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After twenty years spent mastering the art of dressmaking at couture houses in Paris, Tilly Dunnage returns to the small Australian town from which she was banished as a child. She plans only to check on her ailing mother and leave. But Tilly decides to stay, and though she is still an outcast, her lush, exquisite dresses prove irresistible to the prim women of Dungatar. Through her fashion business, her friendship with Sergeant Farrat - the town’s only policeman, who harbors an unusual passion for fabrics - and a budding romance with Teddy, the local football star whose family is almost as reviled as hers, she finds a measure of grudging acceptance. But as her dresses begin to arouse competition and envy in town, causing old resentments to surface, it becomes clear that Tilly’s mind is set on a darker design - revenge - and a very spectacular revenge at that. Cover shows Kate Winslet in the role of Tilly from the film of the same name. -
A volume of 11 Biggles adventures: The Case of the Lost Coins: The British authorities sanction Biggles to fly to Albania and retrieve a valuable collection of coins which the owner has presented to the British Museum. The Case of the Old Masters: Biggles is asked to investigate the theft of some valuable paintings from a gallery. Since there would be no point exhibiting or selling these paintings in Britain or anywhere else where they would be widely known, Scotland Yard suspects that they must be taken abroad - and the most practical way would be to do it by air. Mystery on the Moor: While out on a routine patrol, Ginger spots another Auster landing near a farmhouse in Dartmoor. When he turns back for a second look, the aircraft had been hidden away. Biggles decides this needs to be investigated at ground level. The Two Bright Boys: Biggles is asked to investigate reports of a strange small aircraft which had been causing a flight hazard in Hertfordshire. Horace Takes a Hand: Fifteen year old Horace Wilberton brings Biggles a report about an Auster and its pilot behaving suspiciously in Dartmoor. Biggles Learns Something: As Biggles observes, in almost every case of illegal flying, the criminal made a point of choosing an isolated location. "Be funny, wouldn't it," he says to Ginger, "if a crook was smart enough to realise that and go to the other extreme by landing in the middle of a crowd of ten thousand people." Dangerous Freight: Biggles investigates a string of air crashes - and all of aircraft carrying shipments of gold. A Routine Job: Investigating how large shipments of marijuana cigarettes are getting into the country, Biggles, Ginger, Algy and Bertie find that it is very much a matter of routine police checks and patience. Dawn Patrol: While out on a dawn patrol, Ginger spots an aircraft which quickly dodges into cloud cover. Things begin to look even more suspicious when it turns out the aircraft was using false registration markings. The Trick That Failed: Ginger spots yet another aircraft behaving suspiciously while out on patrol. This time it is a French aircraft dodging among the clouds before putting down somewhere in the New Forest. The Case of the Early Boy: Gaskin shows Biggles a diamond necklace which was found in a tree in the Ashdown forest. Twenty-four hours before, it was seen adorning a princess in Monte Carlo. How did the necklace travel so far so quickly and what was it doing in a tree? -
On of Dickens' classics written to rouse society to the sufferings of the poor and the Government's ineptness to do anything practical to help those who had no choice but the grim workhouse. It also illustrates the complete lack of feeling toward the poor, and the corruption that was rife in a mean welfare system that actually made things worse, not better. Oliver's mother dies while bringing him into the world; and the sensitive boy is buffeted from the horrific workhouse to being sold to an undertaker and thence into the foul slums of London. He naively falls in with the Artful Dodger and the evil Fagin, fencer of stolen goods and schooler of children in the art of thievery. There is the vicious Bill Sikes and his pathetic lover Nancy, who is kind to Oliver; Mr Bumble the bullying beadle, Mrs Sowerberry and a whole raft of other vivid Dickensian characters. Oliver's story is unforgettable. This is the complete and unabridged text; with illustrations by George Cruikshank from the 1892 and 1897 editions. -
Thomas: Shelley Mydans
