Month: January 2009

New Release: Fate Knows No Tears

Fate Knows No Tears
A novel of passion and scandal in the days of the Raj
Mary Talbot Cross
ISBN 9781862547858      RRP $34.95     NZ$45.00

A new and absorbing book to accompany you on a passage through India … by Mary Talbot Cross who travelled to India several times to research and write this towering tale.¬ – Susan Kurosawa, Weekend Australian

Fate Knows No Tears, a romantic novel rich with the colour and pageantry of colonial India, charts the life of a gifted and sensitive woman’s struggle to assert her individuality at a time when women everywhere in the English-speaking world were demanding the right to self-expression, and struggling to redefine their role in society, culture and politics.

Violet Nicolson, courageous, outspoken and dangerously attractive, lived through a period of dramatic change in both India, and England. Her own life was no less challenging or exciting. For five years she shared her soldier husband’s adventures on the wild mountains of what is now Pakistan. Later, her embrace of local customs and the behaviour previously indulged by Nicolson’s regimental colleagues became the stuff of scandal; there was even talk of a native lover. Her passionate accounts of forbidden liaisons and sensuous jasmine-laden nights sent shock waves through polite Edwardian society.

Fate Knows No Tears is based on the life of Adela Nicolson (1865-1904), who found fame in 1901 writing under the pseudonym Laurence Hope. She was well known in her day for the adventurous nature of her life and the scandalous (for the times) manner of her death, who penned the Edwardian hit song that begins: ‘Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar…’ Her fascinating story unfolds mainly in the India of the British Raj.

Mary Talbot Cross was born and educated in England, then attended Aberdeen University in Scotland, completing a degree in French language and literature. She emigrated to Australia in 1991, after which she travelled widely. She has written several books and numerous articles treating various aspects of Australian and British history, under her given name Jennifer M.T. Carter. She lives in Burra, South Australia.

New releases from Pan Macmillan Australia – February 2009

Eclipse
Richard North Patterson
9780230707030
$32.99 Trade paperback

In a novel of international intrigue, an American lawyer, Damon Pierce, attempts to save Bobby Okari, the West African leader of a protest movement, from execution by the country’s corrupt and autocratic leader. Complicating matters further is Okari’s wife, Marissa Brand, with whom Pierce had a relationship years before that he’s never quite forgotten; in fact, she persuaded him to take the case in the first place, and it is who she plays a crucial role in the eventual outcome…

Culminating in a dramatic show trial and a desperate race against time, Eclipse combines a thrilling narrative with a vivid look at the human cost of the global lust for oil.

A Prisoner of Birth
Jeffrey Archer
9780330464062
$19.99 A-format paperback

Danny Cartwright and Spencer Craig were born on different sides of the track. Danny, an East End Cockney, leaves Clement Attlee Comprehensive School at the age of 15 to take up a job at a local garage. He falls in love with Beth, the boss daughter, and asks her to marry him. Spencer Craig resides in the West End, a graduate of an English public school and Cambridge University. After leaving university he becomes a criminal barrister and is soon tipped to be the youngest Queen’s Counsel of his generation.

Danny and Beth travel up to the West End to celebrate their engagement. They end the evening in a wine bar where Spencer Craig is also celebrating – his 30th birthday, along with a select group of university chums.

Although the two young men don’t meet, their lives will never be the same again.

For, an hour later, one of them is arrested for murder, while the other ends up as the Prosecution’s chief witness in an Old Bailey trial.

The Family Tree
Ilsa Evans
9781405039031
$32.99 Trade paperback

Everybody has a book in them, or so the saying goes. For Kate Painter – wife, mother, freelance editor and aspiring writer – it’s just a matter of finding a spare five minutes, a little peace and quiet… and something to write about.

When her cousin Angie announces she has a room to let, Kate’s spur of the moment decision to move temporarily out of the family home and in with Angie takes everyone, not least her husband and teenage children, by complete surprise. Yet Kate’s sure that in this room of her own, she’ll finally be able to write the novel she’s always wanted to.

But it doesn’t happen so easily. Writer’s block, dirty laundry and emergency babysitting duties all conspire against her. Amid the endless distractions, Kate is drawn into exploring the story of her family: her less than normal childhood with Angie on the family farm, her father’s recent death, and the mystery behind Angie’s enigmatic, absent mother.

The Killing Hands
PD Martin
9781405039024
$32.99 Trade paperback

FBI profiler Sophie Anderson is an expert at dealing with gruesome murder cases and psychotic serial killers. Her latest case, however, is like nothing she’s ever seen before – the victim has had his throat ripped out.

The body is identified as a member of an Asian criminal organisation, and Sophie and her team suspect they’ve stumbled upon a gangland hit. But the butchered victim had been missing for fifteen years, presumed dead – so who lured him out of hiding to kill him?

When Sophie uncovers a number of similar murders with links to organised crime, she realises she has a seasoned killer on her hands who leaves no forensic evidence. But how does he do it?

Sophie is also grappling with more personal issues. Over-protective parents visiting from Australia, her erratic psychic skills and the growing distraction of her feelings for a fellow cop.

But Sophie will have to focus on the job – they still have no idea who’s behind the murder, or that another is being planned… one that will strike at the heart of the investigating team itself.

The Shocking Trouble on the Planet of Shobble
L M Moriarty
9780330424707
$14.99 B-format paperback

The Space Brigade are relaxing after their spectacular triumph over Princess Petronella and her evil plans to destroy Earth, when they receive an intriguing letter. The planet of Shobble wants to employ their services. Should they accept this new mission? After all, the letter mentions grave danger. On the other hand, the people of Shobble are apparently the nicest in the galaxy. As leader of the Brigade, Nicola Berry puts it to the vote and the decision is made. It’s time to unpack the spaceship for another intergalactic adventure!

When the Space Brigade land on the planet of Shobble they soon discover this beautiful planet has a dark secret. Most of the population are virtually slaves, forced to mine for marshmallow and drill for chocolate (the ingredients of Shobble-Choc, the most divine chocolate in the galaxy). Led by a teenage girl called Topaz, the workers are beginning to rebel. The commander-in-chief wants the Space Brigade to squash the rebellion.

At first Nicola refuses to be involved but then something shocking happens that leaves her with no choice. Now the Space Brigade are on an incredible journey that will take them across infested rivers, snowy swamplands and frozen seas. Along the way they’ll learn new skills, make new friends – and they might just change this planet’s history forever.