` In December 1937 I crossed the Pyrenees from France
- two days on foot through the snow.` Laurie Lee was still a young man when
...

A Monsoon Feast comprises seven short stories by renowned writers from Kerala (India) & Singapore that provide deep insights on the various concerns & ways of life of both communities. The collection

Includes:: stories by well-known author Shashi Tharoor, Commonwealth Writers` Prize-winning author of 12 books, including The Great Indian Novel, & inaugural Singapore Literature Prize winner & popular author Suchen Christine Lim. A unique literary collaboration, A Monsoon Feast intimately connects the reader to the heart of two similar & yet different cultures. Across the seas, the winds blow between two lands, whispering back & forth what is seen, heard, tasted, smelt, felt in each place: the green trees, the tropical heat, the lush rain, the peoples of enterprise & culture, the aromas of different flavours & more. A Monsoon Feast is the point at which these winds intermingle, their conversation celebrating the best of what Singapore & Kerala have to offer.

...

Oxfordshire, 1947. Exhausted by the war & nursing a tragic secret, Kit Smallwood flees to Wickam Farm to recuperate. There she throws herself into helping Daisy set up a charity sending midwives to India. Daisy`s plan is fraught with danger. With newly-acquired Independence, many of India`s people furiously resent the English for withdrawing so quickly, blaming them for the riots that left millions dead. When Kit meets Anto, a handsome, complicated but charming trainee doctor nearing the end of his English education, she falls utterly in love. Anto makes her laugh & marriage should be the easiest thing in the world. But when he informs his family that he is shortly to return home with an English bride, his parents are appalled. Despite being Anglo-Indian herself, Kit`s own mother is equally horrified. She has spent most of her life trying to erase a painful past & losing her daughter to an Indian man is her worst fear realized. As they journey to a new life in India, Kit begins to realize the seriousness of what she has undertaken. Thrown into the heart of a traditional Indian family in a rapidly changing world, Kit has much to learn about the nature of home & the depth of her love for Anto. ...

An extraordinarily moving novel about coming to terms with loss. The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. But it isn`t the monster Conor`s been expecting. He`s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he`s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness & the wind & the screaming... The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. & it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth. Costa Award winner Patrick Ness spins a tale from the final idea of much-loved Carnegie Medal winner Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. Darkly mischievous & painfully funny, A Monster Calls is an extraordinarily moving novel of coming to terms with loss from two of our finest writers for young adults. ...

The bestselling novel about love, loss & hope from the twice Carnegie Medal-winning Patrick Ness. Conor has the same dream every night, ever since his mother first fell ill, ever since she started the treatments that don`t quite seem to be working. But tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there`s a visitor at his window. It`s ancient, elemental, a force of nature. & it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth. Patrick Ness takes the final idea of the late, award-winning writer Siobhan Dowd & weaves anextraordinary & heartbreaking tale of mischief, healing & above all, the courage it takes to survive. ...

Bombed & cut-off from normal contact with the rest of the world, life in Gaza is beset with structural, medical & mental health problems, yet it is also bursting with political engagement & underwritten by an intense enjoyment of family life. During her ” Month By The Sea”, Dervla develops an acute eye for the way in which isolation has shaped this society. Time & again she meets men who have returned to the Strip as an act of presence. Yet the mosque is often their only daily activity, as difficulties obtaining supplies mean few opportunities for creative work. This acts as a recruiting sergeant for the Islamist Qassam brigades & a pressure cooker for the creation of domestic tyrants. In this situation, Dervla becomes a shameless supporter of women`s rights
- acting as agony aunt & feminist mentor by turn.
...

Over the summer of 2011, Dervla Murphy spent a month in the Gaza Strip. She met liberals & Islamists, Hamas & Fatah supporters, rich & poor. Used to western reporters dashing in & out of the Strip in times of crisis, the people she met were touched by her genuine, unflinching interest & spoke openly to her about life in their open-air prison. What she finds are a people who, far from the story we are so often fed, overwhelmingly long for peace & an end to the violence that has so grossly distorted their lives. The impression we take away from the book is of a people whose real, complex, nuanced voice has rarely been heard before. A MONTH BY THE SEA gives unique insight into the way in which isolation has shaped this society: how it radicalises young men & plays into the hands of dominating patriarchs, yet also how it hardens determination not to give in & turns family into a towering source of support. Underlying the book is Dervla`s determination to try to understand how Arab Palestinians & Israeli Jews might forge a solution & ultimately live in peace. Dervla looks long & hard at the hypocrisies of Western & Israeli attitudes to peace`, & at Palestinian attitudes to terrorism. While this shattered people long for a respite from the bombings that have ripped a hole, both literally & psychologically, in their world, it seems that politicians have an agenda that pays little attention to their plight. ...

A Month in Marrakesh is a celebration of the wonderful tastes & sensational allure of Morocco. Inspired by the diversity of his culturally rich visits to Marrakesh, Andy Harris scoured the maze-like souks for the best flavours, & has produced a wealth of exotic-tasting recipes with fresh ingredients & minimum fuss. You'll be enticed by the delicate sweet pastries such as Khab el ghzal, Muhallabia (milk pudding), the savoury Chicken bistilla or one of the many delicious tagines. Impress your guests with modern Moroccan dishes such as Roast lamb with orange & honey syrup, Spicy squid with harissa yoghurt or Orange flower donuts. Part cookbook, part travelogue, Andy leads you through a spectacular pageant of flavour & colours of the Medina, from the pulsating Djemaa el Fna, to timeless winding alleys & tranquil gardens. David Loftus illustrates the recipes with stunning location photography that will have you smelling the fragrant aromas of the spice market with every turn of the page. ...

A Month in Marrakesh is a celebration of the wonderful tastes & sensational allure of Morocco. Inspired by the diversity of his culturally rich visits to Marrakesh, Andy Harris scoured the maze-like souks for the best flavours, & has produced a wealth of exotic-tasting recipes with fresh ingredients & minimum fuss. You'll be enticed by the delicate sweet pastries such as Khab el ghzal, Muhallabia (milk pudding), the savoury Chicken bistilla or one of the many delicious tagines. Impress your guests with modern Moroccan dishes such as Roast lamb with orange & honey syrup, Spicy squid with harissa yoghurt or Orange flower donuts. Part cookbook, part travelogue, Andy leads you through a spectacular pageant of flavour & colours of the Medina, from the pulsating Djemaa el Fna, to timeless winding alleys & tranquil gardens. David Loftus illustrates the recipes with stunning location photography that will have you smelling the fragrant aromas of the spice market with every turn of the page. A Month in Marrakesh is a sumptuous book that captures the soul of this remarkable & unique city. ...

In the summer of 1920 two men, both war survivors meet in the quiet English countryside. One is living in the church, intent upon uncovering & restoring an historical wall painting while the other camps in the next field in search of a lost grave. Out of their meeting, comes a deeper communion & a catching up of the old primeval rhythms of life so cruelly disorientated by the Great War. ...