$15.00On a dark December afternoon, in the rising wind and rain of an unprecedented storm, four knights of the court of King Henry II rode into Canterbury in search of the archbishop. They left him dead in the blackness of his own cathedral, and the people of the town came to dip their hands in his blood. Within hours miracles were performed in his name, and soon he was proclaimed a Holy Martyr of the Church. His tomb became a center of pilgrimage for centuries to come. And yet - this was a worldly man, son of a prosperous London merchant, educated in the Church but trained as a knight by one of the great barons of the court of King Henry I, a politician, a lawyer, a protege of the saintly Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury. As chancellor to the young King Henry II, he became the second most powerful man in all England, a wily diplomat and ruthless soldier. so far, he was successful in all he did. His true testing came when Henry, hoping through his chancellor to control the Church, maneuvered his election to the See of Canterbury. Now Thomas was forced to choose between Church and State, between the orthodox Christian religion in which he believed and the slow-dying Old Religion which still influenced his king. His choice for the Church led him into bitter quarrels with Henry, into exile, to his return, and the murder which he foresaw. -
Edwin Page, a fussy middle-aged professor, no sooner bids farewell to his obstetrician wife, Cecilia, who has accepted a year's fellowship abroad, when his new neighbors, Mrs. Botts and her sexy, twentyish daughter, Leila, arrive. Since they're locked out of their house, Edwin invites them in - and then can't get them to leave. He becomes obsessed with Leila and convinces himself that she is a perfect surrogate mother for the childless Cecilia.... -
Six adventures with Simon Templar - The Saint. This volume includes: The Helpful Pirate; The Bigger Game; The Cleaner Cure; The Intemperate Reformer; The Uncured Ham; The Convenient Monster. -
The War Lord: Malcolm Bosse
$10.00China in 1927, free from its corrupt conquerors for fifteen years, is at the mercy of a new breed of tyrants - military adventurers who have carved up the land into little kingdoms ruled by fear: The Warlords. Into their private wars of conquest and revenge strays a young American, Philip Embree. He sets out on a train from Shanghai on a journey that will change his life. He never thought he would abandon his vocation as a Christian missionary to ride with bandits, nor that he would become a member of the elite Big Sword bodyguard of General Tang Shan-teh. But he isn't the only foreigner to be involved in China's violent struggle for unity. Members of the victorious revolutionary Bolshevik party seek to extend their influence. The British and Americans, the Japanese, gun runners, mercenaries of all nationalities vie for political and personal favour. In this swirling ferment, Embree's life is further complicated by a romantic passion that is both dangerous and impossible. The woman he loves is the Russian mistress of General Tang - the Warlord.
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Midnight. New York, the summer of 1864. The Museum has closed its doors. The human inhabitants, released at last from the day's toils, gather together to discuss the outside world. This is P.T. Barnum's Museum and these men and women are his most profitable exhibits. But forty years are beginning to take their toll; once Barnum could do no wrong but now it seems that success is slipping beyond his reach. Across the country the Civil War rages, Atlanta burns and the sparks from that conflagration threaten the great city on the Hudson. In the American Museum, P.T. Barnum's human showpieces, confined to their quarters high above Broadway, take the hours of darkness as their own. This is the story of their struggles and triumphs; a journey through that overheated summer until at last, the events of one night becomes, for them all, a long and terrible transition into day. -
The Blood Star: Nicholas Guild
$110.00The sequel to The Assyrian. Tiglath Ashur is now in exile, banished by his brother Esarhaddon, the King of Assyria. With assassins close behind him, Tiglath flees first to the lands of the bloodthirsty Chaldeans, then to Egypt, a land ruled less by its pharaoh and more by court intrigue and pleasure-seeking. Here he finds love - and betrayal. Escaping to the port of Sidon, he is besieged by the armies he once led. Facing capture and death at the hands of the brother who now hates him, he slips through the trap set for him and ends his journey in Sicily where he wants to live a simple life. But an uneasy reconciliation takes him back t Assyria, where he must decide the fate of the empire.
