The second instalment in the Studio series is an intelligent crime thriller pitting unlikely heroines against London's dark crime underworld. Ultra-violent videos of murder and torture are being uploaded to the internet and when bodies start showing up on the streets of London, it begins to seem that the videos may be real and that a gruesome, exhibitionist killer is on the loose. The news catches the attention of Mari and Lia. Mari and Lia are two Finnish women living in London. Despite bonding over their shared expat identity, they have rather different backgrounds. While Lia is a graphic designer, Mari runs the mysterious "Studio," a private crime fighting organization that considers itself above the law. Taking matters into their own hands, they take on cases where the police have failed or are indifferent. Lia has slowly found her place in among this mysterious, morally motivated group of people who are not above employing underhand tactics to make sure that justice is served. Backed by high-tech gadgets and their team of fiercely loyal experts, the two women set about trying to stem the recent surge of violence and track down the murderer. But the stakes are high and Mari will have to risk much, even the lives of her companions, if she is to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 420

Publication Date: 20-10-2014

Best known as the inspiration for Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Nutcracker is a charming book in its own right. Full of magic and childish wonder, this coming-of-age novella by E.T.A. Hoffmann has something for everyone: beautiful dolls, ferocious battles and dark undertones. It truly has all the elements of a fairy tale. Younger readers will be enchanted by this children's classic, while older readers will be intrigued to discover the background to the famous ballet libretto. It is Christmas Eve and little Marie has tired of her new presents, happily playing with a nutcracker instead. So when her brother Fritz breaks it, she is horrified, tenderly bandaging the little nutcracker with her ribbon and putting him to bed. When the clock strikes midnight, Marie is stunned to see an army of mice advancing, led by a seven-headed Mouse King. Her very own nutcracker leads the dolls and toys against the mouse army and a violent battle ensues. Just as the nutcracker looks like he might lose, Marie throws her shoe at the mice, and injures herself as she falls over. When she wakes up, her arm is bandaged but nobody will believe her unlikely tale of how she came to hurt herself.Soon after, her godfather comes for a visit and tells her the story of the nutcracker. As the tale unfolds, Marie learns about the ongoing feud between the mice and their enemy Princess Pirlipat. It sounds fanciful, but could it be true? And if the fairy tale is true, shouldn't there be a Prince Charming in the offing for Marie? This timeless tale is full of the magic of Christmas, but is a delight to read at any time of the year. Its enduring popularity is testament to its originality and charm.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 112

Publication Date: 28-10-2014

In the second of his series of Christmas books, Charles Dickens wrote The Chimes one year after A Christmas Carol. Tackling familiar themes of redemption, social injustice and family, it is a story of hope and contemplation and is a moving festive read well worth discovering. As Trotty's working day as a lowly messenger draws to a close, his daughter, Meg, arrives with her fiance Richard in tow, and they proudly announce their wedding for the following day. This is cause for celebration of course, although their happiness is tempered by the comments of an alderman and other well-off citizens on the rights of the poor to marry. During the night, Trotty hears the chimes of a church bell and ventures out to climb the belltower. At the top he is greeted by goblins who tell him that he died during the climb and must now spend his time watching his friends and family live out their lives. What he witnesses makes for grim viewing: Richard turns to drink and dies penniless, leaving a widowed Meg to cope with bringing up their child; Trotty's friend Will is in and out of prison, and Will's daughter Lilian ends up falling into prostitution. But the worst is yet to come. Destitute and desperate, Meg contemplates drowning herself and her young child. Wild with fear, Trotty cries out that he has learnt his lesson and suddenly his daughter is able to see him. At the last second, he rescues her from the brink of destruction. Trotty wakes as if from a dream to the bells chiming out the beginning of a new year, and finds that no time has passed and it is New Year's Day. But as he sees his daughter cheerfully preparing for her wedding day, he is baffled as to whether this is just a dream within a dream.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 160

Publication Date: 20-11-2014

'A cat had made acquaintance with a mouse, and had spoken so much of the great love and friendship she felt for her, that at last the Mouse consented to live in the same house with her, and to go shares in the housekeeping. 'But we must provide for the winter or else we shall suffer hunger,' said the Cat. 'You, little Mouse, cannot venture everywhere in case you run at last into a trap.' Hesperus is proud to present the fourth book in its beautiful children's 'Fairy Book' series. Following on from the Blue and Red books, The Yellow Fairy Book makes another stunning addition to the set as it publishes here alongside The Green Fairy Book. First published in 1894, this extensive fairy tale anthology was edited by Andrew Lang, a pioneering author and critic. By bringing together folk tales from all over the world and having them translated into English, many for the first time, he was able to create rich and varied collections of stories, opening readers' eyes to a whole world of magical possibility overseas. Adults and children alike will enjoy the old favourites in this collection such as The Emperor's New Clothes along with the unsung gems such as The Snow-Daughter and The Fire-Son and In the Land of Souls. The stories come from as far afield as Iceland and Greece and from such differing sources as Native American oral tradition and the Brothers Grimm. Accompanied throughout by the original illustrations and with a stunning cover design, The Yellow Fairy Book is certainly a book to treasure.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 20-11-2014

