The Emerald City is under attack from the cunning Nome King - can Dorothy help defeat him?

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Louis Roubien has much to be thankful for. Now an old man, the head of a large family, his many hard years of work on the land have transformed him from a peasant farmer into a prosperous and satisfied freeholder, distributing his largesse among his relatives and the local community. But with success has come hubris, and when the rains, hitherto a harbinger of plenty, come, and the banks of the River Garonne swell and burst, Roubien sees everything for which he has striven swept away by the raging waters of the flood. His livelihood taken from him in one fell blow, it remains to be seen whether Roubien will at least be left his life, and the lives of those he holds dear. The Flood, along with the complementary stories presented here, the celebrated 'Blood' and 'Three Wars', is a fascinating example of Zola experimenting with surrealist styles, in a departure from the dark realism for which he is more commonly known. The eternal theme of man versus nature writ large, it is a timely reminder of our fragility and impermanence before the unyielding elements.

Mary Borden worked for four years in an evacuation hospital unit following the front lines up and down the European theater of the First World War. This beautifully written book, to be read alongside the likes of Sassoon, Graves, and Remarque, is a collection of her memories and impressions of that experience. Describing the men as they march into battle, engaging imaginatively with the stories of individual soldiers, and recounting procedures at the field hospital, the author offers a perspective on the war that is both powerful and intimate.

An exciting children's tale of espionage and revolution from the author of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. From the author of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden comes a masterful adventure that will capture the imagination: a tale of destiny, revolution, family and friendship. Twelve-year-old Marco and his father, Stefan, are exiled citizens of the impoverished Eastern European nation of Samavia. They live in London, where Stefan often receives mysterious visitors and where Marco befriends a street urchin known only as Rat. Stefan decides to send the pair on a secret mission in Europe, carrying a coded message to fellow Samavian patriots across the continent. On their arrival in Europe, it quickly becomes clear that Marco and Rat might not know the whole story; everywhere they go, Samavian exiles show Marco particular attention, but it is not until their return to London that the magnitude of the secret hidden within him becomes clear. Burnett's evocation of early twentieth-century Europe is masterful, and her imaginative tale of political intrigue and family destiny will appeal to readers of all ages.

Superstitions still have a firm hold in cultures all across the world and have inspired countless books and films across the ages. But where did so many of them come from and how do myths and beliefs differ from country to country? Publishing on Friday 13th, discover this 1899 gem full of interesting facts and packed with titbits. Find out why people throw salt over their shoulder, why you should never open a theatre on Friday in France and whether it is luckier to sneeze towards the left or the right. And why the number thirteen is considered so unlucky. Lawrence's fascinating work traces the origins of common superstitions through time and civilisations, tracking how they evolved. Why not dip in and out and see how many have endured to the present day… You will finally be able to answer important questions such as whether a horseshoe on the door can protect you from plague. Why do people say 'bless you' when you sneeze? Or find out what condition can apparently be cured by putting salt in the hems of a young boy's trousers and making him look up the chimney… Or you could even finally settle the question about whether black cats are good or bad luck!

Extra! Extra! American billionaire King Kerry is using his immense wealth to quite literally, buy London, in this gripping mystery from prolific writer and creator of King Kong, Edgar Wallace. King Kerry and his associates own a huge and growing portfolio of properties and he has come to London to expand his empire. A charming and ambitious man, he nevertheless has made a few enemies along the way including the obnoxious and dangerous Hermann Zeberlieff whose bad business decisions and gambling habit mean he would like nothing more than to get his hands on Kerry's fortune. When Elsie Marion, late for work again and in a dreadful rush, bumps into a charming grey-haired man on the tube, little does she know how much her life is about to change. For the dashing stranger has just bought Tack and Brighten, her place of employment, and is about to offer Elsie a new job she simply cannot refuse. Thus begins a whirlwind of mysterious events for Elsie, as she soon finds herself in the cut-throat world of business in a London which she never knew existed before. King Kerry's rivals will go to deadly lengths to topple his growing property empire, and when a long-buried dark romantic secret from King Kerry's past comes to light, a shock will lie in store for all.

A profound and moving piece of investigative journalism, Jack London's study of the London underworld remains, a century after it was written, a timely tale of poverty and injustice.In 1902, Jack London purchased some second-hand clothes, rented a room in the East End, and set out to discover how the London poor lived. His research makes shocking reading. Moving through the slums as one of the poor; eating, drinking and socialising with the underclass; queuing to get into a doss-house, London was scandalised and brutalised by the experience of living rough in Britain's capital. His clear-eyed reflections on the iniquities of class are a shaming testament to the persistence of social inequality in modern Britain.

