Patrick Hamilton

Filled with suspense, seduction, mystery, and passionate love, the unforgettable romance novels of Madeline Hunter have earned critical accolades and captivated readers. Now, in The Charmer, the nationally bestselling author weaves a spellbinding tale of an exiled duchess, a charismatic aristocrat, and a once-in-a-lifetime seduction worth risking everything for...The CharmerHe'd found her in another man's arms, the very picture of sophisticated debauchery. But Sophia Raughley knew very well that the truth was much different from appearances. What should she make, however, of this commandingly handsome man who'd burst into her Parisian salon demanding that she return with him to England by authority of the king himself? Adrian Burchard had no idea of the painful memories that had driven the beautiful duchess into a self-imposed exile across the sea, but he was clearly not going to take no for an answer. Yet this devastatingly seductive man had a tormenting secret past of his own--and powerful enemies in England that they both shared. As Sophia falls under the spell of his erotic charms, and Adrian finds himself unable to resist her passionate response, they embark together on an irresistibly dangerous affair that will either destroy them both--or prove the one thing that can save them.From the Paperback edition.

US title of 'The Slaves of Solitude' A woman living in a London boarding house battles to save herself from bores and ennui. Hilarious, bleak and wonderfully observant--one of Patrick Hamilton's best novels.

"England in the middle of World War II, a war that seems fated to go on forever, a war that has become a way of life. Heroic resistance is old hat. Everything is in short supply, and tempers are even shorter. Overwhelmed by the rigors of the Blitz, middle-aged Miss Roach has retreated to the relative safety and stupefying boredom of the suburban town of Thames Lockdon from which she commutes to a publishing job in London. She lives in a boardinghouse run by Miss Payne. There the savvy, sensible, decent, but all-too-meek Miss Roach endures the gaseous speechifying and weird dinner-table interrogations of Mr. Thwaites and relieves her solitude by drinking and necking with a wayward American lieutenant. Life is almost bearable until Vicki Kugelman, a seeming friend, moves into the adjacent room. That's when Miss Roach's troubles really begin. Recounting an epic battle of wills in the claustrophobic confines of the boardinghouse, Patrick Hamilton's The Slaves of Solitude, with its delightfully improbable heroine, is one of the finest and funniest books ever written about the trials of a lonely heart."--Book cover.

"Monday morning wryly tells the story of Anthony, a young man taking his passionate first steps in life, in London, and in love. Not yet worn down by the world, Anthony is determined to write the novel that will bring him fame and fortune - and to marry the beautiful Diane. Patrick Hamilton's witty, playful first novel introduces us to the grimy world of metropolitan boarding houses and provincial theatrical digs that would be the setting for his later masterpieces ..."--Page 4 of cover.

Sherlock Holmes, by William Gillette. Within the law, by Bayard Veiller. Seven keys to Baldpate, by G.M. Cohan. On trial, by Elmer Rice. Under cover, by R.C. Megrue. The thirteenth chair, by Bayard Veiller. The cat and the canary, by John Willard. The bat, by Mary R. Rinehart and Avery Hopwood. Broadway, by Philip Dunning and George Abbott. Payment deferred, by Jeffrey Dell. Kind lady, by Edward Chodorov. Night must fall, by Emlyn Williams. Angel Street, by Patrick Hamilton.