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Robbed in Iran and imprisoned for over 100 days for suspected espionage, this is the true story of one woman's shocking ordeal in the country she called home.The morning of 30 December 2006 began routinely for Haleh Esfandiari. The Iranian-American academic was due to return home to the United States after visiting her ailing mother in Tehran. She got into a taxi to the airport, and was driven by the driver who she always used when in Iran. Fifteen minutes later, Haleh was robbed at knife point by three men, who threatened to kill her. Her baggage, two passports and identification cards were all stolen.Without her documentation, Haleh was unable to leave Iran. What appeared to be an ordinary theft was almost certainly a stage-managed robbery by agents of Iran's Intelligence Ministry, conducted to keep Haleh in the country. This was the beginning of her eight-month Iranian saga – starting with endless hours of interrogation, intimidation and threat, and ending with her release from prison after over 100 days in solitary confinement.Revealing, gripping and, at times, alarming, Haleh Esfandiari's ordeal acts as a microcosm of Iran's difficulties in dealing with the outside world and the modernity that the country only half-embraces.

‘Anne O’Brien has joined the exclusive club of excellent historical novelists.’ – Sunday Express ‘Will you hold the castle for me, lady, in my name?’ He does not know me. He does not trust me. ‘Do you have to ask?’ With staunchly opposed political views, the new Lord and Lady Mansell are not seeking love during a time of civil war. Francis offered Honoria his name in response to his cousin’s will and the promise of £4000 a year. When their castle is held by Royalist forces Honoria must appear loyal to Francis’s Parliamentarian cause.Working together to protect their lands, the vows made politically become something more. But where does her loyalty lie? Soon scandalous whispers of betrayal and double dealings land at Honoria’s door. And when the prison keys of London start rattling, Francis must question whether the wife he saved has dealt him the ultimate betrayal?Praise for Anne O’Brien:‘One of the best writers around…she outdoes even Philippa Gregory’ The Sun‘Her writing is highly evocative of the time period… O’Brien has produced an epic tale’ Historical Novel Society‘Anne O’Brien’s novels give a voice to the “silent” women of history’ Yorkshire Post‘Once again O’Brien proves herself a medieval history magician, conjuring up a sizzling, sweeping story’ Lancashire Evening Post‘An exciting and intriguing story of love and historical politics. If you enjoy Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir you will love Anne O'Brien’ We Love This Book‘A brilliantly researched and well-told story; you won’t be able to put this book down’ Candis‘A fast paced historical drama that is full of suspense.’ Essentials

A gripping and heartwrenching novel of damage and survival, grief and unexpected solace, Marilyn and Me is a fascinating – and timely – insight into an extraordinary time and place. Set in 1954, in the aftermath of the Korean war, Marilyn and Me unfolds over the course of four days, when Marilyn Monroe – who was meant to be on honeymoon with Joe DiMaggio – toured Korea, performing for the US soldiers stationed there. Her translator is Alice, a typist on the US base – where she is the only Korean woman to make a living off the American military without being a prostitute (although everyone assumes she is).As these two women begin an unlikely friendship, the story of Alice’s traumatic experience in the war emerges, and when she becomes embroiled in a sting operation involving the entrapment of a Communist spy she is forced to confront the past she has been trying so hard to forget.

Indulge yourself…With over forty stories to choose from, this fabulous collection has something for everyone – from bittersweet holiday flings to emotional family weepies; from fun chick-lit tales to Regency romances – Loves Me, Loves Me Not is a true celebration of the very best in romantic fiction.Read all-new stories from the bestselling authors of today and discover the bestselling authors of tomorrow.

A heartrending tale of love and tragedy during The Birmingham Blitz. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Annie Groves.For Kathy O’Malley, life has not been easy with her husband, Barry, out of work and with two children to feed. Then when war breaks out in 1939, many of the local men enlist, including Barry, leaving the women to cope as best they can.The years that follow are full of hardship: rationing, nightly air raids and endless shifts working at the local munitions factory all take their toll on Kathy who longs to feel the strong arms of her husband around her once more.When she meets Doug, a handsome American GI, she is drawn immediately drawn to him but determined to honour her marriage vows. But after she receives a telegram informing that her husband is missing, presumed dead, she makes a decision that will have consequences, not just for herself, but for the lives of all those she loves too…

Following the fortunes of some of the much-loved characters from her bestseller ‘The Journey’, Josephine Cox’s powerful novel spans continents, decades and generations of one family.Like a ghost from the past, she walked along the platform towards them…It has been over twenty years since Vicky Maitland set foot on English soil. Twenty years since she left Liverpool with her three children, bound for a new life in America, leaving her beloved husband Barney behind.But this long journey home is the hardest of all. She is here in search of the truth, afraid of what she may find. Why did Barney turn against his family so suddenly, so cruelly? Only her old friend Lucy Baker knows what happened. And Lucy promised Barney she would never tell his secret. Is it time she broke her silence and explained the events of so long ago?

