country homes

Presents Charlotte Bronte's classic nineteenth-century novel about a young woman who accepts employment as a governess and falls in love with her employer, who holds a terrible secret; and contains detailed explanatory notes, critical analysis, and a chronology of the author's life.

A young governess who suffered a violently abusive childhood finds love unexpectedly with her new employer, but secrets from his past--involving madness and old passions--may prove to destroy her happiness.

In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall, a country estate owned by the mysteriously remote Mr. Rochester.

"When her husband doesn't come home one day, Ariella realizes that the only way she can ensure her Jewish children's safety is to avail of the Kindertransport, but can she bear to let them go? A thousand miles away, Elizabeth Klein has closed herself off from the world. Losing her husband on the last day of the Great War, and her child months later, she cannot, will not, love again. It hurts too much. But she is all Liesl and Erich Bannon have. Thrown together in the wild countryside of Northern Ireland, Elizabeth and the Bannon children discover that life in the country is anything but tranquil. Danger and intrigue lurk everywhere, and some people are not what they seem."--Back cover.

"Ariella Bannon is being hunted. Someone is determined to betray her, but she has survived against incredible odds, and the end is in sight. She will be reunited with her precious children, no matter what it takes. Meanwhile, Liesl and Erich have found a home in Ireland away from the chaos of war-ravaged Europe. As the dark news of what has happened to their fellow Jews filters through, they are torn - love for their mother and their home on one hand, and the profound sense of peace and belonging they have in Ballycreggan on the other. Like all of the other children who escaped Nazi territory on the Kindertransport, they must wait to hear the fate of their loved ones. For their foster parents, Elizabeth and Daniel, their dearest wish, that Ariella would survive the war, is also their deepest fear. Would her return mean the loss of the children they have come to think of as their own? As the Third Reich crumbles under relentless Allied bombs, Ariella is careful, but Berlin is a very dangerous place to be, and somebody knows she survived. Can she take one last enormous risk to be reunited with Liesl and Erich or will her betrayer see her finally captured? --".

An old country home in Hertfordshire called Howards End becomes the object of an inheritance dispute between the Wilcox family and the Schlegel sisters.

Presents Austen's novel in which Fanny, a girl of low social rank brought up on her wealthy relatives' estate, feels the sharp sting of rejection when her cousin Edmund, the only person who treats her as an equal, is won over by an unprincipled London girl; and includes explanatory notes and appendices on social status, dancing, the British Navy, and the play "Lovers' Vows.".

Presents Charlotte Bronte's classic nineteenth-century novel about a young woman who accepts employment as a governess and falls in love with her employer, who holds a terrible secret; and contains detailed explanatory notes, critical analysis, and a chronology of the author's life.

Examines Roman history and civilization. Includes pages which can be folded and assembled into a three-dimensional model of an ancient Roman villa.

"A young woman arrives at a beautiful villa in the countryside outside Milan. Bianca, a gifted young watercolourist, has been commissioned to illustrate the plants in the magnificent grounds. Bianca settles into her grand new home, invited into the heart of the family by the eccentric poet Don Titta, his five children, his elegant and delicate wife and powerful, controlling mother. As the seasons pass, the young watercolourist develops her art - inspired by the landscape around her - and attracts many admirers. And while most of the household's servants view her with envy, she soon develops a special affection for one housemaid, who, she is intrigued to learn, has mysterious origins ... But as Bianca's determination to unlock the secrets of the villa grows, she little notices the dangers that lie all around her"--Back cover.