Cirrus@Austlit

'France, April 1940. Orphan Polly Hartford has been sent across oceans to her Aunt Marjorie, known only from letters. When Marjorie dies in suspicious circumstances, Polly is left with her aunt’s loaded pistol in a beautiful Hermès handbag . . .  and to the care of Marjorie’s three closest friends: an elegant Comtesse, a gutter-born film star and a big-hearted American heiress.

'Polly is taken to live at the Hôtel Ritz, where guests and staff believe wealth and prestige protect them from war. But when the Nazis invade, the illusion is shattered. As Paris deteriorates, Polly and her guardians face the horrors of the Occupation with daring, humour, style – even romance – and despite their dangerous secrets, they discover just what they are capable of.

'As the Liberation approaches, those who survive at the Ritz must face a day of reckoning, but one truth stands tall: at the heart of the Ritz is the soul of resistance.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Victoria, Australia, 1886… and 1903. Dark shadows fall across two golden summers, seventeen years apart.

'When beautiful Matilda Gregory, mistress of Summersby House, dies in mysterious circumstances her will brings to light an extraordinary deception – and a terrible wrong from the past. Summersby has a secret heiress, whose name is also Matilda Gregory, a strange, ethereal girl with an irrevocably broken memory.

'Grieving Samuel Hackett seems somehow linked to his fiancée’s death but a pact made with Barker, Summersby’s scheming butler, proves effective in silencing tongues. The two men return the second Matilda to her inheritance – and set off a series of puzzling events.

'Two loyal servant girls, Aggie and Ida, gradually awaken to the sinister forces playing in Summersby’s halls. Determined to aid the vulnerable heiress, the maids uncover strange vials, ghostly dogs, and letters from beyond the grave. These eerie messages hint of secrets from Summersby’s past – and incidents destined for the future.

'Biddy MacBryde, a runaway kitchen maid not yet born in 1886, is separated from these events by a distance of half a generation. Yet Biddy’s own path leads her towards Summersby, where in unwitting parallel with Aggie and Ida, she too uncovers a shocking truth about its heiress – and an even more startling legacy. ' (Publication summary)

'Rome is bathed in blood as the Emperor Tiberius is tormented by drug-fuelled terrors of treason. The innocent are butchered while the guilty do evil in darkness. None are guiltier than the Emperor's devoted and deluded 'son', Sejanus.

'In this city of poison three beautiful women are locked in a lethal rivalry…

'Agrippina. Driven mad with grief, her obsession with revenge for her murdered husband imperils the lives of her children.

'Apicata. Robbed of her eyes and embittered in her heart, she schemes in the shadows to empower the husband who despises her.

'Livilla. Sensual and sly, she is gripped by a lust for a lover as deadly as he is desirable.

'Three women. One goal. Who will be Empress of Rome?

'Moving stealthily among them is Iphicles, arch schemer and slave, whose haunted heart is lightened by the eunuch Lygdus, his willing apprentice in murder. With paralysed Livia now a helpless captive to her slave, it is the repellent brat Little Boots' turn to profit from prophecy. But as Iphicles' deadly plan to enthrone Little Boots unfolds, Livia struggles secretly towards recovery with the help of the sorceress Martina. Rome is a nest of vipers, and Livia, the one true Empress of Rome, is hell-bent on wreaking her vengeance…

'Nest of Vipers is the second volume in the gripping Empress of Rome series.' (Publication summary)

'THERE IS A SHE-WOLF IN THE SHADOWS…

'It is 44BC and the rival clans of Rome are driving the Republic towards a violent, blood-soaked end. The jealous Claudians covet the power of the Julians, who are kings in all but name.

'A tiny infant utters the prophecy of a goddess. If the darkly beautiful thirteen year old Livia Drusilla marries her bastard cousin, eleven year old Tiberius Nero, four great kings of Rome will spring from her womb. Four great Claudian kings…

'Livia and her child groom begin their star-crossed marriage, but scheming Livia has dangerous ideas. She believes herself greater than the gods, and she doubts the interpretation of the prophecy.

'When Julius Caesar is murdered the fortunes of the Claudians take a sudden, deadly turn. The great patricians become paupers, and Livia and her husband must flee Rome or face being killed as criminals.

'But Rome falls under the spell of Caesar's golden-haired nephew, Octavian. The youthful dictator in the making offers Livia and her boy husband forgiveness. Yet Livia sees more than the promise of mere forgiveness in Rome's most desired new man. She sees Octavian as the true sire for her prophesised kings. And she sees her own chance for power…

'So begins a murderous tale of sex, corruption and obsession as Livia pursues her great destiny.

No crime is too shocking. No sin is too low. No evil is beyond her grasp.

'Narrated by the 100 year old slave, Iphicles, and set in a time where no woman could hope to wield power, DEN OF WOLVES brings life to the legendary women behind the legendary men. With ambition, beauty and cunning as their weapons, the women of Rome are history's unsung survivors. Unsung until now… ' (Publication summary)

'In one day successful city lawyer, Laura Gibson's world falls apart. Suddenly she realises she no longer knows her husband, her children, or where her all-consuming career is going. On a whim, Laura grabs at a position as magistrate in the small coastal town of Pearl Bay and with two bewildered kids in tow sets off to change their lives forever.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 18/9/2012)

'99.9 RAW FM is the story of a community radio station that gets a licence to broadcast for a week, then for a further 90 days and then becomes a success. A phenomenal, unstoppable, ratings blitz smash.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 28/11/2013)

'Set in the mythical country town of Jericho, the Villain of Flowers revolves around The Duke La Castro – a prominent orange farmer and pinnacle of the local community – andJack Baracoon – a young man who is returning home on the day of his brother’s marriage to the Duke’s only daughter – Gia.

'Angry and estranged from his brother – Bob and sister – Cindy – Jack carries around the scars left by the murder of both his parents, years before. The Duke would appear to be a generous family friend having taken care of the Baracoon children ever since the horrible tragedy. Until the day of the wedding – when Jack is visited by the apparition of his dead father – demanding vengeance against the man who killed both he and his wife – The Duke.'

Source: Anthony Crowley's website (http://www.antcrowleycreates.com/villainofflowers).

Home and Away is a television serial created by Alan Bateman and produced by the Seven Network. The idea for the series came to Bateman (then head of drama at Seven) after he stopped to buy ice-creams in a small country town in southern NSW. While chatting to some locals, he learned that the town was unhappy about plans to build a home for foster kids from the city. At that time, Channel Seven was still smarting from its decision to let Neighbours go to the Ten Network, where it had become hugely popular, and was looking to create another series to rival its success. Bateman saw in the idea that became Home and Away the potential for plenty of storylines and conflict by having streetwise city kids being relocated to a small regional environment,

In the beginning, the series focused on Pippa and Tom Fletcher, who, being unable to have children of their own, decide to become foster parents. When Tom is retrenched from his city job, the couple buy the rundown Summer Bay Caravan Park and move there with their five foster children. Soon after arriving, they also take in troublesome Bobby Simpson.

The series debuted in January 1988 with an hour-long telemovie. Although this rated well, the series itself took some while to develop an audience. Having learned their lesson from the Neighbours debacle, Network Seven gave its new show time, and its ratings gradually increased. As with Neighbours, the Home and Away series and performers became very popular in the United Kingdom.

A daily television drama series set in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough, Neighbours chronicles the lives of the residents of Ramsay Street. The series initially revolved around three families: the Ramsays (at number 24 Ramsay Street), the Robinsons (at number 26), and the Clarkes (at number 28). The scope of the series has since broadened to include new Ramsay Street familes.