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The most recent work of fiction by John Fraser, hailed as 'the most original novelist of our time' by the distinguished poet and Whitbread Award winner John Fuller, Sisters is a contemporary reworking of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.The protagonist, Masha, a young woman with a rich MiddleEastern culture, is forced by war to leave her country, her sisters, and even change her name. Abandoning her training as a surgeon, she is involved in an innovative scientific venture - superconductors. Intrigued by the philosophical aspects of her work - energy, time and distance - she seeks new 'sisters' and tries to assert herself in the unfamiliar cultures and human projects she encounters. After many adventures she finds two sisters in an idyllic tree house, but provokes the accidental death of one of them. She follows the other sister to a utopian commune in Brazil - but the group is in effervescence and conflict. The two take refuge on an island, involved in illicit chemistry this time - but there are conflicts with the native inhabitants. She meets up with a predatory dealer in cultural artefacts, and this ends badly. Her relation with a musician who pushes her to political celebrity also ends badly. She tries reconciliation with her 'sister', who has chosen a 'primitive' lifestyle, 'back to the forest....' In the end she's taken up by Irene, who is occupied in a big house with a laboratory equipped for research in space travel. She finds affection, but in an echo of the Chekhovian theme which runs through the plot, the train which promises escape in the Cherry Orchard finds an ironic resonance in the expedient of space travel and re-location.

The Magnificent Wurlitzer is an epic work of literary fiction, divided into four parts. Its theme is that of the 'guilty Faust' on a fantastic, grotesque journey seeking his truth, his Mephistopheles. Its hero treads in the footsteps of epics from East and West, Gilgamesh, the Ramayana, Götterdämmerung.

The Book is small and lethal, and everyone is fighting to possess it. It is worth a great deal of money and may have been written by the Marquis de Sade. Yet this mysterious, erotic book is intimately connected to a series of deaths and suicides of young women before it left France. The Book - The Memoirs of a Novice - has its roots in events that go back to the French Revolution, and has now become crucial to the present-day ambitions of a beautiful, young politician. Olympe de Chavagnac, a potential President of the French Republic when the present incumbent, Alphonse Lambaud, gives up his fourth term. Olympe is a monarchist who believes she is descended from the last Bourbons, executed during the French Revolution. So passionate is Olympe's belief in her re-incarnation, that she will stop at nothing to own the Book and with its authority become elected President, then restore the Bourbon Monarchy to France. And when she meets Guillaume Lemaitre, who becomes her sponsor and frustrated lover, Olympe forms an alliance with a modern de Sade - with terrifying consequences for the world. Inspired by author Garry O'Connor's discovery of an anonymous manuscript - Les Mémoires de Saturnin - in the garage loft after his family moved into their fifteenth century courthouse on the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire borders in 1995, The Book that Kills is de Sade in a modern context, a powerful, erotic psychological thriller, a murder mystery and a historical intrigue. About the authorGarry O'Connor is a playwright, biographer and novelist. His many publications include acclaimed biographies of notable actors, a highly praised biography of the late Pope John Paul II as well as plays, most recently Debussy Was My Grandfather. His latest publications include Subdued Fires, a biography of Pope Benedict XVI and As Luck Would Have It, the memoir of the distinguished actor Sir Derek Jacobi, which he has co-authored with Jacobi.