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Book III of Little Women. To the surprise of all, Jo inherits Plumfield, Aunt March's spacious old home and estate. Before she knows it, she's married to her Professor Bhaer and her dreams of a school for boys - a happy home-like place - are being fulfilled. With two sons of her own, and twelve rescued orphan boys tumbling about the house and orchard, she couldn't be happier. But despite the warmth, affection and unconditional love of Jo, the Professor and the rest of the family, boys will get into scrapes, and there are plenty of troubles and adventures in store. But there is love and learning as well. Coloured illustrations by David K. Stone. -
Set in America as it is drawn into World War II by the attack on Pearl Harbour, the book chronicles the Farman family, who had lived quiet, industrious lives on Farman Hill for generations until the war came into their lives. There is courage and sacrifice, triumph and tragedy, heroism and treachery...and a lonely young wife's desperate struggle to keep love alive in a world shattered by hate. Keyes was married to a Washington politician and she revealed here the failings of Congress in one of her characters, who betrays his country because of his sympathy for Germany. -
High Society: Ben Elton
$6.00The War on drugs has been lost. The simple fact is that the whole world is rapidly becoming one vast criminal network. From pop stars and royal princes to crack whores and street kids, from the Groucho Club toilets to the poppy fields of Afghanistan, we are all partners in crime. This is the story our world today - told in this collection of interconnected stories that takes the reader on a hilarious, heart breaking and terrifying journey through the kaleidoscope world that the law has created and from which the law offers no protection. -
Book II of The Pillars of Rome. Rome has lost its greatest warrior - for Aulus, the doom-laden prophecy of forty years earlier has come to pass. It is now up to Lucius to defy the oracles curse alone, and the corrupt, powerful senator leaves nothing to chance in his bid to survive. But one boy, alone in the world, holds the key to his fate and the future of the Roman Republic.
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Broken Hill, the Silver City. An industrial town that is quietly disintegrating in the harsh economic climate. Unemployment is rife and families are feeling the pressure. The Lemon Tree is a multi-layered novel of three generations of the Evans family. It focuses on the life of their only son, John, who drifts from job to job, hostel to boarding house, from Sydney to Whyalla; and his sister Ellen, who wants to 'make it' in the Big Smoke. It is a novel about work, the lack of it and the poetry of life's little dreams. -
Sergeant Jack Tanner Vol. III. Crete, May 1941. Tanner becomes embroiled in a deadly game of survival that will test his resolve more than ever before. Not only has a difficult new subaltern arrived on the island, but Tanner has offended Alopex, a powerful Cretan kapitan who has sworn to kill him. Then suddenly, the Germans invade and British fortunes take another dive for the worst. At Heraklion, Tanner and the rest of the 2nd Battalion Yorks Rangers are battling the German paratroopers. Leading a counter-attack, Peploe and Tanner's B Company drive the enemy back. But this success is short-lived and, once again, Tanner and Sykes are faced with a bitter retreat. Enemy bombers scupper the attempted evacuation and Tanner and a handful of Rangers make it back to the island into the mountain interior - where only one man seems to be able to help them...Alopex. With the Germans are intent on vengeance, Tanner now has two enemies eager to settle the score. -
Ben-Hur: Lew Wallace
$10.00Judah Ben-Hur, son of a prince of Jerusalem, is thrown into slavery in the Roman galleys by his boyhood friend, yet he lives to become a free, wealthy man - a charioteer champion of Rome - and he is out for revenge against his former friend the Roman Messala. Judah must search for his mother and sister, last heard of imprisoned in the grim Antonia fortress; he must learn to forgive the past; and having heard the word of Christ, he makes a desperate effort to help Him on the day of His crucifixion - as He had once helped Judah. https://cosmiccauldronbooks.com.au/p/the-quest-of-ben-hur-karl-tunberg-and-owen-walford/ -
