Film plays a vital role in the celebration of Christmas. For decades, it has taught audiences about what the celebration of the season looks like – from the decorations to the costumes and to the expected snowy weather – as well as mirrors our own festivities back to us. Films like It’s a Wonderful Life and Home Alone have come to play key roles in real-life domestic celebrations: watching such titles has become, for many families, every bit as important as tree-trimming and leaving cookies out for Santa. These films have exported the American take on the holiday far and wide and helped us conjure an image of the perfect holiday. Rather than settling the ‘what is a Christmas film?’ debate – indeed, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon are discussed within – Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural focuses on the how Christmas is presented on the deluge of occasions when it appears. While most Christmas films are secular, religion makes many cameos, appearing through Nativity references, storylines involving spiritual rebirth, the framing of Santa as a Christ-like figure and the all-importance of family, be it the Holy family or just those gathered around the dining table. Also explored are popular narratives involving battles with stress and melancholy, single parents and Christmas martyrs, visits from ghosts and angels, big cities and small towns, break-ups and make-ups and the ticking clock of mortality. Nearly 1000 films are analyzed in this volume to determine what the portrayal of Christmas reveals about culture, society and faith as well as sex roles, consumerism, aesthetics and aspiration.

"None of us had the faintest idea where we were going [but] during 1938–39 . . . the town [Christchurch] was made strangely interesting for anyone like myself, [with the] scattered arrival of ‘the refugees'. All at once there were people among us who were actually from Vienna, or Chemnitz, or Berlin . . . who knew the work of Schoenberg and Gropius." —Anthony Alpers, 1985 From the 1930s through the 1950s, a substantial number of forced migrants – refugees from Nazism, displaced people after World War II and escapees from Communist countries – arrived in New Zealand from Europe. Among them were an extraordinary group of artists and writers, photographers and architects whose European modernism radically reshaped the arts in this country. In words and pictures, Strangers Arrive tells their story. Ranging across the arts from photographer Irene Koppel to art dealer and printmaker Kees Hos, architect Imric Porsolt to writer Antigone Kefala, Leonard Bell takes us inside New Zealand's bookstores and coffeehouses, studios and galleries to introduce us to a compelling body of artistic work. He asks key questions. How were migrants received by New Zealanders? How did displacement and settlement in New Zealand transform their work? How did the arrival of European modernists intersect with the burgeoning nationalist movement in the arts in New Zealand? Strangers Arrive introduces us to a talented group of ‘aliens' who were critical catalysts for change in New Zealand culture.

Three delightful and heartwarming autumn-themed romantic comedies from CP Ward, much loved author of the Delightful Christmas series. Autumn in Sycamore Park Having fled a relationship and a previous life she would rather forget, young teacher Jennifer Stevens throws herself into a demanding new job at Brentwell Primary. Charged with marshalling a group of unruly eight-year-olds to the autumn harvest festival, her only solace is the peace of nearby Sycamore Park. As the evenings draw in and the leaves begin to fall, will new friends, delicious autumn treats, and a possible new man on the orange-tinted horizon help Jennifer finally come to terms with her past and begin to look forward into the future? Autumn at the Willow River Guesthouse Lily Markham is having a hard time of things. In the space of a week, she loses her job, breaks up with her cheating boyfriend, and is kicked out of her London flat. With her world crashing down, Lily does the only thing she can: retreat to her charming hometown of Willow River to lick her wounds. There, Lily takes a job in her uncle’s guesthouse, develops a friendship with a reclusive novelist, and starts to rebuild her life. And when she meets someone from her past, love could be floating on the cool autumn breeze … Autumn in Sunset Harbour When her grandmother’s death brings Rachel Castle back to her Cornish hometown of Porth Melynos—known to locals as Sunset Harbour—she has no idea of the run of bad luck that is coming. Finding herself homeless, carless, and in a doctor’s waiting room, she wonders what else can go wrong. With her schooldays sweetheart now living with the girl who bullied her, Rachel wants nothing more than to get out of Sunset Harbour and never come back. But small towns have a way of holding on to you, and when Rachel meets a young and mysterious fisherman with a twinkle in his eye, her luck starts to change.

ANTHONY AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST ANTHOLOGY Including NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly’s story “Avalon,” soon to be adapted for television by David E. Kelley. "The very best of what crime fiction should deliver." -New York Journal of Books The latest Mystery Writers of America story collection, featuring surprising, page-turning twists on the genre from some of the top bestsellers and award winners in crime fiction It’s been said that all great literature boils down to one of two stories—a man takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town. While mystery writers have been successfully using both approaches for generations, there’s something undeniably alluring in the nature of a stranger: the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water. No matter how or where they appear, strangers are walking mysteries, complete unknowns in once-familiar territories who disrupt our lives with unease and wonder. In the newest collection of stories by the Mystery Writers of America, each author weaves a fresh tale surrounding the eerie feeling that comes when a stranger enters our midst, featuring stories by prolific mystery writers such as Michael Connelly, Dean Koontz and Joe Hill.

The long-awaited second anthology of Edith Layton's Regency romance Christmas stories includes four heart-warming tales. Originally published in separate anthologies, and out-of-print for many years, these holiday novellas by legendary Regency romance author Edith Layton are in one volume for the first time ever! This collection includes the following stories: The Earl’s Nightingale The Hounds of Heaven The Rake’s Christmas The Dark Man

The first book in the sparkling Glorious Summer series from CP Ward, author of Christmas at the Marshmallow Cafe and Autumn in Sycamore Park. Tired of the city, Grace Clelland returns to Blue Sands, the quiet Cornish seaside village where she grew up. There she will meet old flames and old friends, rekindle old loves and ignite new ones in a novel that will have you dreaming of the soft crash of the waves on the shore, the feel of sand between your toes, overloaded ice-creams and smoky beach barbeques. Not to be missed - the debut summer novel from CP Ward - the author whose Delightful Christmas and Warm Days of Autumn series have captivated thousands of readers worldwide with their warmth, humour, and just a little hint of romance...

When Edith Davies is unexpectedly made both unemployed and homeless, she will take any opportunity going. Soon one comes in the shape of Trenton Manor, a crumbling mansion which local aristocrat Lord Pickles wishes to sell, so Edith jumps in with both feet. Along with her parents’ introverted lodger, Stephanie, Edith takes on the role as live-in cleaner. However, when the discovery of a hidden room reveals a stunning hundred-year-old secret, Edith can have no idea of the rollercoaster that lies ahead. Against a backdrop of warm autumn colours, Edith will both step out of the shadow of her famous sister, help Stephanie overcome her demons, and maybe even find love with an old classmate, Anthony, whom Edith best remembers as the boy she once pushed into the school pond. Set in the beautiful countryside outside the beloved Devonshire town of Brentwell, Autumn on Maple Tree Lane brings all the romance, humour, and seasonal goodwill that CP Ward’s readers have come to expect.