8 February 1601. The personal troops of a disgraced royal favourite mount up and ride on the City of London. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex and his lieutenant, Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton are in open revolt against Queen Elizabeth I and her Government. Richard Palmer is swept up in the action. He calls himself an investigator, others call him an informer. Chief Minister Cecil has need for one - the Queen is enraged by the revival of a play at the Globe about deposing a reigning monarch in favour of a populist rival. Was Richard II meant to get the mob in the mood for regicide? She thinks so.A handful of sonnets found in Southampton's lodgings show a potentially incriminating special bond between him and the play's author, William Shakespeare. Palmer sets off on an expanding trail of sonnets from London to Stratford, and a mystery pursuer is on his tail...Chris Crowcroft travelled the world as an army brat. A degree in Law at Oxford University and teaching English in Verona preceded a London career in the arts and in politics. In 2009 he helped save the roof falling in on the head of Shakespeare where he lies buried in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Before and After the Darkness is the third collection of poems by Susan Noble, following The Dream of Stairs: A Poem Cycle and Inside the Stretch of My Heart. To mark the fortieth anniversary of Susan's death, this volume is being published in hardback, paperback and Kindle, making all her poems publicly available for the first time. The Dream of Stairs was privately printed as a posthumous memorial volume in 1975, a year after Susan's untimely death in 1974 at the age of 31. Having announced with typically light-hearted self-depreciation that 'The muse has struck me!', Susan wrote the poems in batches of half a dozen or more from 1965 onwards in what she described as manic bursts of creativity. But these poems are anything but light-hearted, and even a first reading will reveal clearly that levity is not on the menu in a universe 'Where there are no jokes / And people do not pretend.' Susan's output in the last ten years of her life was prolific, but when it came to compiling the poems, after a good deal of deliberation, a clear thematic structure and underlying development seemed to dictate the final order of that original poignant collection. Many of the poems in Before and After the Darkness were triggered by the quotidian experience of living and working in central London in the late 1960s and early 1970s, yet beneath the fragile surface of her acute observations of domestic and office life in the city, intensely spiritual insights are being played out, sometimes delicately, sometimes shockingly, but always movingly. The poems in this volume were written in the early 1970s, like those in Inside the Stretch of My Heart, and include a number of poems written in 1973 and 1974 in the months before Susan's death. Two further companion volumes are also being published: A Flock of Blackbirds (selected novellas and short stories); and her novel, Drifting Between Empty Tramlines. Profits from the sales of all six volumes are being donated to three charities: Mind, the Samaritans and Sane. Facsimiles of the original typescripts and manuscripts are available online at www.aesopbooks.com/susannoble About the author Brought up in South London, Susan Noble was the second of three children. Her childhood was enriched by being part of our large and closely-knit Jewish family. Unfortunately stricken by polio (then known as infantile paralysis) in her early years, Susan went through life with a degree of physical handicap which she was to overcome with courage and determination. Educated at Croydon High School, Susan studied English at Somerville College, Oxford. After graduating, Susan worked in London, first at the Royal National Institute for the Blind, dictating books for transcription into Braille, and later at the National Central Library in London, where she qualified as a Chartered Librarian. Susan's exceptional sensitivity was reflected in the prolific outpouring of poems to be found in The Dream of Stairs, Inside the Stretch of My Heart and Before and After the Darkness. In these intense, haunting poems, she chronicles her personal response to the world around her, while vividly portraying the inner landscape of her mental and emotional struggle.

Inside the Stretch of My Heart is the companion volume to the collection The Dream of Stairs: A Poem Cycle, which was privately printed as a posthumous memorial volume in 1975, a year after Susan Noble's untimely death in 1974 at the age of 31.'The muse has struck me!' Susan had announced in 1965 with typically light-hearted self-depreciation, and from that time onwards she wrote the poems in batches of half a dozen or more, in what she described as manic bursts of creativity. But these poems are anything but light-hearted, and even a first reading will reveal clearly that levity is not on the menu in a universe 'Where there are no jokes / And people do not pretend.' Susan's output in the last ten years of her life was prolific, but a clear thematic structure and underlying development dictated the final order of that original poignant collection. To mark the fortieth anniversary of her death, the poems in this present collection have been published for the first time, along with a revised, expanded edition of The Dream of Stairs. A companion volume to these two poetry collections, A Flock of Blackbirds, featuring a selection of Susan's novellas and short stories, and her novel Between Empty Tramlines are also being simultaneously published.Susan's exceptional sensitivity was reflected in the prolific outpouring of poems that make up The Dream of Stairs and Inside the Stretch of My Heart. In these intense, haunting poems, she chronicles her personal response to the world around her, while vividly portraying the inner landscape of her mental and emotional struggle.Profits from the sales of all four volumes are being donated to three charities: Mind, the Samaritans and Sane. Facsimiles of the original typescripts and manuscripts are available online at: www.aesopbooks.com/susannoble About the author Brought up in South London, Susan Noble, was the second of three children. Her childhood was enriched by being part of a large and closely-knit Jewish family. Unfortunately stricken by polio (then known as infantile paralysis) in her early years, Susan went through life with a degree of physical handicap which she was to overcome with courage and determination. Educated at Croydon High School, Susan studied English at Somerville College, Oxford. After graduating, Susan worked in London, first at the Royal National Institute for the Blind, dictating books for transcription into Braille, and later at the National Central Library in London, where she qualified as a Chartered Librarian. -