Two boys from two different walks of life change places and alter their paths forever… An American classic from Mark Twain. London, 1547. Two young boys meet by chance and strike up a conversation at the gates of a palace. Tom Canty is a poor young boy with few prospects in life; his new friend happens to be Prince Edward VI, the Prince of Wales. The Prince and the Pauper could not be more different from one another: except for the small fact that they look identical. When Tom admires the Prince's fine garments, he and Prince Edward decide on the spur of the moment to swap clothes. But with cruel irony the Prince is mistaken for a poor beggar in Tom's rags and is kicked out of his own palace while Tom is taken to be the Prince by everyone he meets. Suddenly the Prince and the Pauper have swapped not only clothes but also their homes, families, lives and their very identities. While the boys are eager to learn about life in someone else's shoes, they ultimately want to return to their own homes and families. But this proves to be a tall order when nobody believes the prince's claims that he is really a Prince despite being clothed in rags… In this gripping tale of mistaken identity, we see Mark Twain venturing into historical fiction for children while displaying his typical flair for witty dialogue and incisive satire.

Charlotte Brontë's first ever book, The Professor, is a love story full of feeling and emotion told from a male viewpoint - a must read for Brontëfans. The first book ever to emerge from Charlotte Brontë's pen, The Professor is an autobiographically inspired romantic love story set in Brussels. Thinly veiling her personal experiences, Brontëunusually uses a male narrator, making this a fascinating and unique read. With the action played out in dark boarding-school classrooms and windy streets, Brontëweaves a tale of much emotion - one that foresees the longer, better-known saga Villette that was to follow many years later. Fresh out of Eton, orphaned William Crimsworth finds himself in an unenviable situation - a clerk to his little-educated, caddish mill-owner brother - until opportunity presents itself for a complete change of fortune. Crimsworth is offered a job in Brussels as a teacher in an all-girls boarding school, run by a M Pelet. Later headhunted to a better position by the beguiling Zoraide Reuter, Crimsworth believes himself slightly enamoured with his new employer - only to discover her secretly and perfidiously engaged to M Pelet. His new position almost intolerable, Crimsworth finds solace in teaching Frances Henri, a young Swiss-English seamstress teacher with promising intelligence and ear for language. Mlle Reuter though, jealous of the young professor's obvious partiality, dismisses Frances from her position. Crimsworth, in despair, is forced to resign from the school and takes up a ghostly existence in Brussels, roaming the streets in the hopes of finding his Frances. An often neglected classic, The Professor is not only a compellingly written novel but fascinating in its concern with gender issues, religion and social class, making it a book still studied today.

Containing all the ambience of The Great Gatsby, The Rich Boy is a perfect collection of Fitzgerald stories evoking the trappings and illusions of 1920s high society. Undisputed king of Jazz Age writing, F. Scott Fitzgerald perfectly encapsulated all the glamour and despair of 1920s society. These three short stories are supreme examples of his craft. With wealth and privileges beyond measure, 'rich boy' Anson Hunter had every reason to expect life to be a breeze. Yet one by one his dreams fade away, leaving him with nothing. Slowly, painfully, he realises that beneath the sparkle and fizz of his glittering life lies only failure and disillusionment - the self-same emptiness that pervades the beautiful people of 'The Last of the Belles' and 'The Bridal Party'.

This charming, magical story from award-winning author Elizabeth Goudge beautifully depicts early twentieth century English country life while conjuring an air of magical adventure. Written by the author who inspired J.K. Rowling, it is full of vivid characters, battles between good and evil and wonderful spell-binding moments. Locked away in separate rooms as punishment by their ruthless grandmother, Nan, Robert, Timothy and Betsy decide to make their escape - out of the house, out of the garden and into the village. Commandeering a pony and trap, the children and their dog are led away as the pony makes his way nonchalantly home. The pony's destination happens to be a house that belongs to the children's uncle Ambrose. Gruff but loveable Uncle Ambrose agrees to take them under his wing, letting the children have free reign in his sprawling manor house and surrounding countryside. Befriending the motley collection of house guests including an owl, a giant cat and a servant who converses with bees, and getting to know the miscellaneous inhabitants of the village, the four siblings discover a life in which magic and reality are curiously intermingled and evil and tragedy lurk never far away. Winner of Hesperus Press' 'Uncover a Children's Classic Competition', The Runaways is a truly charming story from a bygone era.

It was the summer of 2013 that the Plague came... The heart began to beat faster and the heat of the body to increase. Then came the scarlet rash, spreading like wildfire... An old man walks along deserted railway tracks, long since unused and overgrown; beside him a young, feral boy helps him along. It has been sixty years since the great Red Death wiped out mankind, and the handful of survivors, from all walks of life, have established their own civilisation, their own hierarchy in a savage world. Art, science, all learning's been lost, and the young descendants of the healthy few know nothing of the world that was, nothing but myths and make-believe. The old man is the only one who can convey the wonders of that bygone age, and the horrors of the plague that brought about its end. What future lies in store for the remnants of mankind can only be surmised - their ignorance, barbarity and ruthlessness the only hope they have. Jack London's dystopian vision of the future was first published in 1912, a century before the Scarlet Plague he envisioned destroying the human population. The deadly virus, which kills in a matter of minutes in some instances, remains a terrifying prophecy of the perils of globalisation, which are all too pertinent today.

