties of the civil war. Charles is appalled by her behaviour and Jane doesn't know whether he will ever forgive her. Jane's struggle for a better and meaningful existence is something that James understands all too well. He, like his fictional character, strove for excellence in the face of unfortunate circumstances and won. "If you ever give in," he says, "you're dead," — later adding that his attitude is what his parents taught him. His father was a fitter who became a union man and eventually the mayor of South Shields, James's home town, in 1940.

MURDER THREATENED TO RUIN THE PERFECT SOCIETY To most people, Temi was a secluded Greek island of little importance. But its inhabitants knew that Temi was a spiritual haven that offered relief to a world sick with avarice and brutality. For Daphne Vernon, Temi was her last hope. Left physically and emotionally devastated by love betrayed, Daphne answered the urgent summons of her cousin Sophia, ruler of Temi. She was soon to learn that the imposing matriarch had plans for her--plans that were inextricably linked with the future of the island. But even as Daphne felt her heart healing... opening once again to love ... under Temi's mystical influence, violent factions within and without were closing in to destroy the utopia. Could Daphne be strong enough--and wise enough-to protect Temi and its extraordinary secrets? (less)

She was the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy duke. Everyone knew except her. Caroline Thorpe - no great beauty, but a real little charmer - was summoned to the home of the Duke of Cley. The Duke's household was a strange one, and his home not the happiest place to be. "Don't think," said Charlotte, "that Amelia and I are going to be sisters to you. We won't, Miss Bastard Thorpe." So when young Tremadoc (who wrote poetry, very bad poetry) asked her to elope with him to Gretna Green, she readily agreed. What a tangle it all was. And it would be even worse before Caroline could sort everything out and discover who were her friends - and who were her enemies.

2nd book in the Purchas/Purchis saga. At the end of Judas Flowering, Hart and Mercy were reunited and preparing to marry. Wide is the Water opens with Hart leaving Mercy to find his cousins in New England while he returns to fight.

3rd book in the Purchas/Purchis saga. Can be read alone & is the best of the saga. As children, Juliet and Josephine often played the innocent game of impersonation. They were cousins, but they looked enough alike to be twins. Life and war separated them, but the years didn't dim the astonishing resemblance. Now Fate suddenly threw them together again -- two beautiful, desirable women playing out a deadly masquerade

There was the lady who fell off the mountain. There was the body in the trunk. There was the girl who lived high up in the never-never land between Switzerland and France. And there was John Seton-Smith, on trial for the murder of the woman he loved. In its role of chase, the book introduces us to Monte Gordon, a detective with an odd sort of charm which grows out of his tenacity and his pride; and to Inspector Medford, a man of conscience, who meets a situation in which conscience cannot be satisfied. As a reportage of a murder trial, Shadow of a Lady achieves a breathless intensity without sacrificing authenticity. And on the novel level it vividly presents a group of unusual people caught in an unusual situation: a woman escaping (although she is not sure from what) who succeeds far more thoroughly than she had consciously intended; John Seton-Smith, the victim apparently of circumstances, but even more of his own reticence.

Lord Leominster married Camilla for convenience only - yet she found herself falling ever more deeply in love with him! At a time when England and Napoleonic France were about to lock horns, Leominster embarks on a secret diplomatic mission to Portugal, where the French army is about to strike. Camilla and her flighty sister-in-law accompany him and cruel circumstance plunges them all into disaster. Separated from her husband, Camilla spends the winter in hiding from the French and more intimate enemies. But after a harrowing escape, their reunion is fraught with surprise - for Leominster, it was the most incredible surprise of all.

The romantic adventures of a reluctant Regency heiress... When the reputable George Ferris asks for Miss Jennifer Purhcas's hand in marriage, Jennifer's Uncle and George's eccentric aunt, the Duchess of Lewes, believe the match is a perfect one. However, no one thinks to ask for Jennifer's feelings on the matter. As it turns out, the high-spirited and defiant Regency heriess insists there is no way she will be forced to marry the odious George Ferris, whom she has never even met. Running away she joins the Laverstoke family as a a penniless governess. However, it is not long before the naturally fiery Jennifer finds herself in some difficult to explain situations, all too frequently witnessed by the masterful Mainwaring, guardian to the Laverstoke children. But that is only the beginning of Jennifer's adventures, and with her Uncle determined to seek out and reclaim his missing niece - and her fortune - it becomes increasingly difficult to keep her true identity hidden from the world...

After her aunt's death in Boston, Henrietta Marchmont accidentally discovers the secret that the disagreeable old woman had kept for nearly twenty years. She learns of her English father, Lord Marchmont, who is ignorant of her existence. It is 1812 and war is imminent between England and America, but Henrietta sets sail to find her father. After a hazardous journey she reaches London and finally convinces him of her identity. But what of his beautiful young wife, his step-son and his two ambitious wards?

One of 150 copies, bound in dark green cloth over boards, gilt title on spine, decorated gilt title on front board; no dust jacket.