Showing results by publisher "Quercus" in All Categories

The Iberian Peninsula, 1809. French troops led by one of Napoleon's best generals are amassing on the border. Wellington's outnumbered force and his unreliable Spanish allies need to pick off the smaller French units if they are to stand their ground. For that they need information: accurate intelligence on numbers, arms, and whereabouts. That's where Captain Keane and his company of reformed scouting officers are invaluable tools--despite being unpopular with the regular soldiers.

London in 1919 was a city of ghosts and absences, haunted by the men who marched away but never came back from 'the war to end all wars.' Grace Armstrong believes that she has come to terms with her own loss, the death of her fiancé, the brilliant and dazzling best friend of her brother. He was declared Missing in Action during the Battle of the Somme, but he starts to reappear both in her waking life and dreams. Grace is appalled when a body, dragged from the Thames, is identified as Catherine Smith, who has lodged with Grace and her family before suddenly disappearing.

Ruth Whippman is the proud/overwhelmed, feminist mother of three boys and her family life can be a daily confrontation with the triumph of nature over nurture. All too aware that her parenting today will shape the men her sons become tomorrow, she explores the expectations placed on boys - must boys be boys?; the messages we send girls but not boys (but they really need to hear too); boys in the classroom and boys online; incels; entitlement, sexual harassment and "cancel culture" and what radicalizes young men.

1942. Working in the greengrocers and playing the piano in the pub a couple of nights a week isn't fulfilling nineteen-year-old Trixie Smith's idea of helping Britain win the war. One day she sees a poster advertising the Women's Timber Corps and decides to sign up—soon she is on her way to Scotland for four weeks of training to become a Lumberjill. On her journey north she meets Cy, an American soldier on leave. Their attraction is instant and they both feel that fate has brought them together.

Only the intervention of the Great Powers of France, Russia and Britain can save Greece. In the wild south, the people of the Mani have risen up against 400 years of Ottoman rule. But initial triumph leads to bitter feuding among the Greek victors, and the Sultan sends his vassal, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, to invade. Burning everything in his path, he is on the point of victory. 

Susan Hill meets Alfred Hitchcock in Alison Littlewood's latest chiller. Asylum doctor Nathaniel is obsessed with the beautiful Mrs Harleston - but is she truly delusional? Or is she hiding secrets that should never be uncovered? Haunted by his father's suicide, Nathaniel walks away from the highly prestigious life of a consultant to become an asylum doctor. He takes up a position at Crakethorne Asylum, but the proprietor is more interested in phrenology and his growing collection of skulls than the patients' minds.

Enid Blyton's books are beloved the world over, and The Famous Five have been the perennial favourite of her fans. Now, in this new series of Enid Blyton for Grown-Ups, George, Dick, Anne, Julian and Timmy are keen to hone their physiques for the summer holidays. All it will take is a bit of effort and willpower...and pulling together as a team. What could possibly stand in their way? True to form, the path to the body beautiful is less straightforward than they hope!

Young Dot Allbones is the runt of a large Midlands family. Blessed with none of her sisters' beauty, she'll be lucky even to find a man to marry her. Whatever shall be done with Dot? When Kate Eddowes comes up from London and moves in next door, no one expects the pretty and popular orphan to take any notice of the plain-faced and provincial Dot, five years her junior. But against the odds, the girls strike up an unlikely friendship.

Einstein, Bounce and Puzzle are thrilled to be back at Sandcliff Lighthouse for another holiday. There are lots of other pups staying there this time which means fun for everyone! But when the local beach is covered in dog poo, the pals find themselves in a sticky situation. It gets so bad that even the puffins - who visit every year - are staying away! And then the local people start to blame the kennels, even though the pups know that Jackie and Trevor always clean up after them.

Meet the Puppies Online! Einstein the brainy dachshund, Puzzle the snoozy sheepdog, and Bounce the speedy spaniel spend their holidays at a very special kind of kennels - a lighthouse by the sea! But there's no time for sunbathing. The woof-tastic trio meet the evil Mike Dodger, discover an ancient treasure map and find themselves caught up in a race against time. Luckily the pups are equipped with all the latest online gadgets and tech know-how. But will their super skills be enough to sniff out the treasure before Mike does?

