Stella Gibbons
Description
Stella Dorothea Gibbons was an English author, journalist, and poet. She established her reputation with her first novel, Cold Comfort Farm (1932), which has been reprinted many times. Although she was active as a writer for half a century, none of her later 22 novels or other literary works—which included a sequel to Cold Comfort Farm—achieved the same critical or popular success. Much of her work was long out of print before a modest revival in the 21st century.
Books
Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm
A glorious collection of stories from the author of Cold Comfort Farm. The title story tells of a typical Christmas at the farm before the coming of Flora Poste. It is a parody of the worst sort of family Christmas: Adam Lambsbreath dresses up as Father Christmas in two of Judith's red shawls. There are unsuitable presents, unpleasant insertions into the pudding and Aunt Ada Doom orders Amos to carve the turkey, adding: 'Ay, would it were a vulture, 'twere more fitting!'
The charmers
"Mirabella Matthews' Aunt Jolly died unexpectedly and mysteriously, and as a result, Mirabella has inherited her villa in the South of France. Driving on the way from the train with Verity, the young woman she picked up along the way, Mirabella is run off the road by a motorcycle and she soon discovers that the dangers do not end there. It turns out that Aunt Jolly had a past, and as the various men who were a part of it show up at the villa Mirabella and Verity must find out who can be trusted and who is using charm to mask the face of a murderer"--
The gentle powers
Set in wartime London, Westwood tells the story of Margaret Steggles, a plain bookish girl whose mother has told her that she is not the type that attracts men. Her schoolfriend Hilda has a sunny temperament and keeps her service boys 'ever so cheery'. When Margaret finds a ration book on Hampstead Heath the pompous writer Gerard Challis enters both their lives. Margaret slavishly adores Challis and his artistic circle; Challis idolises Hilda for her hair and her eyes and Hilda finds Gerard's romantic overtures a bit of a bind. This is a delightfully comic and wistful tale of love and longing.
Nightingale Wood
Poor, lovely Viola has been left penniless and alone after her late husband's demise, and is forced to live with his family in their joyless home. Its occupants are nearly insufferable: Mr. Withers is a tyrannical old miser; Mrs. Withers dismisses her as a common shop girl; and Viola's sisters-in-law, Madge and Tina, are too preoccupied with their own troubles to give her much thought. Only the prospect of the upcoming charity ball can lift her spirits—especially as Victor Spring, the local prince charming, will be there. But Victor's intentions towards the young widow are, in short, not quite honorable.
The matchmaker
Picking The Perfect PartnerThe dead always have a story to tell. All he has to do is wait for the truth to be revealed to him. The living trust him with their grief—and their dirty little secrets. Only then can he set about playing matchmaker, uniting the dead with their true soul mates…for all eternity… Exhuming a body is the last thing former FBI profiler Greer Lomax wants to do. Just the thought of it brings on the panic attacks she’s fought for two years. Now, as deputy sheriff, Greer Lomax is going to have to face her darkest fears. Because the body she’s exhumed isn’t alone. He’s joined by a young woman whose name is on a missing person’s list.The one person Greer can call for help is FBI agent Ash Keller. Ash hasn’t forgotten the hot blonde with the too-sexy smile and he hasn’t forgiven her for leaving him behind when she quit the Bureau. Working the case sparks the attraction they’ve tried to deny for too long and unleashes a passion they can’t control—one that could blind them to the most dangerous mistakes of the past…