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X in Provence
X in Provence is a novel about obsession, betrayal and survival set in a place that normally conjures up paradise. Soon after English journalist Rai leaves a thriving career in Hong Kong to live with Alain, a brilliant French sculptor in Provence, she is delighted to discover la dolce vita. But she also encounters a darker demimonde – the sex-sodden underbelly of this region of southern France. Call it the ‘other’ Provence. Rai is captivated by the novelty of it all and the loving reassurances of her charmer beau and is thrilled when he proposes. After marriage, however, Alain turns chilling, and conflict ignites between Rai’s intellect and her internal dysfunctions – a treacherous teetering depicted with stark clarity. Alain has a brother – two if you count the dead one – and the dynamics between these divergent characters deepen the plot. The novel offers a new take on an age-old theme: the perils of addiction to highly charismatic, highly narcissistic personalities and what women will do to cling on. Combining splashes of erotica, psychological suspense, mystery and wanderlust, X in Provence is women’s fiction at its gripping best.
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Years of Poetry
Alan Amos’ comprehensive collection of poems represents a lyrical journey where emotions find release through the potent power of words.
Years of Poetry chronicles the unexpected voyage of an ordinary individual who finds solace and escape in crafting poems, never anticipating the profound impact they would wield. Trapped in the enigmatic interplay between reality and dreamlike states, the poet explores heartache, joy, and the indomitable spirit that arises from genuine expression.
Within these pages you will discover a haven where every line is an intimate whisper, each stanza a sanctuary, inviting you to find your own respite amidst the ebbs and flows of life’s relentless motion. -
Yuck! Food is from where...?
On each of the adventures, our characters get caught up in situations sometimes exciting, sometimes dangerous, and sometimes comical. Along with a host of other interesting characters attached to their adventures, these stories are written to help introduce children to a new way of looking at something that may ordinarily present a challenge. The adventures attached to discovering new tastes will have the reader and listener alike drawn into what happens next as both fun and danger await our brother and sister trio on their quest for information about how our food is grown and produced.
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A Kaleidoscope Of New Fairytales
The book offers new fairytales. Fairytales are a magical and ageless genre appealing to all ages.
The tales open up a fascinating and wonderful world in which children and adults can be in touch with the endless beauty of being human and magical at the same time.
They offer the reader experiences of witches and wizards and dragons and trolls and many more fairytale creatures in a new and enchanting light.
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It's Just a Book
The central character of this book is Max, a thirteen-year-old boy who has the courage of his conviction to dress as a girl and think differently to other boys his age. Max is an Adonis, with unmistakably stunning androgynous looks, captivating emerald green eyes, and mid-length blonde hair. Despite a loving, supportive family and their unconditional positive regard for him, his good looks both work for him and against him as he questions himself and his choices as he experiences the scorn of others. He narrates his journey through high school as he enjoys a change in status from being bullied and a pariah, to becoming accepted as one of the popular kids.This is a fun, engaging, heart-warming and an enlightening book with a twist at the end. It will raise a smile, bring a tear, and give hope to the reader. It is book for all young people coming of age in search of self and their identity. It is also a must read for all adults involved in education, child adolescent and mental health services and social care.
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The Butterfly Will Always Float
It’s a wet and windy night in the city of Mumbai. Away from all the glitz and glamour in the commercial capital is a hellish life on the streets; of begging and cringing with no self-respect. It is the Mumbai of the hard-working poor, and the Mumbai of the aspiring migrant, with his fierce drive for survival and self-improvement, the Mumbai of small enterprise, the Mumbai of cottage industries, the Mumbai of poor yet strong women, running entire households on the strength of their income from making papads. Every morning, these women put food on the table, braid their daughters’ hair, and send them to schools. They have hope for the future but this is the Mumbai of dreams.On a wet wintry night in November in a dark old gym on the corner of a poor shantytown in Mumbai. The sign on the window reads, “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym. Champions are made here.” Over the door hangs an old sign blowing in the wind reading Mangal’s gym. Inside a 12-year-old boy sweeps the floor after an end to the day’s proceedings. The Butterfly Will Always Float tells the tale of twelve-year-old Johnny, growing up in the slums of Mumbai whose father left when he was a kid and mother is a drug addict. He is overweight and has a speech impairment making it difficult for him to communicate with others. By day he attends the local municipality school in one of the most deprived areas in Mumbai and by night he is a helping hand at Mangal’s gym.Johnny; a loner is bullied at school and at home, has no friends and is fearful for his future. He spends most of his time at the gym with Mangal a.k.a Baba and a poster of his hero Muhammad Ali. Each day Johnny wishes the bullying would stop and prays that someone would see his pain and reach out a helping hand. But nothing happens and Johnny continues to be bullied at school with no one to turn to, he thinks about ending his life. It's believed that children have the strongest connection to god and he makes a final wish. Little does Johnny know his prayer is about to be answered. One night as Johnny is cleaning up at the gym, he has a chance encounter with a ghost; the ghost of Muhammad Ali and his life is changed forever. Ali and other boxing legends such as Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis inhabit Mangals’s gym to help Johnny with competing at the under-16 amateur boxing competition against Boss, the head of the gang of bullies, and some local gangsters.The Butterfly Will Always Float tells a story of how a 12-year-old innocent boy befriends a spirit of one of the icons of the 20th century discovering inner resources of strength and courage to overcome his insecurities.A magical tale that will leave you moist-eyed.“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”– Muhammad Ali
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A Village Betrayed
A poignant story of the impact of war on a defenceless French village during the Second World War. Four courageous villagers join the Maquis, the Resistance in Vichy occupied France, to protect their families. They are swept into a treacherous conflict where one false word or brave action can result in the torture and death of people they know and love. One old man and a young girl survive the savage destruction that wipes out the whole community.This novel uses the recorded history of the devastation of many rural villages in the Aveyron, Lot and Tarn departments of the Midi-Pyrénées. Oradour-sur-Glane in the Haute-Vienne Department is a famous memorial to the brutality of the Second World War.