Book IV of Empire. Britannia has been subdued - and an epic new chapter in Marcus Valerius Aquila's life begins. The murderous Roman agents who nearly captured Marcus have been defeated by his friends. But in order to protect those very friends from the wrath of the emperor, he must leave the province which has been giving him shelter. As Marcus Tribulus Corvus, centurion of the second Tungrian auxiliary cohort, he leads his men from Hadrian's Wall to the Tungrians' original home in Germania Inferior. There he finds a very different world from the turbulent British frontier - but one with its own dangers. Tungrorum, the center of a once-prosperous farming province, a city already broght low by the ravages of the eastern plague that has swept through the empire, is now threatened by an outbreak of brutally violent robbery. A bandit chieftain called Obduro, his identity always hidden behind an iron cavalry helmet, is robbing and killing with impunity. His sword - sharper, stronger and more deadly than any known to the Roman army - is the lethal symbol of his unstoppable power. And now he has moved beyond mere theft and threatens to destabilise the whole northern frontier of the empire ... -
A selection from classic Australian authors... Stories in this volume: Death of a Brumby, Boland Robinson; The Boundary-Rider's Goanna, Spoils to the Victor and King of the Scrub, Henry C. Lamond;The Grey Kangaroo, Alan Marshall; The Mullet and The Catch, Vance Palmer; The Good Season and Return of the Hunter, Frank Dalby Davison; The Gleam of His Wing, Eric Lambert; Bush Cats, Henry Lawson; Native Dog and The Perch, Dal Stivens; The Wedge-Tailed Eagle, Geoffrey Dutton; On The Reef and The Darling Cod, George Farwell; 'The Breaking', R. Wilkes Hunter; Emperors, John Bechervaise; Crows, Dowell O'Reilly; The Pelican and Gun Dog, Cecil Mann; In Crocodile Land, Ion Idriess; Painted Finches, Katharine Susannah Prichard; The White Dingo, Younger Hillman; The Plover, M. Barnard Brereton; The Overseer, Jack Hyett; The Great Stampede, Carl Warbuton and W.K. Robertson; The Hunter, E. Dithmack; Old Harry's Groper, W.N. Scott. -
White Fang: Jack London
$6.00He was three-quarters wolf and all fury. Born in a cave, in famine, int he frozen Arctic, in a world where the weak died without mercy and only the swift, the strong and cunning survived. This was White Fang's world until he and his mother were captured by the man-gods: Men who taught White Fang to hate. He was beaten, abused and attacked. He was bought and sold, tortured, trained to kill in blood sports. He did not know kindness and became a mad, lethal creature of pure rage. Only one man saw White Fang's intelligence and nobility and he had the courage to offer the killer a new life. But can a wolf understand the words 'hope' and 'love'? -
Book I of Queens Of England: Despite the dangers of practicing her faith in the staunchly Protestant England, pretty Queen Henrietta Maria refuses to cast aside her Catholicism, so she finds little favour among the people. She is impetuous and loving, fond of fashionable clothes and gossip and Charles, a family man of principle and integrity, is entirely devoted to her. But their happy if controversial marriage is soon under threat when Henrietta is denounced as a puppet of Rome and charged with leading Protestant England back to Rome. Soon her enemies swarm and the spies in her household prove too much. Only her loyalty and love for Charles can hope to keep him from the road to regicide. -
Book V of the Doctor series. Dr. Simon Sparrow looks forward to a life of tranquillity and order as a respectable homeowner with a new wife, life insurance and a law mower. But that was before his old friend Dr Grimsdyke took to using their home as a place of refuge from his various mischiefs - particularly the incident involving an actress which produced theatrical rather than medical complications. That was more than enough without the appearance of Simon’s godfather, the eminent Sir Lancelot Spratt, now retired from St. Swithin's after thirty years of getting his own way. Sir Lancelot is descending on his mild-mannered colleague Hubert Cambridge, ready to seize control of the plans for the St. Swithin's Bicentenary celebrations - and he does call on Simon but his visit is spectacularly curtailed! -
The story of the love between Sir Richard Grenvile - the King's General in the West and the most detested officer in his army - and Honor Harris of Lanrest, beautiful and brave during the years of the English Civil War. Honor Harris is only eighteen when she first meets Richard Grenvile, proud, reckless - and utterly captivating. But following a riding accident, Honor must reconcile herself to a life alone. As Richard rises through the ranks of the army, marries and makes enemies, Honor remains true to him and finally discovers the secret of Menabilly. Decades later, an undaunted Sir Richard, now a general serving King Charles I, finds her. -
