Книги, похожие на «Jane Borodale, The Book of Fires»

A lyrical, evocative and wonderfully original wartime memoir about life on a farm in the Cotswolds, seen through the eyes of a child.‘Bertie, May and Mrs Fish’ is Xandra Bingley’s account of her childhood on a Cotswold farm, set against the backdrop of World War II and its aftermath. Bingley’s mother is left to farm the land, isolated in the landscape, whilst her husband is away at war. With its eccentric cast of characters, this book captures both the essence of a country childhood and the remarkable courage and resilience displayed by ordinary people during the war. The beauty and sensitivity of Bingley’s observation is artfully balanced by the harshness and grit of her reality.‘In the cowshed my mother ties her hair in a topknot scarf that lies on the feedbin lid. At five-thirty each morning and four o’clock in the afternoons she chases rats off the mangers. She measures cowcake and rolled oats and opens the bottom cowshed door. Thirty-one brown and white Ayrshires and one brindle Jersey tramp into their stalls…’‘Two thousand acres. A mile of valley. Horses cattle sheep pigs poultry. Snow above the lintels of the downstairs windows. Her fingers swelling. Chilblains. Her long white kid gloves wrapped around a leaky pipe in her bedroom. Knotted at the fingers. She has a lot to learn and no one to teach her. Accidents happen.'Bingley tells her tale in a startling voice which captures the universe of a child, the unforgiving landscape and the complicated adult world surrounding her. Her acute observation, and her gift for place, people, sound and touch make this a brilliantly authentic and evocative portrait.

Three stunning novels from the bestselling author of Elegance and Innocence.THE FLIRT‘Unique situation available for attractive, well mannered, reasonably educated young man. Hours irregular. Pay generous. Discretion a must.’In a small office in Half Moon Street, Hughie Venables-Smythe discovers the world of the professional flirt. A timeless art, it can save a marriage or lift a heart faster than any therapy.But is flirtation as innocent as it seems – or can it lead to far more dangerous territories of the heart?THE DEBUTANTECate is a gifted young artist who survives in New York by producing remarkable copies of Old Masters. She arrives in London to stay with her aunt Rachel who owns an auction house, determined to leave the pain of her past behind.Cate is sent to Devon with Rachel's colleague Jack to value the contents of Endsleigh, a grand Georgian home. But inside, its once elegant interiors are now worn with age and dust, and Cate quickly becomes engaged in solving the mystery of the former occupant, Baby Blythe. Bright, beautiful and reckless, she was the most famous debutante of her generation.The clues in the box reveal a tale of a dark, addictive love, a tale that will lead Cate to uncover some secrets of her own.THE PERFUME COLLECTOROne letter will turn newly-married Grace Munroe’s life upside down:‘Our firm is handling the estate of the deceased Mrs Eva D’Orsey and it is our duty to inform you that you are named as the chief beneficiary in her will…’There is only one problem. Grace has never heard of Eva D’Orsey.So begins a journey which leads Grace through the streets of Paris and into the seductive world of perfumers and their muses. An abandoned perfume shop on the Left Bank will lead her to unravel the heartbreaking story of her mysterious benefactor, an extraordinary woman who bewitched high society in 1920s New York and Paris.