'I don't want that nurse touching my baby.' Those are the instructions from the newborn child's parents. However, when the baby goes into cardiac arrest, Ruth, a nurse of twenty years' experience, sees no option but to assist. But the baby dies. And Ruth is charged with negligent homicide.

Ruth is shattered and bewildered as she tries to come to terms with her situation. She finds different kinds of support from her sister, a fiery radical, and her teenage son, but it is to Kennedy McQuarrie, a white middle-class lawyer, to whom she entrusts her case, and her future.

As the two come to develop a truer understanding of each other's lives, they begin to doubt the beliefs they each hold most dear. In order for the privileged to prosper, they come to realise, others have to suffer. Racism takes many forms, and is reinforced and underpinned by the structures of our society.

In gripping dramas like Nineteen Minutes, My Sister's Keeper and The Pact, Jodi Picoult has explored the big issues of our time through characters whose lives resonate with us. Here we see once again her unrivalled ability to immerse us in a story whose issues will linger with us long after the final page has been finished.

Series: Ruth Jefferson, #1
Condition: Pre-loved, Good

Format: C, 470 pages, Paperback
Published: October 12, 2016 by Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781760110499 (ISBN10: 1760110493)
Language: English

Athletic, outdoor type, good cook, good with people, wanted for work on the canals....

Newly not engaged and suddenly out of work, Julia Fairfax needs a new direction. The classified ad that catches her eye sends her on a delightful, hilarious adventure along the English canals on a rickety old hotel boat. Among the twists and turns, Julia encounters
a passel of persnickety guests, an irritating ex-boyfriend, the challenges of cooking in a galley kitchen the size of a closet, and a whole lot of rattling tea cups. Add some frighteningly narrow bridges to steer through, and you've got the makings of an unforgettable journey.

Part romp, part romance, part step-by-step guide to how not to see England's scenic canals, Life Skills will delight fans of intelligent romantic comedy, as well as anyone looking for a few tips on staying afloat.

Condition: Pre-loved, Good

Format: C, 352 pages, Paperback
Published: July 1, 2004 by St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 9780312263539 (ISBN10: 0312263538)
Language: English

John Laroche is a sharply handsome guy, in spite of the fact that he has the posture of al dente spaghetti. He is also an orchid thief, arrested for stealing rare orchids from a wild swamp and nature reserve in southern Florida. Intrigued and fascinated by Laroche, Susan Orlean followed him through the swamps and into the eccentric world of the obsessive orchid collectors of Florida, a subculture of aristocrats, enthusiasts, and smugglers whose passion for plants is all-consuming. Along the way, Orlean explores the history of orchid-collecting, discovers the extent of plant crime in Florida, and spends time with Laroche's employers and partners in crime, a tribe of Seminole Indians who are still at war with the United States.

Condition: Pre-loved, Good

Format: B, 405 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 2016 by Pan
ISBN: 9781509806812 (ISBN10: 1509806814)
Language: English

There are three sides to every story -- your side, their side and the truth.

Focused and hardworking, literary agent Jojo Harvey combines the body of Jessica Rabbit with the mind of a steel trap. While watching her back on the corporate ladder and keeping an eye out for the low-flying ceilings, she falls for her boss. Her married boss.

Lily Wright, one of Jojo's clients, is enjoying overnight success of her debut novel. But nagging doubts are surfacing and she's all too aware of the fragile nature of her happiness. Her second novel doesn't want to be written -- but she must deliver it. She's already spent the advance -- Anton, the 'Love of her Life' persuaded her to buy their dream home. And then there's the guilt about Gemma.

Events Organizer extraordinaire Gemma Hogan was Lily's best friend -- until Lily stole Anton -- also the 'Love of her Life'. Coping with the demands of her recently deserted mother, Gemma's social life is flat-lining -- a mortifying situation which makes for hilarious emails to a friend. Tales so funny, they come to the attention of literary agent Jojho Harvey who takes Gemma on as a client.

All learning the hard way that the nature of real love can come in many forms...

