Middle Ages Fiction

Scobie Donoghue was once the king of the weekend. His twenties were spent working hard and playing harder. A lovable rogue, the lads wanted to be him and the girls wanted to be with him. But now, about to turn forty and returning to his small midlands hometown, Scobie is back in his childhood bed, single, burnt out and depressed. The life he thought he had left behind has moved on—but has he?

Nash Hall's dad is a criminal who just can't seem to go straight. He wants Nash to help him commit a robbery. A big one. The trouble is, Nash's mum is a cop. And the robbery is at Nash's school. But Dad owes a lot of money to some very dangerous people, and if Nash doesn't help him do the job, it could cost both their lives.

His brother is in jail because of her. Her sister will be his bride and pay the price. The flame burns hotter when she's the ultimate sacrifice. Dark and dangerous Dara is the brother of her father's sworn enemy. He's the vicious villain and handsome as sin. His heart is full of darkness. Her father has warned her to stay away from men like him. His brother is still in jail because of Cyrah who's a thousand miles away. Her younger sister Ismat will suffer.

Back when Dee and Juniper were still friends, Dee never hid in the bathroom. Now, at the beginning of sixth grade, Dee finds herself there often. The dripping faucet is annoying, and there are other places she’d rather be—like at home and in her room with her cat, Norman. But at least Dee is safe from overenthusiastic teachers and having to see Juniper walking through the halls with her new friends. Dee would rather be alone than witness that.

It's not easy being the Queen of Broken Hearts. While Clare has no problem helping the hundreds of men and women who seek her advice to mend their broken hearts, healing her own is another matter entirely. But falling in love again is the last thing she wants.

The year is 1095. Thousands of men, including many of the leaders of the Christian world, have assembled in a meadow in France near Clermont. Pope Urban appeals for the liberation of Jerusalem and the people shout, Deus lo volt! The cry is taken up, echoes forth, is carried on. The crusades have begun. Wave upon wave of Christian pilgrims assault the growing power of the Muslims in the Holy Land, and will do so for the next 200 years.

In France in the year 1096, everyone in the Jewish community is terrified of the Crusaders, who have been known to burn Jewish houses in the name of religion. One cold Sabbath afternoon, while 12-year-old Elvina is alone in the house, three soldiers pound on her door. One of them is wounded. Elvina has only a moment to make a difficult choice that could put her family and the entire community at risk. Can her guardian angel guide her now?

Best friends since the fifth grade, Vaughn, Reenie, Susan, and Audrey have always been considered the most likely to write the Great American Novel, marry a prince, find fame, and run the world, respectively. Now in their 50s, they are all still chasing those dreams - which sometimes makes the "girls" collide.

In a desperate race to find the remaining relics, Calvin knows he must stop Galigore - the evil sorcerer - from obtaining infinite power. Can Calvin and his friends, Perry and Anna, help in this epic battle of good versus evil entwined with wizards, warlocks, and mythical beasts? One thing is for sure - Calvin is determined to fight against evil...and he knows that he just might die trying.

What happens when you're middle-aged? Is it over? Will you change or remain the same? What will you do with the second half of your life? All of the short stories and essays in this collection illuminate this incredibly interesting and vital stage. All characters demonstrate how they have chosen to navigate this new world. Some are more successful than others, but all are interesting.

Kiss Tomorrow Hello brings together the experiences and reflections of women as they embark on a new stage of life. The 25 stellar writers gathered here explore a wide range of concerns, including keeping love and sex alive, discovering family secrets, negotiating the demands of illness and infertility, letting children go, making peace with parents, and contemplating plastic surgery. The tales are true, the confessions candid, and the humor infectious.

Strong-willed and free spirited, lady-in-waiting Marjory de Warenne long ago gave her body and soul to the charming and beguiling Earl of Warwick, Guy de Beauchamp. But her family never approved of the pairing. Now, on the eve of war and an arranged marriage to another suitor, Jory yearns for the man who could make all of her dreams come true.

Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history: blamed for the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in which hundreds of innocents died. What motivated this Renaissance woman who was born of Florence's most powerful family, and one day came to rule France?

All her life, Cricket's mama has told her stories about a secret room painted by a mysterious artist. Now Mama's run off, and Cricket thinks the room might be the answer to getting her to come back. If it exists. And if she can find it. Cricket's only clue is a coin from a grown-over ghost town in the woods. So with her daddy's old guidebook and a coat full of snacks stolen from the Cash 'n' Carry, Cricket runs away to find the room.

Sincerity is Duffy’s final collection of poems as Poet Laureate and the much-anticipated successor to the Costa Award-winning The Bees. Time and its passage are at the heart of this reflective work, which gazes out from the autumn of life. There are moving elegies here for what has departed; whether that be children who have flown the nest, a way of life, literary luminaries, past loves, lost parents or our own youth.

Griffith, Graham, and Ruby's father passed away in the war. And now they must join their mother and their father's wartime traveling baseball team, The Travelin' Nine, on a a tour of America to raise money. No one will tell the kids why the team needs money so badly. Their only clue is a baseball with a hole the size of an acorn in it that their Uncle Owen gave to them the night of their father's funeral. When all three kids hold the ball, strange things begin to happen.