A classic tale of adventure at sea, The Sea-Wolf tells the story of the naïve young Humphrey van Weyden, whose ship is wrecked in a terrible storm. He is rescued by the mysterious Captain Wolf Larsen of the ship Ghost. Humphrey's new life aboard Ghost will test him to the limits of his endurance but also bring him the greatest happiness he has ever known. Captain Wolf Larsen is a powerful, brutal man with a razor sharp intelligence. When there is an attempted mutiny on board he shows no mercy to the would-be mutineers, and when his brother Death Larsen attempts to take over the Ghost by force, there is no love lost between them in their vicious battle. Wolf's cruel manner is thrown into sharp relief by the gentle spirit of the beautiful poetess also rescued, Maud Brewster, who charms both Wolf and Humphrey. As Humphrey falls in love with Maud, he must contend not only with the dangers of being at sea but with competition from his cruel and scheming captain. The Sea-Wolf is a dramatic tale of mutiny and shipwreck, but at its heart is the story of a love that flourishes in the unlikeliest of places. Jack London's thrilling narrative of the seven seas remains just as gripping today as it was a hundred years ago.

A foreboding and darkly comic period thriller considered the inspiration for du Maurier's Rebecca, Vera is a deftly plotted masterpiece woven with intrigue. First published in 1921 and believed to have been the inspiration for Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Vera is a darkly comic thriller which drew on the author's own experience of unsuccessful marriage. When Lucy Entwhistle's father dies suddenly, she is left alone in the world struggling to find her place in life. But on the very same day she happens to meet the recently widowed Everard Wemyss. Their shared grief brings them together as they find in each other someone to talk to and in whom to confide, and Lucy finds a comforting hand to guide and protect her. As Wemyss' control over Lucy strengthens, an engagement seems imminent, only Lucy's aunt seems to apprehend some danger in the unsettling Wemyss. Returning from their honeymoon, Lucy takes up her place as mistress of 'The Willows', the Wemyss family home. But the spectre of Wemyss's first wife seems to hang heavy in the air as Lucy takes over the dead wife's sitting room and marital bed. With Everard's ever increasing controlling behaviour, the claustrophobic atmosphere deepens, and Lucy becomes more obsessed with the mysterious Vera. The oppressive situation threatens to build to crisis level. How did Vera really die? Can Lucy ever be happy at 'The Willows'? Vera is a forgotten thriller by a master of the genre, a brilliant exploration of the nature of control and love in the relationships between men and women.

Now a major motion picture The German Doctor is a story of obsession, loyalty and control as one man with dark intentions charms his way into the lives of an innocent, unsuspecting family. Patagonia, 1960. José is on the run. Having fled from him homeland Germany, he has come to South America to continue his work - José is a doctor, who is seeking to manipulate genes to create the 'perfect' human race'. In the small village of Chacharramendi he first meets Lilith, a child he notices from the balcony of his motel and is instantly fascinated yet repulsed by. For Lilith has a growth defect, and the disproportionate size of her features represent all he is trying to exterminate from humankind. Yet, even more fascinating is the fact that her siblings are perfect examples of the Aryan race; tall, strongly built and fair. The anomaly of Lilith's existence fascinates him, and when he discovers Lilith's mother is pregnant, if he is not mistaken with twins, the temptation to involve himself in their lives and even interfere with the pregnancy is too much for him to pass up on. A cold, calculating but eerily charming man, José befriends Lilith and manipulates his way into the family. And so begins a dark relationship between the doctor and little girl, a kind of love that cannot end well. For José is actually Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, infamous for performing human experiments at Auschwitz and sooner or later his past is going to catch up with him.

A masterpiece of farcical comedy by the author of Treasure Island sees two brothers about to inherit a fortune, if only one pesky relative would adhere to the rules… The Wrong Box is a black comedy novel, co-written by Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne. Morris and John Finsbury stands to gain a lot of money if their Uncle Masterman dies, but none if Uncle Joseph dies first. So when Joseph seems to have come to an untimely end in a railway accident, a farcical sequence is set in motion. Determined to conceal the death, Morris hides the body in a barrel which he then ships to London. How will the situation resolve itself and how long can the deception continue for…? First published in 1889 and adapted several time for film and musical, The Wrong Box is Stevenson at his funniest. The farce moves at a tremendous pace with Stevenson rapidly piling up train crashes, missing uncles, cases of mistaken identity and surplus dead bodies.