A Dream of Stairs: A Poem Cycle was privately printed as a posthumous memorial volume in 1975, a year after Susan Angela Noble's untimely death in 1974 at the age of 31. Having announced with typically light-hearted self-depreciation, 'The muse has struck me!' Susan wrote the poems in batches of half a dozen or more, from 1965 onwards, in what she described as manic bursts of creativity. But these poems are anything but light-hearted, and even a first reading will reveal clearly that levity is not on the menu in a universe 'Where there are no jokes / And people do not pretend.' Susan's output in the last ten years of her life was prolific, but when it came to compiling the poems, after a good deal of deliberation, a clear thematic structure and underlying development seemed to dictate the final order of that original poignant collection.To mark the fortieth anniversary of Susan's death, this second edition, published in hardback, paperback and Kindle, makes the book publicly available for the first time. There are a number of changes to the first edition: a slight reordering of the poems, minor amendments to the structure of the poem cycle, a revised, enhanced layout, and indexes of titles and first lines. More significantly, the original selection has been augmented by many additional poems, which clearly fit within the cycle thematically and structurally. Three companion volumes are also being published: Inside the Stretch of My Heart (a collection of previously unpublished poems); A Flock of Blackbirds (selected novellas and short stories); and her novel, Between the Tramlines. Profits from the sales of all four volumes are being donated to three charities: Mind, the Samaritans and Sane. Facsimiles of the original typescripts and manuscripts are available online at: www.aesopbooks.com/susannobleAbout the authorBrought up in South London, Susan Noble, was the second of three children. Her childhood was enriched by being part of our large and closely-knit Jewish family. Unfortunately stricken by polio (then known as infantile paralysis) in her early years, Susan went through life with a degree of physical handicap which she was to overcome with courage and determination. Educated at Croydon High School, Susan studied English at Somerville College, Oxford. After graduating, Susan worked in London, first at the Royal National Institute for the Blind, dictating books for transcription into Braille, and later at the National Central Library in London, where she qualified as a Chartered Librarian.Susan's exceptional sensitivity was reflected in the prolific outpouring of poems that make up The Dream of Stairs and Inside the Stretch of My Heart. In these intense, haunting poems, she chronicles her personal response to the world around her, while vividly portraying the inner landscape of her mental and emotional struggle.

The latest tour de force in speculative fiction from John Fraser. The 'Military Roads' of this book, which consists of three tales running consecutively, are, first, the adventures of a narrator following the fortunes of a leader of a revolution in a distant country: second, a journey starting in the 'military road' which in Soviet times and before, ran from Moscow to the Caucasus: and finally, a mission undertaken from Italy, through North Africa, with the aim of recruiting a private army of bodyguards for a global tycoon. The narrator's amorous adventures, and his struggles to survive these radical shifts of place, commitment and perspective, conclude with a sweet-and-sour relationship with his boss's partner, and a precarious acceptance of traditional religious practices. The military roads, it is supposed, will continue to be travelled, with results which never achieve a lasting resolution, but provide temporary satisfaction for some, at least, of the protagonists.

Meet The Hurtley Sisters - Sophie (aged 8) and Kate aged 6). They are full of fun and mischief and this book will tell you all about their adventures with their parents Bruce and Emma. Sophie and Kate are very clever for their age and both girls like reading, writing and arithmetic. Kate is the more daredevil of the two and loves climbing and jumping off furniture and swings and slides in the playground, Sophie is the more creative one. She loves to paint, draw and write stories. Like most young children they have grandparents. Granddad Colin is a clever man. He is retired now and has a hobby collecting plants from countries all over the world. He says one day he is going to write a book on his plants. Grandma Moira says we will believe that when we see it - we think she knows Granddad very well. In ten fun-filled, illustrated adventure stories, The Hurtley Sisters will delight and amuse children aged from four to eight. And each story is just the right length to make them wonderful bedtime reading.

'Death bed promises are not always easy to keep.'James O'Byrne is to discover this when he accepts his father's pocket watch and final request. But this is not just any pocket watch.It is dated '20.04.1940' and was presented to Adolf Hitler on his 50th birthday by Martin Bormann.And on the watch face there is an engraving of Hitler's face, above a swastika.Honouring Paddy O'Byrne dying wish involves Jamie in a series of dangerous and terrifying experiences, involving love, death, romance and adventure. From the East End of London to the mountains of Austria and the turquoise waters of the Seychelles Islands, the train of events culminates in the peat bogs of County Galway in the Mystic Isle of Ireland.

John Fraser's last work of fiction, Hard Places, was a series of novellas concerning physical and moral dilemmas, left unresolved at the expense of the protagonist. This sequel, Soft Landing, is the opposite - a novel of quest and adventure, in which scruple is overcome, and demanding or impossible situations have outcomes favourable to the hero. The trail takes us from urban violence to Eldorado, the regime of a bikers' club, and the secret finds of a prospectors' camp. The last section shows all puzzles solved, and the protagonists' return home with gifts. In keeping with the tale's sour vision of a crumbling present, the landing though soft, is not pleasant.

