“You want to learn magic, dearie? I will teach you my ways…if you can survive it…" All I've ever dreamed of is to learn the ways of magic, but the village witch casts me off because I can’t read. I’m just a poor miller’s daughter, but the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen finds me weeping by the side of the road, and takes pity on me. He gives me my first kiss and a gold coin, and tells me that if I can hang onto the gold coin for one year, he’ll return and make my dreams come true. Well, how on earth is a girl supposed to hang onto a gold coin when she’s freezing and hungry? Now the handsome man has returned and as it turns out, he’s a king—and my father tells him I can spin straw into gold, since…I might have told a few wild stories about where that damn coin came from. Now I’m locked in a tower by a king who knows I’m a liar who spent his coin, and if I can’t spin the straw into gold, I’ll face his punishment. He’s more of a jerk than I thought, but he’s the king, so what am I to do? Enter the Trickster Mage—a ragged, wild goblin sorcerer. He’ll teach me to spin the straw into gold but in exchange he asks for the most wicked bargain I can imagine—and I will learn the secrets of the most exquisite and horrible patience. Caught between these two men, I learn more than I ever imagined—and more than the goblin sorcerer ever imagined as well, because as we grow closer, I begin to see the man behind the Trickster Mage—and grow closer to his true name. The Goblin’s Curse is a steamy fairy tale retelling of Rumpelstiltskin for those who like an adorable happily ever after fairy tale romance.

The complete Grim and Grimmer humorous fantasy quartet for primary readers. It’s not easy to be a hero when your bum is the size of an airship and you’re bobbing around the ceiling, mocked by angry dwarves. The Fey Queen, Emajicka, is stealing the children of Grimmery for her Collection. She bathes in their nightmares to relieve her own. There is one nightmare she wants most of all. If Ike had stayed home that Tuesday, he would not have been expelled from school, betrayed a princess or robbed a murderous queen. He would not have been tied to an insane imp desperate to eat his liver. He certainly would not have floated across a strange land on an impossible rescue mission, powered by exploding manure. Nor would he have tried to escape via that disastrous troll-bum door. But can he ever escape the Nightmare Queen? Reviews “The funniest horror story you’ll read in a long while – Ian Irvine is a master of fantasy and this is the best yet.” Good Reading “Entertainingly written in an energetic, descriptive style. An extraordinary fantasy world. Fast and furious and very funny.” Reading Time “Irvine has great fun creating his world. Funny and fast-paced, Ike’s story reads briskly, leavened with a little horror and a dash of scatological humour. A fun adventure for upper-primary readers. Recommended.” Bookseller and Publisher “The Headless Highwaymanis the first book in the Grim and Grimmer series from fantasy genius Ian Irvine, who manages to create a world which is believable, thrilling and funny all rolled into one.” Aussiereviews.com “The Grasping Goblintakes the two reluctant heroes on a very wild ride. Very funny too, as well as dangerous, gory and grotty. A grand adventure.” Aussiereviews.com “I gasped and laughed my way through these three books. Action packed.” Dee White, Kid’s Book Capers. “A wonderful tale. Delightfully dark and delicious.” Jacq Ellem, hittheroadjacq.com “Fantasy genius Ian Irvine manages to create a world which is believable, thrilling and funny all rolled into one.” Aussiereviews.com on The Calamitous Queen

Drawing on novels, poetry, periodicals, and political pamphlets, Giving Women examines the literary expression and cultural consequences of gift exchange among English women from the 1820s until the end of the First World War.

Bringing to bear a variety of perspectives on the poetry, prose, and letters of a writer whose work is just now beginning to emerge from critical neglect, this collection edited by David A. Kent should play an important role in the re-evaluation of Christina Rossetti. It consists of fifteen essays by gifted Victorian scholars who represent a wide range of methodologies and critical concerns, and it offers alternatives to the autobiographical approach that has limited appreciation of Rossetti the writer.