Rags-to-riches saga set in LancashireHUNTER’S MOON tells the story of Alice Rimmer, a rebellious child brought up in a Salford orphanage, who discovers her true identity. She tracks down and plans revenge upon the remaining members of her rich, privileged family, and thus begins her involvement with the troubled household. She learns the hard way that money can’t buy happiness nor a sense of self-worth, and every act undertaken in spite causes even more trouble…

The dead hand of a long-defeated Nazi Third Reich reaches out to Portugal, London and Marrakech in Deighton’s second novel, featuring the same anonymous narrator and milieu of The IPCRESS File, but finds Dawlish now head of the secret British Intelligence unit, WOOC(P).The Ipcress File was a debut sensation. Here in the second Secret File, Horse under Water, skin-diving, drug trafficking and blackmail all feature in a curious story in which the dead hand of a long-defeated Hitler-Germany reaches out to Portugal, London and Marrakech, and to all the neo-Nazis of today's Europe.The detail is frightening but unfaultable; the story as up to date as ever it was. The un-named hero of The Ipcress File the same: insolent, fallible, capricious – in other words, human. But he must draw on all his abilities, good and bad, when plunged into a story of murder, betrayal and greed every bit as murky as the waters off the coast of Portugal, where the answers lie buried.

Home for Christmas is a tale of four very different young women thrown together by war. Finding freedom and independence – as well as love, passion and heartbreak – for the very first time, a unique bond is formed as the hostilities take their toll on Britain.It's September 1940 and the German blitz on London has just begun. The four young girls who live at No. 13 Article Row live under its constant threat. But life must go on…Tilly and Sally both work at Barts Hospital where they witness the cruelty of war first-hand.Agnes volunteers to work extra hours at her underground station to help with the nightly influx of people seeking safety from the bombs.Dulcie, with her broken ankle, tries to make peace with her mother, following the news of the death of her sister Enid. But her grief-stricken mother doesn't want to know.Sally returns to her painful past in Liverpool. But it's not seeing the man she once loved, nor her father and ex-best friend's child that hurt most…As Christmas approaches, the arrival of the handsome young American Drew, ignites new life in the heart Tilly thought was broken.As the bombs continue to rain down on a frosty London, perilous challenges lay around every corner. And all anyone wants this year is to be home for Christmas.

From the sparkling ballrooms of Regency London to the wealthy glamour of the country house – let Stephanie Laurens be your guide! Max Rotherbridge had unexpectedly inherited the wardship of four beautiful and spirited young sisters. But he certainly hadn’t bargained on beholding the embodiment of his dreams in his eldest and most lovely ward.Society was stunned when the Duke of Twyford introduced four beautiful debutantes to the ton. The wicked duke was more likely to seduce the innocents than protect them! As the Season continued, Max guarded his protégées, fending off his fellow rakehells.But one by one, the most confirmed bachelors fell at the feet of the Twinning sisters. And Max knew that he couldn’t long escape his destiny – marriage to Miss Caroline Twinning!‘Laurens’ writing shines’ Publishers Weekly

A sumptuous wedding feast, two advantageous marriages and a blessing from the golden kingWhen silk merchant John Lambert marries off his two beautiful daughters, their fortunes are set to change forever. Elder daughter Jane starts a notorious liaison with Edward IV, while her sister, Isabel, as the new silkweaver to the court, becomes privy to its most intimate secrets. Could they hold the keys to power in this time of uncertainty?Vanora Bennett brings to life a time of passions and politics, a time of turmoil and tension, a world in flux and a country up for grabs.

A racy Regency romance from the New York Times bestselling author, Eloisa James.Never marry for love, it's the worst reason of all…Finding herself under the unlikely guardianship of the kind but shambolic Duke of Holbrook, Tess Essex is suddenly faced with her duty: marry well and marry quickly. Once that's taken care of she can arrange matches for her three younger sisters: Annabel, Imogen and Josephine.But just when everything looks like it might be in order Tess's own fiancé gets cold feet and one of her sisters elopes with a reckless young lord…And is Tess really as sensible and proper as she thinks she is? Lucius Felton is a rogue whose own mother considers him irredeemable but he is delicious and obscenely wealthy…Surely she can't really be contemplating marriage to one of London's most infamous rakes?Absurd as it seems Tess fears she may have fallen utterly and completely in love…