Two novellas by John Fraser, Blue Light and Starting Over, conclude a quadrilogy whose previous volumes comprised The Red Tank, Runners and Medusa.We may like to imagine what the end of the world is like - it's not dissimilar to our own end. Blue Light shows what it's like, the running down, the onset of rigor mortis - and the new life sprouting, notwithstanding. Living for ever may not be too bad - but do you really want it? When the world has ended, how attractive is rebirth, or resurrection? Starting Over may mean you have to piece a whole new world together - just using the ruins of the past. The poet John Fuller writes: 'In Fraser's fiction the reader rides as on a switchback or luge of impetuous attention, with effects flashing by at virtuoso speeds. The characters seem to be unwitting agents of chaos, however much wise reflection Fraser bestows upon them; they move with shrugging self-assurance through circumstances as richly detailed and as without reliable compass-points as a Chinese scroll.'

Hard Places consists of three novellas, Red Snow, The Rock and The Sea. They concern human struggles with Nature and human natures. Red Snow involves efforts to have the better of chance by gaming, and the forms of self-discipline this requires. The Rock shows the eternal certainties of art crumbling into inexplicable absences and shady deals. The Sea evokes our longing for submersion in nature when we wish to conceal our misdeeds and rejections.

Poems of an Old Soldier is a a collection of 80 poems to amuse the public in general, and in many cases do not conform to any particular rhythm, rhyme, metre, pentameter or other poetic jargon. They are simply written for the reader to enjoy. In a long career in the army the author gained medals in Malaya and Aden and served also in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Singapore and Europe. The proceeds of the book will be donated to Help the Heroes.

A riveting thriller, centring on the explosive truth behind the now widely accepted belief that the policies of the late Chairman Mao accounted for the death of fifty million of his countrymen.In the late 1970s a document indicting Mao was prepared, but kept under wraps by its authors for fear of creating turmoil in China and consequent international crisis. In 1978, a defector from mainland China is pursued to Hong Kong, bringing with him a copy of this extraordinary document. When Larry Fenton, a Western journalist, comes into possession of the document, he becomes a target of Western, Soviet and Chinese agencies determined to prevent him from publishing it., fearing that if this violent attack on the 'untouchable' Mao were to be revealed it could lead to an uncontrollable war scenario.

John Fraser's Medusa is a stunning fable for our times, in which the stories of Medusa, the Gorgon and the French ship Medusa are intertwined to create a Pilgrim's Progress for the 21st century.'Medusa is a trip, a bending of the legends. It is a symphonic poem, where at the end, we even hear a few notes of a hymn to joy. The fragments of myth, legend and belief drift round like harmonies that seek resolution. But this mode is post-modern, post-Christian; it is about the end - yet there is no end: it is story. The resulting tale is an apocryphal blast and a literary tour de force that uncannily captures the zeitgeist.' (Jean-Paul Bouler)'In Fraser's fiction the reader rides as on a switchback or luge of impetuous attention, with effects flashing by at virtuoso speeds. The characters seem to be unwitting agents of chaos, however much wise reflection Fraser bestows upon them; they move with shrugging self-assurance through circumstances as richly detailed and as without reliable compass-points as a Chinese scroll.' (John Fuller)

In Runners John Fraser delivers, in his unique, distinct voice, the story of a kind of redemption - even a kind of utopia - or as much of a utopia as we can possibly expect, given what we know about most of our political leaders ...An unelected leader buys the office of deputy mayor. Although this 'boss' is a monster, he also has a rare, enlightened side. Where other leaders cling to power, he runs - but instead of running for office, he runs from office; he and his friends become the Runners - the running dogs.Runners is a contemporary remake of Machiavelli's Prince with a nod to Gramsci's 'Modern Prince', the revolutionary party. It is a tale of complicity between leaders, the nature of political friendships and loyalties, the contradictions between leaders and electors, between democratic rhetoric and practice, the leadership and the base - the urban and feathered - the volatility, adaptability and motivations of leaders, and of the pursuit of justice in the personal, incongruous instance; the machismo of political culture.'In Fraser's fiction the reader rides as on a switchback or luge of impetuous attention, with effects flashing by at virtuoso speeds. The characters seem to be unwitting agents of chaos, however much wise reflection Fraser bestows upon them; they move with shrugging self-assurance through circumstances as richly detailed and as without reliable compass-points as a Chinese scroll.' (John Fuller)

The Red Tank is a contemporary literary novel by a dazzlingly inventive writer looking anew at the human project in the globalised 21st century as though from a Martian point of view, through myths, fables, utopias and dystopias of modern and future life.