Houses On The Edge

An orphan girl fights to save the inhabitants of a magical house in this first book in the rollicking middle grade magical adventure series perfect for fans of Nevermoor and Greenwild! Nine is an orphan pickpocket determined to escape her life in the Nest of a Thousand Treasures where she’s one of many thieves only valued for what they can steal. When she lifts a house-shaped ornament from a mysterious woman’s purse, she knocks on its tiny door and watches it grow into a huge, higgledy-piggledy building. Inside, Nine meets the eccentric people who call the magical house their home: Dr. Spoon the alchemist, Flabberghast the young wizard and competitive hopscotch-er, and Eric the troll housekeeper with a strong emotional attachment to his feather duster. For years, they have been desperate to end the curse on the house that prevents them from leaving, finding the bathroom on the first try, or opening the tea cupboard. They can’t even change the scenery outside the windows because the toad’s tongue that enables the structure to move around has gone missing. After years of having only herself to count on, prickly Nine doesn’t have an altruistic bone in her body and should be the very last choice for anyone looking for a hero, but she’s the only one around. With the promise of a life-changing reward in the balance, she sets her street smarts against bats with acid dung, a burping sugar bowl, and worse as she uncovers more about the curse…and herself.

There is a universal longing to live near the water. . .and this inspiring book can make that dream come true.

From the bestselling author behind Channel 5's A Year in Provence comes an epic story of enduring love and betrayal, from Paris in the 1960s, to the present day 'One to get lost in' Woman & Home - Best Books of Summer ________ No one else knows what happened that summer. Or so she believes . . . Grace first came to France a lifetime ago. Young and full of dreams of adventure, she met two very different men. She fell under the spell of one. The other fell under hers. Until one summer night shattered everything . . . Now, Grace is living an idyllic life with her husband, sheltered from the world in a magnificent Provençal villa, perched atop a windswept cliff. Every day she looks out over the sea - the only witness to that fateful night years ago. Until a stranger arrives at the house. A stranger who knows everything, and won't leave until he gets what he wants. The past and present spectacularly collide in this gripping story of love and betrayal echoing across the decades. ________ 'I was hooked from a start threaded with mystery and menace, and it kept me gripped' Dinah Jefferies, author of The Missing Sister 'A beautifully woven and compelling tale of passion, love and intrigue' Rowan Coleman, author of The Summer of Impossible Things 'Carol Drinkwater's writing is like taking an amazing holiday in book form' Jenny Colgan, author of The Bookshop on the Shore 'Given extra resonance by the beautifully drawn French landscape. Emotional and tenderly written' Elizabeth Buchan, author of The New Mrs Clifton

A sweeping, propulsive family saga set on a romantic and beautiful Italian island, for fans of Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Beautiful Ruins. On the tiny, idyllic island of Castellamare, off the coast of Sicily, lies The House at the Edge of Night, an ancient bar run by the Esposito family. There, over the course of three generations--from the eve of World War One to the aftershocks of the 2008 financial crisis--the Esposito women will fight to hold their family together against the threats that break across their shores. As lush and magical as the island at its centre, The House at the Edge of Night is a story of love and secrets, endurance, loss and, ultimately, triumph.

This book presents an architectural overview of Dublin’s mass-housing building boom from the 1930s to the 1970s. During this period, Dublin Corporation built tens of thousands of two-storey houses, developing whole communities from virgin sites and green fields at the city’s edge, while tentatively building four-storey flat blocks in the city centre. Author Ellen Rowley examines how and why this endeavour occurred. Asking questions around architectural and urban obsolescence, she draws on national political and social histories, as well as looking at international architectural histories and the influence of post-war reconstruction programmes in Britain or the symbolisation of the modern dwelling within the formation of the modern nation. Critically, the book tackles this housing history as an architectural and design narrative. It explores the role of the architectural community in this frenzied provision of housing for the populace. Richly illustrated with architectural drawings and photographs from contemporary journals and the private archives of Dublin-based architectural practices, this book will appeal to academics and researchers interested in the conditions surrounding Dublin’s housing history.

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION AND SHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2016 Part mystery, part psychological drama, Julia Rochester's The House at the Edge of the World is a darkly comic, unorthodox and thrilling debut When I was eighteen, my father fell off a cliff. It was a stupid way to die. John Venton's drunken fall from a Devon cliff leaves his family with an embarrassing ghost. His twin children, Morwenna and Corwin, flee in separate directions to take up their adult lives. Their mother, enraged by years of unhappy marriage, embraces merry widowhood. Only their grandfather finds solace in the crumbling family house, endlessly painting their story onto a large canvas map. His brightly coloured map, with its tiny pictures of shipwrecks, forgotten houses, saints and devils, is a work of his imagination, a collection of local myths and histories. But it holds a secret. As the twins are drawn grudgingly back to the house, they discover that their father's absence is part of the map's mysterious pull. The House at the Edge of the World is the compellingly told story of how family and home can be both a source of comfort and a wholly destructive force. Cutting to the undignified half-truths every family conceals, it asks the questions we all must confront: who are we responsible for and, ultimately, who do we belong to? 'A story that carries you along - clever plotting and a startling outcome. An impressive first novel' Penelope Lively 'Wonderfully crisp and funny and it's so full of vivid, surprising images that the reader almost doesn't notice the moment that deep secrets begin to be revealed' Emma Healey, author of Elizabeth is Missing Julia Rochester grew up on the Exe Estuary in Devon. She studied in London, Berlin and Cambridge and has worked for the BBC Portuguese Service and for Amnesty International as Researcher on Brazil. She lives in London with her husband and daughter.

Tropical House celebrates a growing trend toward stylish globalization in interior design. More than 25 stunning houses and condos in and around Manila, the Philippines, evoke a distinctive tropical-modern-fusion style that is gaining popularity around the world. All these fine residences comprise a synthesis of East-West trends and contemporary furnishings—as Filipino designers merge sleek modernist furniture with local designers' "soulful creations" in natural hardwoods and other tropical materials. Over 250 full-color photographs of outstanding Filipino residences will inspire readers with their diverse and contemporary looks. From vintage glamour to classic modern with bold artful accents, to the clean, glam look known as "contemporary chic," this design book showcases the myriad tastes of the Philippines. The selection features modernist designs referred to as Zen or Minimalist; admires the modern Global Eclectics, those well-traveled collectors of beautiful objects from East and West; and celebrates the individualists who mix European furniture with acutely creative accents from local designers or who frame edgy artworks by Filipino artists with iconic design inspired by Japanese architecture. Such are the global interiors and architecture of today's tropical Asia.