Condition: Pre-loved, Fair

Format: B, 648 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 2005 by Penguin
ISBN: 9780140295993 (ISBN10: 0140295992)
Language: English

“I could just kill you right now!” It’s something we’ve all thought at one time or another. But Ruby has actually acted on it. Three times, to be exact.

Though she may be a murderer, Ruby is not a sociopath. She is an animal-loving therapist with a thriving practice. She’s felt empathy and sympathy. She’s had long-lasting friendships and relationships, and has a husband, Jason, whom she adores. But the homicide detectives at Miami Beach PD are not convinced of her happy marriage. When we meet Ruby, she is in a police interrogation room, being accused of Jason’s murder. Which, ironically, is one murder that she did not commit, though her vicious mother-in-law and a scandal-obsessed public believe differently. As she undergoes questioning, Ruby’s mind races back to all the details of her life that led her to this exact moment, and to the three dead bodies in her wake. Because though she may not have killed her husband, Ruby certainly isn’t innocent.

Alternating between Ruby’s memories of her past crimes and her present-day fight to clear her name, Blood Sugar is a twisty, clever debut with an unforgettable protagonist who you can’t help but root for—an addicting mixture of sour and sweet.

Condition: Pre-loved, Excellent

Format: C, 417 pages, Paperback
Published: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 9781398705616 (ISBN10: 1398705616)

From the Royal Shakespeare Company - a fresh new edition of Shakespeare's touching fable of loss and reunion.

THIS EDITION INCLUDES:
• An illuminating introduction to Pericles by award-winning scholar Jonathan Bate
• The play - with clear and authoritative explanatory notes on each page
• A helpful scene-by-scene analysis and key facts about the play
• An introduction to Shakespeare's career and the Elizabethan theatre
• A rich exploration of approaches to staging the play featuring photographs of key productions

The most enjoyable way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or participate in it. This unique edition presents a historical overview of Pericles in performance, recommends film versions, takes a detailed look at specific productions and includes interviews with three leading directors and an actor – Adrian Noble, Dominic Cooke, Adrian Jackson and Laura Rees - so that we may get a sense of the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible, a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made 'our contemporary' four centuries after his death.

Ideal for students, theatre-goers, actors and general readers, the RSC Shakespeare plays offer an accessible and contemporary approach to reading and rediscovering Shakespeare's works for the twenty-first century.

Condition: Pre-loved, Excellent

Format: B, 200 pages, Paperback
Published: April 13, 2012 by Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780230361904 (ISBN10: 0230361900)
Language: English

The first novel from Britain’s most celebrated political commentator is a gleefully twisted take on what goes on behind the door of 10 Downing Street.

It’s September 2017, and the United Kingdom is on the verge of a crucial referendum that will determine, once and for all, if the country remains a member of the European Union, or goes its own way. The stakes could not possibly be higher, and the outcome is delicately balanced.

But, unsuspected by the electorate, and unknown to all but a handful of members of the Prime Minister’s innermost circle, there is a shocking secret at the very heart of government that, were it to become known, would change everything in an instant. A group of ruthlessly determined individuals will stop at nothing – including murder – to prevent that from happening.

Andrew Marr’s first novel is a darkly comic tale of deception and skulduggery in Downing Street and Whitehall. Making full use of his unrivalled inside knowledge of the British political scene, Marr has created a sparkling entertainment, a wholly original depiction of Westminster and its denizens, and a fascinating, irreverent glimpse behind the parliamentary curtain.

Condition: Pre-loved, Good

Format: B, 384 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 2001 by Fourth Estate Ltd
ISBN: 9780007591947 (ISBN10: 0007591942)
Language: English

When Poppy learns that the love of her life, Freddie de Vere, is to marry someone else, she knows her heart will break. Devastated, she volunteers her nursing skills overseas to take her away from the painful reminders at home. But things are about to get much worse for Poppy. The journey to the hospital in Flanders is full of horrors, and when she arrives it is to find a spiteful ward Sister and unfriendly nurses. Despite her loneliness and homesickness, the dangers of frontline warfare soon make her forget her own troubles and Poppy finds that comfort for a broken heart can be found in the most unexpected places.