Phoebe Henderson may be single but she sure doesn’t feel fabulous. It’s been a year since she found her boyfriend Alex in bed with another woman, and multiple cases of wine and extensive relationship analysis with best friend Lucy have done nothing to help. Faced with a new year but no new love, Phoebe concocts a different kind of resolution. The List: ten things she’s always wanted to do in bed but has never had the chance (or the courage!) to try. A bucket list for between the sheets.

When Nan Prunty's mother kept an alehouse in Portsmouth she renamed it The Duchess of Prunty, the title she claimed would have been hers had Lord Nelson lived. He was her lover. She saw him die at Trafalgar, or so she says. The details vary according to the amount of drink she's taken. Nan makes her own determined way in life, but always haunted by the wish to know the truth about her father. From the aging seamen at the Greenwich Hospital to the battlefields of the Crimea, Nan discovers the world is full of people with a story about Nelson.

Does it Fart? is the fully authoritative, fully illustrated guide to animal flatulence, covering the habits of 80 animals in more detail than you ever knew you needed. What foods make hyena farts smell especially bad? What is a fossa, and does it fart? Why do clams vomit but not fart? What is a fart, anyway? With contributions from dozens of biologists, Does It Fart? is a book that will allow you to shift the blame onto all kinds of unlikely animals for years to come.  

In Always Smiling, Toff is here to share her experiences, some funny, some sad, some that make her cringe with embarrassment. So whether it is friendships, family dramas, heartbreak and relationships, or how she coped with living her life in front of millions of viewers of Made in Chelsea, Toff reveals how she has learnt to keep a smile on her face, whatever life throws at her. Told with her trademark honesty, humour and endless sense of fun, Always Smiling is a must-have for any fan. 

Gosport, 1941. The Bluebird Girls - Rainey Bird, Bea Herron and Ivy Sparrow - are on their way to stardom. From working mens' clubs to the glamour of the Savoy Hotel, fame and fortune beckon as the south coast's favourite singing trio work to charm their way into the hearts of the nation. But the war rages on, and reaching the top of their game will not be easy. Blonde bombshell Bea is still dealing with the fallout of a traumatic encounter last winter. Rainey is determined to live up to her mother's belief in her, but finds herself struggling with the whirlwind of life in showbusiness.

Rainey Bird, Ivy Sparrow and Bea Herron all love to sing. For Rainey, music has been a solace during the upheaval of starting a new life with her mother, away from her abusive dad. Bea finds a confidence when she sings that she cannot get from anything else. Ivy sees it as her best chance of making a life away from Gosport and a dead-end job.  The three of them sing in a choir run by the strict but kind Mrs Wilkes. The choir provides a couple of hours of stardust each week, away from school and work and family worries.

It's been 10 years since Pretty Boy left the big city - today he's back. No one knows why, but it's clear that revenge is on his mind: he is determined to make the person responsible for his exile from the London scene finally pay. But his plans seem derailed when he takes possession of a bracelet, unaware that its original owner has set a high price for its safe return. Suddenly, the hunter becomes the hunted and Pretty Boy will have to find out if it is indeed a 'good day to die'.

Raised by staunchly Republican and Catholic parents, Eliese dreamed of escaping Cleveland and achieving greatness in the convent as a nun. Full of promise and burgeoning ideals, she leaves her hometown, but one night her life's course is violently altered. A night that sets her mind reeling and her dreams waning. A cycle of mania and depression sinks in where once there were miracles and prayers, and upon returning home she is diagnosed with mixed-state bipolar disorder.

When Lizzy moves to a desolate shore to escape her past, she hopes to find sanctuary. But a mysterious stranger is waiting for her, her father's carer, and when darkness falls, something roams this wild stretch of beach, urging Lizzy to investigate its past. The longer she stays, the more the shore's secrets begin to stir. Secrets of a sea that burned, of bodies washed ashore - and a family's buried past reaching into the present.

Craft enthusiasts are no doubt already aware of the joys of making and the frustration when you must put aside your project and go back to your day job or to less enticing tasks around the house. But there is more to crafting than the simple enjoyment of a creative hobby. Drawing on the firsthand accounts from everyday crafters, Craftfulness considers the vital well-being effects to be gained from the simple expression of your creativity and investigates the soul cleansing and stress relieving benefits of making things by hand.