Danny's life is quite simple: doing odd jobs with his father to keep afloat, like painting barns or fixing plumbing, and then kicking back with a six-pack at the end of the day. His father believes that aAll women, young and old, are tramps and whores and no good, and are to be steered clear of. But living near a college, with college girls all over the town, Danny goes from complete innocence to jaded weariness as he experiences one after the other. He knows that Angie, the sophisticated, unstable student is trouble and she, with Danny's tough, vengeful father, make a strange triangle. Danny and Angie's affair works out for a while in a hole-and-corner sort of way. Then as the Welsh winter closes in, Angie gets more demanding - and Danny is faced with a cruel, impossible choice. -
Book V in the Bless Me, Father series.It's Father Neil's second year at the parish of St. Jude and life is as hilarious and chaotic as ever. Mrs. Pring may be marrying Billy Buzzle, the bookie from next door; Mother Superior threatens to denounce Father Neil for flirting with a policeman's wife; there are the animals overrunning the church, much to Father Duddleswell’s chagrin, as a new donkey is followed by a fresh litter of kittens...and Father Duddleswell, wondering if he would've been better off becoming a Rabbi, learns that a bomb dropped ten years ago, is about to blow up... -
Whirlwind: James Clavell
$9.00Book VI of the Asian Saga. Tehran, Iran 1979: Simmering religious tensions finally explode, and the Iranian people rise up against the Shah. The country, once secular, is now thrown back into an orthodoxy that threatens to tear it apart. The United States and Russia go on high alert, with warships heading to the Middle East. The region becomes a powder keg, waiting to explode. Caught up in the revolution are a British helicopter company and its pilots. The oil fields of Iran need helicopters to ferry workers and administrators, and when the main US aviation company pulls out of Iran fearing what might come next, S-G Helicopters steps in to fill the void. Soon they realize that they, too, must leave or risk losing all their machines to whomever takes control of the country. The company risks bankruptcy if that happens—which would ruin Andrew Gallavan and reveal that the company is actually owned by a secret Hong Kong-based consortium: Noble House, controlled by the Struan family. Caught in between is his son, Scot, a pilot in Iran who must help save his father’s company, but also the other pilots and their families. In a risky move, the pilots concoct a plan to get their choppers out of Iran. But will they be able to escape a country crumbling around them before it’s too late? -
Book XX of Master and Commander. After Waterloo, Jack and Stephen set sail on a mission to Chile. Under the guise of a merchant vessel, their real mission is to aid the Chilean struggle for independence. There is near-shipwreck, infidelity, the capture of a pirate ship and the siege of a fortified harbour to contend with - and Jack's longed-for promotion to Rear Admiral of the Blue seems further away than ever. -
A collection of festive Australian stories. In this volume: 12 Days At Silver Bells House, Jennie Jones: Escaping to the country, Kate has twelve days to find herself. The last thing she expects is to find an attractive yet uncommunicative man living in her holiday home. Can the enchanting Silver Bells House and a community dripping in holiday spirit bind Kate and Jamie together? Or will love get lost on the highway back to the city? Her Christmas Kisses, Susanne Bellamy: Stranded in Rainbow Cove with no car, no work and no prospect of saving her family's restaurant, Flick needs a Christmas miracle. It may have been his car that put her in this mess but Xander, luxury resort owner, might just be the solution Flick is looking for - if only Flick and Xander can ignore the undeniable spark between them. Naughty Or Nice, Lauren K. McKellar: Claire wants one thing this Christmas: to land the big promotion at work and finally dispel the office gossip. 'Nice guy' Hamish has his own reasons for wanting that same promotion. The last thing either of them needs is an office fling. Their naughty games could ruin everything, but are Hamish and Claire about to discover what it truly means to win? Christmas In Ghost Gum Springs, Nicole Flockton: A lover of all things Christmas, publican Connor is determined to bring Christmas spirit to the small town of Ghost Gum Springs. He's ready to take on the grinchiest of Scrooges - even the unhappy American girl staying at the pub who would obviously rather be anywhere else. He just didn't expect Scrooge to be quite so attractive... Tinsel In A Tangle,y Ainslie Paton: It's Shelby's job to make sure the office Christmas party is a success. She didn't think she needed to worry about the shy new guy, her inappropriate crush, ending up in the emergency room after decking one of their colleagues. But since Shelby's New Year's resolution is to go after what she wants, maybe there's still a chance this season will be jolly.
