Cirrus@Austlit

'Explore an Australian country town through time.

'Drawing on the experiences of many real towns, Country Town tells the history of a fictional inland Australian town in pictures. From a First Nations people's camp by a river crossing through to the present day, and with many major Australian history themes woven in, this picture book makes a wonderful classroom asset and a great starting point for discussions on the past.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Can an unlikely alliance between a maidservant and a powerful lord save a city from destruction?

'Forced to flee the English court after the lecherous King John attacks her, Adela, the queen’s hairbraider, finds employment in the entourage of Lady Alys. Alys is on her way to marry the Lord of Mirascon, a fiefdom in southern France. However, the south is under threat from Pope Innocent III’s military crusade against the heretics.

'After trying in vain to rally his fellow lords against invasion, Richart, Vicomte de Mirascon, makes an alliance with King John. A political marriage to the Lady Alys – the king’s discarded mistress – will allow Richart to safeguard his people from a merciless land grab and cruel slaughter.

'When the bridal party is ambushed, Adela is mistaken for her dead mistress by the people of Mirascon. Adela knows she must tell Richart that she is not his betrothed, but as she is dragged deeper into the deception, she is also powerfully drawn to the beleaguered man trying to protect his people and his culture. Adela is recognised by the dwarf Derwent, Richart’s English jester, who seems willing to keep her secret for the time being. Yet as suspicion builds up against her, paying with her life seems inevitable.

'As the savage army marches south, can Richart and Adela overcome a web of deceit and treachery and evade the bonfires of the crusaders, or will their land of troubadours and tolerance be destroyed forever?

'Set in the time of the Crusades, Isolde Martyn’s newest historical adventure has all the battle, action and romance of the Outlander series, plus the political intrigue and danger of a Philippa Gregory novel.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Two young women on opposing sides find their lives wrecked by battle ... can they be restored by love?

'As sister to Warwick the Kingmaker and cousin to the new young King Edward IV, Kate Neville finds herself on the winning side of the latest bloody battle of the War of the Roses – and under pressure to marry again. Kate’s family want to ensure her new husband will be someone they control, such as the king’s handsome chamberlain, Lord William Hastings, but Kate is refusing. Hastings has a reputation as a womaniser and she wants a man who won’t betray her like her first husband did. But the debonair Hastings is determined to win her heart. Can she thwart her brother’s plans for her?

'Elysabeth Woodville is a beautiful young woman, much adored by her husband, Sir John Grey, but when he is killed in battle on the losing side and named as a traitor, his estate is seized by the Yorkists and she finds herself penniless and friendless. In her desperate struggle to restore her sons’ inheritance, she finds herself not only kneeling before her enemy but winning his heart. Is she is too proud to become his mistress? Or does the King of England love her enough to ignore his friends’ advice and make her his queen?

'In the precarious peace of a bloody civil war, can love heal the wounds and reunite families? ' (Publication summary)

'1483: England has a new king – a mere boy – but who is to rule the kingdom until he comes of age? His ambitious mother, Queen Elizabeth Woodville, or his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester?

'Into this impasse steps the eloquent and charming Harry, Duke of Buckingham, Richard’s cousin, but what are his true intentions? Here for the first time is his account of that fateful summer when Gloucester became King Richard III. But of the two, who is the statesman and who the villain?

'In this novel, rich in intrigue, Isolde Martyn, author of Mistress to the Crown, draws Richard III and Buckingham, two of history’s most enigmatic men, out from the shadows.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'PARIS 1793 - a young new republic struggling to survive

'Adored by the heroes of the French Revolution, Fleur, a beautiful aristocrat, is playing a hazardous game of double deception.

'Who is this lovely widow who runs the Parisian cafe Le Chat Rouge and keeps company with a python, a mysterious cross-dresser and the daring actress La Coquette? Handsome deputy Raoul de Villaret is determined to find out the truth, But as he and Fleur play a cat and mouse game of seduction, the journalist Marat is using people power for his own ends, and when Fleur's friend, Charlotte Corday, arrives in Paris, all hell breaks loose. For Raoul and Fleur, as the city plunges into chaos, falling in love is the greatest risk of all.' (Publication summary)

'England 1483. Married at sword point to Heloise, a girl with terrifying clairvoyant skills, Sir Miles Rushden is determined to have the marrige annulled, but with the sudden death of the king, Miles and Heloise find themselves at the heart of a power struggle as the mighty dukes of Gloucester and Buckingham manouevre to seize power. Can Heloise convince her handsome new husband that she is not a witch? In a conspiracy that could have a lethal ending, can love prevail?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In 1470 the Wars of the Roses between the house of York and Lancaster threatens to tear England apart once more. In the middle of the conflict is a most unlikely heroine. For Margery, the beautiful and spirited ward of Warwick the Kingmaker, freedom is the only prize worth having. But it is a prize that could cost her her life. Sent to France on a mission for King Edward IV, she finds herself the target of a man who may be one of the king's most dangerous enemies. Richard Huddleston is bold, enigmatic and devastatingly handsome. He is used to getting what he wants, and he wants Margery to be his wife. Margery suspects that Richard has abandoned the king and the House of York and is conspiring with the rebel queen and the traitorous House of Lancaster. Caught between her role as a spy and a fierce passion that neither she nor Richard can deny, Margery finds her heart exposed to the ultimate danger: falling in love. Yet she cannot admit her real mission to Richard. For if she stays true to her noble cause, she'll save many men...and lose the one that matters most.'

Source: Author's website http://www.isoldemartyn.com (Sighted: 14/04/2010)