How deep the summer had bitten into the land that last August, how cruelly it had burnt into earth and grass and air. What had started out as a pastel and water-faded spring turning so unexpectedly into a splintering, shimmering thing. All that had been required was a spark to cause a fire. Why had no one noticed? The summer of 1939 broke the Maudsley family. Cecily was only thirteen years-old and desperate to grow up; desperate to be as beautiful and desired and reckless as her older sister Rose. Now, in her forties, the family resemblance is uncanny but Cecily is a shadow of her former self. A part of her died that fateful summer. Returning to the deserted family farm as an adult, Cecily recalls the light before the storm, before the war came and before the terrible family tragedy. It was a summer of laughter and icecream, promises and first love. She remembers her father’s unrequited love for her, her melancholy mother and her brittle and argumentative aunt Kitty, and how everyone, somehow, was guarding a secret. None more so than the impossibly beautiful Rose. And in her childhood innocence, between snatches of misunderstood conversations, Cecily helps set in motion a chain of devastating events. Wandering through the family home twenty-nine years later, Cecily hopes to lay some ghosts to rest but the past has yet to give up some shocking secrets…

Bind: paperback

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 20-04-2015

In this sequel to the classic children's book Pollyanna, our beloved heroine continues to cheer up everyone around her with her sunny personality and relentless good humour. When we left Pollyanna at the end of the first book, she was trying very hard to stay positive after a car accident injured her spine and paralysed her. Now old fans and new will be intrigued to read about Pollyanna's miraculous recovery: she can walk - something she was assured she would never be able to do again!Now that Pollyanna's aunt has married kind old Dr Chilton, the newlyweds whisk Pollyanna off to Europe every winter and all three start to enjoy their newfound family. Pollyanna also has the chance to travel to Boston, and makes plenty of new friends as well as reuniting with her oldest pals. As Pollyanna grows up, she matures into a thoughtful young lady but never loses her characteristic spark of good cheer. Her goal in life is still to be glad under all circumstances, but with her aunt experiencing a tragedy and Pollyanna herself getting embroiled in a complicated love triangle, it will take a special type of person to come through it all with a smile on her face.Luckily Pollyanna is a very special young lady indeed.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 256

Publication Date: 20-02-2015

First published in 1920, The Mad Toy is set in Buenos Aires in the early twentieth century. Feeling the alienation of youth, Silvio Astier’s gang tours neighbourhoods, inflicting waves of petty crime, stealing from homes and shops until the police are forced to intervene. Drifting then from one career and subsequent crime to another, Silvio’s main difficulty is his own intelligence, with which he grapples.

Writing in the language of the streets and basing his writings in part on his own experience, with his characters wandering in a modern world, Arlt creates a book that combines realism, humour and anger with detective story.
Trailblazing for Boom writers who were to follow him such as Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende, Roberto Arlt is rated as one of the greatest Argentinean writers. Although astronomically famous in South America, Roberto Arlt’s name is still relatively unknown in Anglophone circles, but the rising wave of appreciation of South American literature is bringing him to the fore.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 160

Publication Date: 26-05-2013

In this hilarious sequel to The Secret Life of Nuns, courtesan Nanna reveals to her confidante, Antonia, what really goes on in the lives of married women. A woman can only be saved from a life-threatening craving and utter damnation by a well-endowed priest; an over-devout matron releases the devil within her when she meets an attractive hermit; an insatiable wife is redressed by her husband in a most barbarous manner - these are merely some of the 'truths' that Aretino exposes behind the respectable mask of marriage. And in describing the subterfuges, machinations and diabolical ruses wives resort to - unbeknownst to their poor husbands - in order to secure the secret object of their desires, Aretino adds another titillating page to his immense catalogue of human characters.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 100

Publication Date: 09-11-2012

I was filled with the growing hope that my door to freedom lay through the Ouija. And first and foremost in pursuance of my plan, I aimed at inveigling the Commandant into the spiritualist circle and making him the instrument of my escape. The news that there existed a buried treasure which the Turks were seeking gave me an idea of how to do it…

Captured during the First World War, Lieutenant E.H. Jones (a Welsh officer in the Indian Army) and Lieutenant C.W. Hill (an Australian serving in the R.A.F.) were prisoners of war at the Yozgad prison camp in Turkey.
Duty-bound as officers to attempt escape, Jones sensed that what had previously been the harmless fun of fooling around with a homemade Ouija board could be turned into something much more productive. Playing on the credulous nature of their captors, Hill and Jones weave an incredibly elaborate plot, hatched to plan their escape. Acting as mediums for the Ouija board, they attempted to convince their captors that they were gradually descending into insanity – which, had it been true, would have seen them repatriated.
A true story of bravery, dedication and extreme hardship, this book is a fascinating insight account of a daring escapade, a narrative that deserves to be brought back into the public eye.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 160

Publication Date: 26-04-2013

The special thing that Merrick could do, and which no one else seems to have done, is to reproduce the atmosphere of low-class theatrical life: the smell of greasepaint and fish and chips, the sordid rivalries, the comfortless Sunday journeys, the lugging of suitcases through the back streets of unfamiliar towns and the trudging up and down the Strand on worn-out boot-soles, the agents' offices where women in dyed frocks sit waiting their turn, the forlorn collection of press cuttings, the manager who bolts in the middle of the tour with all the takings. – George Orwell

Set in British theatre-land in the very early twentieth century, The Position of Peggy Harper tells of Christopher Tatham’s quest as an actor for a secure wage and fame. Tatham lurches from bit part to bit part, always hoping for the longed-for leading-man role, relying on the kindness of relations to keep him housed and clothed. A chance encounter with the enchanting Peggy Harper seems to pre-empt a change of fortune. Will they both attain the success they crave?

Toasting engagements with ginger-beer, living hand-to-mouth, Merrick’s seedy world makes for grim reading and when Peggy turns out to be as fame-hungry, vain and vacant as she first appears, Christopher’s lot looks unlikely to improve.

In an age in which fame and celebrity are widely courted and craved, The Position of Peggy Harper still makes for an intriguing and, potentially, cautionary tale.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 240

Publication Date: 26-04-2013