Curses And Smoke A Novel Of Pompeii

When your world blows apart, what will you hold onto? TAG is a medical slave, doomed to spend his life healing his master's injured gladiators. But his warrior's heart yearns to fight in the gladiator ring himself and earn enough money to win his freedom.LUCIA is the daughter of Tag's owner, doomed by her father's greed to marry a much older Roman man. But she loves studying the natural world around her home in Pompeii, and lately she's been noticing some odd occurrences in the landscape: small lakes disappearing; a sulfurous smell in the air. . . . When the two childhood friends reconnect, each with their own longings, they fall passionately in love. But as they plot their escape from the city, a patrician fighter reveals his own plans for them -- to Lucia's father, who imprisons Tag as punishment. Then an earthquake shakes Pompeii, in the first sign of the chaos to come. Will they be able to find each other again before the volcano destroys their whole world?

Selene has grown up in a palace on the Nile with her parents, Cleopatra & Mark Antony--the most brilliant, powerful rulers on earth. But the jealous Roman Emperor Octavianus wants Egypt for himself, & when war finally comes, Selene faces the loss of all she's ever loved. Forced to build a new life in Octavianus's household in Rome, she finds herself torn between two young men and two possible destinies--until she reaches out to claim her own.This stunning novel brings to life the personalities & passions of one of the greatest dramas in history, & offers a wonderful new heroine in Selene.

When in the winter of 1692, accusations of witchcraft surface in her small New England village, twelve-year-old Mary Chase fights to save her mother from execution.

In a searing historical novel, Tonya Bolden illuminates post-Reconstruction America in an intimate portrait of a determined young woman who dares to seize the opportunity of a lifetime. As a young black woman in 1880s Savannah, Essie's dreams are very much at odds with her reality. Ashamed of her beginnings, but unwilling to accept the path currently available to her, Essie is trapped between the life she has and the life she wants. Until she meets a lady named Dorcas Vashon, the richest and most cultured black woman she's ever encountered. When Dorcas makes Essie an offer she can't refuse, she becomes Victoria. Transformed by a fine wardrobe, a classic education, and the rules of etiquette, Victoria is soon welcomed in the upper echelons of black society in Washington, D. C. But when the life she desires is finally within her grasp, Victoria must decide how much of herself she is truly willing to surrender.

Who better than Anubis, the jackal-headed god of mummification, to serve as a guide through the dreaded Land of the Dead? In this fresh and imaginative approach to nonfiction, the first title in the Secrets of the Ancient Gods series, Anubis steers the reader through the Egyptian dark lands. Along the way, they meet fearsome gods and gruesome monsters. And they witness the battle of the gods against Apophis, the giant demon-snake trying to devour the world. With ghoulish humor and lots of attitude (he is a god, after all), Anubis introduces readers to ancient Egyptian beliefs and rituals—including the secrets of mummification—with panache and, if he does say so himself, drop-dead humor. Includes glossary, bibliography, and index.

From six bestselling authors, including New York Times bestseller Kate Quinn, comes a vividly imagined novel following the lives of those in ancient Pompeii on the fateful day Mount Vesuvius erupts. Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain’s wrath . . . and these are their stories: A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii’s flourishing streets. An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire. An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished. A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue. A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls. A priestess and a prostitute seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried. Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each other’s paths during Pompeii’s fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?

A brand new edition of a Terry Pratchett classic – set in Victorian London, and starring cunning but kind Dodger, as he sets off on a whirlwind adventure through the city streets THE SEWER IS DODGER’S WORLD . . . He hunts treasure there – coins and jewels lost in the dark and dirty drains. It’s a good life, if you don’t mind getting your hands (and arms and feet and face) dirty. But one night, Dodger helps a young woman flee two ruffians. Now, a street urchin dressed as a gentleman, he must discover the secret behind her escape. Along the way he’ll befriend Charles Dickens, outwit Sweeny Todd and reach the giddy heights of Victorian society. Dodger may be living in the gutter, but he’s heading for the stars . . .

Describes the life and accomplishments of the military ruler who conquered ancient Persia and Egypt and united many cultures with one ruler, one language, and one currency.