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London, 1699. The Countess Ashby de la Zouche, former mistress to Charles II, has fallen on hard times. Jailed in the debtor's prison, the Countess finds her only way out is to embark on a career selling sensational stories to London's leading tabloid.
From internationally bestselling author and celebrated actress Celia Imrie, an epic novel set against the backdrop of the sinking of the Titanic. Nice, France, 1911: After three years of marriage, Marcella Navratil has finally had enough. Her husband, Michael, an ambitious tailor, may have charmed her during their courtship, but their few years of marriage have revealed a cruel and controlling streak. The 21-year-old mother of two is determined to get a divorce. But while awaiting the Judges' decision on the custody of their children, Michael receives news that changes everything. Meanwhile fun-loving New York socialite Margaret Hays is touring Europe with some friends. Restless, she resolves to head home aboard the most celebrated steamer in the world. But as the ship sets sail for America, carrying two infants bearing false names, the paths of Marcella, Michael and Margaret cross and nothing will ever be the same again. Orphans of the Storm dives into the waters of the past to unearth a sweeping, epic tale of the sinking of the Titanic that radiates with humanity and hums with life.
London 1699. Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche, Baroness Penge, Countess of Clapham, former mistress to Charles II, has fallen on hard times. Cast into the notorious Fleet Prison by the bum-bailiffs, she is forced to turn to journalism: gathering salacious tit-bits for a scandal sheet. But the Countess and Alpiew, her maidservant, encounter more intrigue than they bargained for when a mysterious woman hires them to follow her husband Beau, whom she suspects of adultery. Their pursuit of Beau leads them to playhouses, lecture halls, the half-constructed St Paul's' Cathedral and the dives of Alsatia, only to end abruptly in a Covent Garden churchyard - leaving the Countess and Alpiew implicated in a murder. And worse is to follow, for to unravel their only clue to the identity of the real killer they must penetrate the mysteries of alchemy.
There's a dead body on the Common, so what else can you talk about over dinner? But for a husband and wife whose marriage is on the rocks, their bank manager, their lawyer and his bimbo girlfriend, is it a safe conversation to have, particularly when a writer of lurid crime fiction is also there to make up the numbers? There's a very sharp knife about the place too. And whatever did happen to the missing librarian? A mystery novel which reads like a Hitchcock movie. In this intriguing novel Fidelis Morgan plays tag with the reader, taking them through the minds of six guests at a dinner party where murder is on the menu.
London 1699. Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche, Baroness Penge, Countess of Clapham, former mistress to Charles II, is an aristocrat on her uppers. Cast into the Fleet Prison, she is forced to turn to journalism. But the Countess and her maidservant encounter more intrigue than they bargained for. 'Hilarious 17th century romp, which combines an authentic slice of history with a tantalising storyline. An authority on the era, Morgan has created an inventive book which wears its learning lightly –like a bawdy P.G.Wodehouse leave you with a keen sense of the period. This is a frolicking good read.' Daily Mail; A Barnes & Noble Discovery Book 2001
The Countess Ashby de la Zouche would not be every parent's choice of chaperone for a beautiful teenager, and still fewer would entrust her with finding the girl a suitable husband - in France, of all places. The second Mrs Alderman Franklyn-Green, however, is willing to go to any lengths to get rid of her unwanted stepdaughter Virginia. And the promise of 100 guineas and a sojourn in the land of gay balls and all-night gambling is sufficient to secure the Countess's services, even if the girl is a complete shrew. Sadly, the exiled English Court at St Germain is far from the den of iniquity the Countess and her maidservant Alpiew were hoping for. Worse, any hopes of enjoying fine French cuisine are dashed when a fellow guest is poisoned. Once more the Countess and Alpiew are plunged into a dangerous investigation. In addition to unravelling plots against three kings and negotiating the culinary eccentricities of the Court of Versailles, our sleuths encounter the Bastille's most mysterious prisoner, and discover - among other depravities - why Lord Whippingham is paying young women to munch in his house of disrepute.
Aphra Behn was the first woman to earn her living by writing for the theater, and was ranked by Defoe alongside Rochester and Milton as one of the 'great wits' of her century.
First title in Lindsey Davis' successful historical mysteries featuring Marcus Didius Falco set in Rome in AD 70.