Rose Tremain

An electrifying novel about disputed territory, sibling love, and devastating revenge. In a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Aramon, the owner, is so haunted by his violent past that he's become incapable of all meaningful action, letting his hunting dogs starve and his land go to ruin. Meanwhile, his sister Audrun, alone in her modern bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting

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In the freezing cellars of the palace, musicians play unseen for the haunted, cash-strapped Christian IV of Denmark. Meanwhile, his beautiful but petulant consort, Kirsten, plays out wild fantasies with her lover. In a stately home in Ireland, Countess O'Fingal mourns her husband's insane pursuit of a tune heard in a dream. She calls for the lutenist Peter Claire to help cure him but Claire leaves to join Christian's chamber orchestra, where he falls...

In 17th century Britain, a young man seduced by the wealth and indolence of the Restoration court finds redemption of sorts through the love of a woman.

Mrs Brown: Queen Victoria was the world's most powerful woman. Rugged Scotsman John Brown was a lowly servant who looked after her horses. Yet when circumstances brought them together the result was a passionate friendship that scandalized a nation Ethan Frome: Story of a man torn between his joyless marriage to one woman and his lustful desire for another Brideshead revisited: When the charming aristocrat Sebastian invites Charles Ryder to his...