Item category 1: Historical Fiction

Splendid and sumptuous historical novel from Philippa Gregory, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon. We think of her as the barren wife of a notorious king; but behind this legacy lies a fascinating story.

A servant has been murdered. The baby in her charge has been abducted. Fidelma of Cashel has solved even more horrendous crimes in her career as an advocate of the ancient Brehon Courts of Ireland. But this case is different. For both Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf of Saxmund's ...

Bryce Courtenay's bestselling novel is based on the true story of an unforgettable woman, Jessica, who rebels against the rules of her society. When a crime is committed Jessica must fight for what she loves until the end - and then at last her secret can be told.

It is 1768. For thousands of years Australia has been inhabited only by the Aborigines who understand its land so well. But giant boats filled with white ghost-men are arriving, and their shores are now under a terrifying invasion. Longing to see the world, Jonathan Cadwallader joins the Endeavo...

Amelia Hathaway is the oldest of four sisters and has only one brother to drive her mad. They live a genteel but impoverished life until they come into an unexpected inheritance. Amelia tries her best to rein in her colourful and unmanageable siblings to match society's expectations. Until the my...

Junchow, China, 1928. Lydia Ivanova has a fierce spirit. Nothing can dim it, not even the foul waters of the Peiho River. Into the river's grime bodies are tossed - those of thieves and Communists alike. So every time Lydia steals from someone to feed herself and her mother, she takes her life in...

General Adult. In 1946, as England emerges from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton finds inspiration for her next book in her correspondence with a native of Guernsey and his eccentric friends, who tell her about their island, the books they love, German occupation, and the Guernse...

HISTORICAL FICTION. Conflict Surviving a vicious massacre, the Aboriginal boy Mandawuy is the last of his tribe. He will face the ultimate choice -- join with the white man, or rebel alongside his fellow warriors. Passion When George Collinson meets Eloise it is love at first sight. But Eloise is...

Review: "Alison Weir was already one of Britain's most popular historians when she wrote her first novel, Innocent Traitor, which hit the Sunday Times bestseller list to a chorus of praise." "Now, in her second novel, Alison Weir goes to the heart of Tudor England at its most dangerous and factio...

London, 1848 - for the last two years, following an attack of scarlet fever, Winifred Hathaway has been an invalid. She's been told she can do nothing but succumb to her illness, but her bright and optimistic nature means she will not accept such a fate. She has too much to live for, namely the h...

In the heyday of the Roman Empire a small accounting error has left Marcus Didius Falco sharing a cell with a large rat. But the Empire's most hard-done-by investigator is eventually bailed out and promptly accepts a commission to help a family of freed slaves fend off a professional bribe.

A wild and wind-lashed wall separates two terrifying tribes: the Picts and the Britons. Two Gaul soldiers are given the task of guarding the wall - on pain of death. But with catapults, feasts and football to distract them, will they be able to keep the peace and solve the mystery of the lost leg...

CBCA short list title for Picture book. PICTURE BOOKS. AUSTRALIAN. Escaping from a gang of bullies, our Boy slips into a grand old gallery - the perfect hiding place, full of mystery and treasures. Enchanted by the magic of painting and befriended by a mischievous dog, the Boy ventures into the w...

A keepsake collection of Lord John Grey's shorter adventures and a spectacular addition to any Gabaldon fan's library, LORD JOHN AND THE HAND OF THE DEVILS brings these three unique novellas together for the first time. LORD JOHN AND THE HELLFIRE CLUB marks the first appearance of Lord John outsi...

A frightened child approaches Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco, pleading for help. Nobody believes Gaia's story that a relation wants to kill her - and neither does he. Beset by his own family troubles, by his new responsibilities as Procurator of the Sacred Poultry, and by the continuing searc...

Be taken back to a time that is half-history, halfmyth, and wholly magical... Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the five Pandava brothers, 'The Palace of Illusions' finally gives a woman's take on the timeless tale that is the Mahabharata. Tracing Panchaali's life from fiery birth and lonely chi...

Jean Plaidy's popular Plantagenet series continues with this, the tenth volume. Richard of Bordeaux, young heir to the throne after Edward the Third, is surrounded by ambitious uncles who believe it would be better for the country if they could take the crown. While Richard shows himself capable ...

This is the story of a man who loved two women, and one of them killed him. Some people have dreams that are so outrageous that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. Christopher Columbus, Isaac Newton, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Eddison, Nancy Astor, Charles ...

Richard the Second is losing his hold on the crown and Henry of Bolingbroke, previously exiled by the king, returns to England to claim it. Richard is deposed and dies mysteriously, murdered some say on the orders of Bolingbroke, now King Henry the Fourth. But Henry finds the crown harder to hold...

Twin monarchs Satyrus and Melitta have worked hard, seen much blood shed and many good friends die to secure their fertile kingdom on the Black Sea. But as the colossal conflict between Alexander the Great's former generals to inherit his empire rages from one end of the known world to the other,...

Engaged to the very sensible Michael Bayning, Poppy Hathaway is content with her lot - having longed for a life of normality. That is, until she meets a mysterious hotel owner, Harry Rutledge - the most complicated and dangerous man she has ever met. Harry is wealthy and powerful, a collector of ...

Edward the Second has been barbarously murdered in Berkeley Castle on the orders of his wife, Queen Isabella, and her lover Roger de Mortimer, and fifteen-year-old Edward the Third is now king. Young Edward has already met and fallen in love with Philippa of Hainault and, to prevent him enquiring...

In the wake of King Henry I's death in 1135, the Countess of Anjou, his beautiful daughter, prepares to claim the throne despite the reservations of the late ruler's barons, but her position is usurped by her cousin. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced...

Mystery. The first in a stunning new series, The Cousins War, is set amid the tumult and intrigue of The War of the Roses. Internationally bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings this family drama to colourful life through its women, beginning with the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Q...

England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor.