It is 1941. Britain is in the grip of the Second World War, and in Ireland, ten year old Lizzie Doyle is getting on with her life and trying to adjust to the arrival of her wild cousin Vicky from England. Vicky is trouble, she's a flirt, she's devious and she's headstrong. Can she and good natured Lizzie ever be real friends? Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

Lizzie's world has been turned upside down by two new arrivals. The first is Alexandru, a handsome but troubled young Bosnian refugee to whom Beth finds herself extremely attracted, and Tori, Beth's cousin, who's trouble with a capital 'T'. Is Doyle family history about to re-enact itself?

'A wholly delightful novel' Allan Massie, Scotsman Lily Crawford and Jeanie Taylor, from very different backgrounds, are firm friends from their childhoods in Kirkcudbright. They share their ambitions for their futures, Lily to be an artist, Jeanie to be a dancer. The two women's eventful lives are intertwined. In the years before the First World War, the girls lose touch when Jeanie runs away from home and joins a dance company, while Lily attends The Mack, Glasgow's famous school of art designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. A chance meeting reunites them and together they discover a Glasgow at the height of its wealth and power as the Second City of the Empire - and a city of poverty and overcrowding. Separated once again after the war, Lily and Jeanie find themselves on opposite sides of the world. Lily follows her husband to Shanghai while Jeanie's dance career brings her international fame. But the glamour and dissolution of 1920s Shanghai finally lead Lily into peril. Her only hope of survival lies with her old friend Jeanie, as the two women turn to desperate measures to free Lily from danger. Inspired by the eventful and colourful lives of the pioneering women artists The Glasgow Girls, particularly that of Eleanor Allen Moore, Daisy Chain is a story of independence, women's art, resilience and female friendship, set against the turbulent background of the early years of the 20th century.

Set in an incredibly exciting period of history, a pacy debut, brimming with adventure and romance.England, 1771: Recently orphaned Daisy Salter moves from quiet Suffolk society to the hustle and bustle of London. A talented botanical illustrator and amateur scientist, frustrated Daisy finds herself governess to the daughter of her sister and brutish noble brother-in-law.However, a chance encounter with pre-eminent scientist Joseph Banks changes everything and, when the extent of her talent is revealed, Daisy not only becomes Artist in Residence at the magnificent Kew Gardens, but confidante of Queen Charlotte, King George III's wife.But whilst science and plant hunting expeditions are flourishing, at sea the &‘triangular trade' is in full swing and Daisy is unwittingly inveigled into espionage, tea smuggling and the slave trade. Who is friend and who is foe? Can Daisy work out who to trust before disaster strikes?

How did this country allow $250 billion to be stolen, squandered and finally sucked down the drain in a scandal that Newsweek has called "the biggest financial mess in U.S. history"? The definitive -- and uproariously entertaining -- answer lies in this prize-winning account of how the cleanest little savings & loan in Texas became the government's black hole -- once Big Bad Don Dixon rode into town.

A New York Times Notable Book of 2012 Food, and in particular the lack of it, was central to the experience of World War II. In this richly detailed and engaging history, Lizzie Collingham establishes how control of food and its production is crucial to total war. How were the imperial ambitions of Germany and Japan - ambitions which sowed the seeds of war - informed by a desire for self-sufficiency in food production? How was the outcome of the war affected by the decisions that the Allies and the Axis took over how to feed their troops? And how did the distinctive ideologies of the different combatant countries determine their attitudes towards those they had to feed? Tracing the interaction between food and strategy, on both the military and home fronts, this gripping, original account demonstrates how the issue of access to food was a driving force within Nazi policy and contributed to the decision to murder hundreds of thousands of 'useless eaters' in Europe. Focusing on both the winners and losers in the battle for food, The Taste of War brings to light the striking fact that war-related hunger and famine was not only caused by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, but was also the result of Allied mismanagement and neglect, particularly in India, Africa and China. American dominance both during and after the war was not only a result of the United States' immense industrial production but also of its abundance of food. This book traces the establishment of a global pattern of food production and distribution and shows how the war subsequently promoted the pervasive influence of American food habits and tastes in the post-war world. A work of great scope, The Taste of War connects the broad sweep of history to its intimate impact upon the lives of individuals.