Brilliantly researched and inspired by real-life events, big and small, Poppy in the Field is a story about the forgotten bravery of women on the front line, told through the eyes of a young woman determined to play her part.

Series: Poppy #2
Condition: Pre-Loved, Excellent

Format: B, 288 pages, Paperback
Published: May 7, 2015 by Bloomsbury Children's
ISBN: 9781408827635 (ISBN10: 1408827638)
Language: English

Anita has fallen for the leader of a local pack of werewolves. She's survived a lot, but this love thing may kill her yet.

Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #4
Condition: Pre-loved, Excellent

Format: B, 392 pages, Paperback
Published: January 7, 2010 by Headline
ISBN: 9780755355327 (ISBN10: 0755355326)
Language: English

A tale of an unexpected friendship, an unlikely hero and an improbable journey...This novel might just strike you as one of the funniest, most heartbreaking novels you've ever read. This is the story of seventeen-year-old Alex Woods - born to a clairvoyant mother and a phantom father, victim of an improbable childhood accident - who is stopped at Dover customs in possession of 113 grams of marijuana and the ashes of his best friend, Vietnam veteran Isaac Peterson. What follows is a highly original and compelling account of Alex's life and the strange series of events that brought him here.

Condition: Pre-loved, Excellent

Format: B, 407 pages, Paperback
Published: May 9, 2013 by Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781444765892 (ISBN10: 1444765892)
Language: English

The best-kept secret of the U.S. Presidency is about to be revealed.

"There are stories no one knows. Hidden stories. I love those stories. And since I work in the National Archives, I find those stories for a living."

Beecher White, a young archivist, spends his days working with the most important documents of the U.S. government. He has always been the keeper of other people's stories, never a part of the story himself . . . Until now.
When Clementine Kaye, Beecher's first childhood crush, shows up at the National Archives asking for his help tracking down her long-lost father, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the President of the United States privately reviews classified documents. After they accidentally happen upon a priceless artifactÑa two-hundred-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George WashingtonÑhidden underneath a desk chair, Beecher and Clementine find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder.
Soon a man is dead and Beecher is on the run as he races to learn the truth behind this mysterious national treasure. His search will lead him to discover a coded and ingenious puzzle that conceals a disturbing secret from the founding of our nation. It is a secret, Beecher soon discovers, that some believe is worth killing for.

Series: Culper Ring #1
Condition: Pre-loved, Excellent

Format: A,528 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781444734591 (ISBN10: 1444734598)
Language: English

WHEN DARKNESS FALLS… WHEN THE UNDEAD RISE WITH A HUNGER FOR BLOOD… WHEN THE HUNT IS ON—AND YOU ARE THE PREY… WILL YOU BE READY?

In the inevitable event of a vampire attack, the average citizen will be forced to engage in vicious hand-to-hand combat. To avoid serious injury, disfigurement, or death by exsanguination, you need to know the proper combat strategies and techniques to ward off a stronger, faster, more agile undead opponent looking to drain the life from your body. Are you prepared? With detailed illustrations and firsthand accounts from vampire combat veterans—as well as interviews with actual members of the undead—this manual provides you with the information you need to survive with your life and blood supply intact,

• Debunking myths, vampire flight, animal metamorphosis, physical attraction to humans
• Crafting the most lethal vampire weapons from everyday materials
• The pros—and cons—of decapitation
• Weaponizing Ultraviolet (UV) light against an undead opponent
• Using the Domicile Histodiscordant Reaction (DHR), otherwise known as “The Vampire Invitation,” to your advantage
• Solo attacks, team-based combat, and much more…

The Vampire Combat Manual is your indispensable key to survival, whether in a one-on-one battle for blood or a face-off against multiple attackers. Don’t wait until the sun goes down—prepare yourself now!

Condition: Pre-loved, Excellent