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An IT Contractor Life
This book is an excursus of Max’s career in both data and analytics, in general I.T., and the heavy metal underground of Italy in the mid-80s. This dichotomy has characterised Max’s adult life, which is highlighted in the book and everything Max does with his spare time. Sometime filled with sad moments, some hilarious stories and some great advice for I.T. professionals and metal heads alike, it’s mainly the story of a man like you and me who cannot say no to anybody and has a focus and resilience that only a few possess.
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Human Emotions
Each and everyone of us has our own human emotions. Days can be filled with happiness whereas other days can be full of sadness. The uniqueness of one’s emotions can very rarely be understood by others. It is really difficult if not impossible to tell others how you feel or for them to understand how you are feeling. I have tried in this book to cover the inner most boundaries of human emotions splitting my poems into different realms of human thought. Hope, fate and destiny, joy, life, the world, loneliness, love, regrets, religion and the future are all covered in this book. I hope the reader can relate to and understand my poems and bring some perspective and reasoning towards their life. We are all not the same and never can be but we all have a heart and soul. By identifying these moments of thought I hope I can bring perspective and understanding to the reader. I hope you enjoy my book.
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Kidnapped
In 1990, Alice Weil was kidnapped in Colombia and held captive in a dark, windowless cell for 269 days. She tells the story of how she found the resources hidden deep inside her to survive captivity without taking her own life, losing her sanity or developing Stockholm syndrome. Instead, she was able to remain calm and courageous, always being polite and making conversation to her captors and using her time in ways that she would later be able to draw upon her daily life. The story tells of how she realised that experience contributed to who she is today and upon her release, she was able to face her beloved father's passing, continue being a devoted mother and wife, and lead a normal, productive life. She also learned that she was capable of closing the gap caused by the time she was not part of her family's life or the outside world.
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Kingdom of Wolves - The Journey
Kingdom of Wolves – The Journey is a true story of survival and the soul’s journey to freedom, reclamation, redemption, and wholeness of spirit. The author was a silent victim of domestic abuse that spanned a period of three decades, she was not only held captive by her abuser but also her own low self-esteem, fears, and insecurities. With this book she takes you on a journey through the psychological and emotional labyrinth of the minds of both the victim and the abuser simultaneously, giving the reader a unique insight into the perilous and malignant world of domestic abuse. She demystifies any previously held misconceptions that are often attached to victims, by providing an intimate account of her personal experience with domestic abuse, her subsequent survival and how she overcame profound fears and great adversity in her quest to find her individual strength, purpose, and authenticity. The author also brings to light the necessary reformative processes that needed to occur in order for true rehabilitation and transformation to take place, clearing the path for her to achieve her ultimate goal of atonement and freedom.
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Pandemonium
In a world transformed by apocalypse, the familiar landscapes of life are forever altered. Power struggles dominate the scorched continent as the Theodolis and Razors clash for dominance, while the Settlers and Wanderers yearn for a lasting peace.Amidst the turmoil, Oda, a determined Settler, is captured by Kemp, the tyrannical leader of the Razor colonies. Held in his cruel grasp, she becomes a pawn in his games of power and possession. As she confronts the grim rituals of adulthood under Kemp’s rule, Oda grapples with her identity, fighting to preserve her mind from his twisted machinations.The overgrown wilderness offers both threat and solace as Oda seeks an escape. Along her perilous journey, unexpected love emerges, alongside a deep longing for harmony. But in a land where passions run rampant and violence is the new normal, revenge looms large, and every breath could be her last.