Domenica De Rosa

Rivalries and romance in a Tuscan paradise. A relaxing writers' retreat? If only! Perfect holiday reading from Domenica de Rosa, author of the bestselling Dr Ruth Galloway series under the name Elly Griffiths. Previously published as SUMMER SCHOOL. Patricia Wilson's carefully composed ads for the writers' retreat she runs at her thirteenth-century Italian castle promise so much. But while the splendour of their surroundings and chef Aldo's melanzane never fail to wow the guests, huge maintenance bills and bad news from the bank threaten to close Patricia down. It's make or break time for the Castello. Each of her seven aspiring authors arrives with the inevitable baggage alongside their unpublished manuscripts. But this August something is different, and soon lifelong spinster Mary is riding on the back of Aldo's vespa, and smouldering odd-job man Fabio has set more than one heart racing. As temperatures rise, the writers gossip, flirt and gently polish their prose by the pool. But with ghosts, scorpions, and some unexpected visitors to contend with, one thing's for sure: neither the Castello, nor Patricia, has ever seen a summer like this.

Summer School

Lyn Wendon

Lisa Holt

"Letterland - where letters come to life! ... This edition of the Letterland ABC, the UK's best-selling alphabet book, includes vibrant illustrations featuring all the familiar a-z Letterland characters."--Cover.

Letterland ABC

When the dolce vita isn't all it's cracked up to be, you need Villa Serena.

Villa Serena

Love, rivalry, and writing in a Tuscan paradise. Relax. Indulge. And discover the writer within... Patricia Wilson's carefully composed ads for the writers' retreat she runs at her thirteenth-century Italian castle promise so much. But while the splendour of their surroundings and chef Aldo's melanzane never fail to wow the guests, huge maintenance bills and bad news from the bank threaten to close Patricia down. It's make or break time for the Castello. Each of her seven aspiring authors arrives with the inevitable baggage alongside their unpublished manuscripts. But this August something is different, and soon lifelong spinster Mary is riding on the back of Aldo's vespa, and smouldering odd-job man Fabio has set more than one heart racing. As temperatures rise, the writers gossip, flirt and gently polish their prose by the pool. But with ghosts, scorpions, and some unexpected visitors to contend with, one thing's for sure: neither the Castello, nor Patricia, has ever seen a summer like this.

The Italian Quarter

A heart-warming tale of sibling rivalry, secrets, love and death, steeped in local colour and noise and tender in its depiction of family at their worst, and at their best from Domenica de Rosa, author of the bestselling Dr Ruth Galloway series under the name Elly Griffiths. 'Witty and as light as a tiramisu but with tart insight on sibling rivalry' Nottingham Evening Post Gaby, the youngest of the de Angelis sisters, always secretly knew she was her father Enzo's favourite; so when Enzo dies on the day her own daughter is born, her life is turned upside down. In the emotional aftermath of the funeral, it emerges that her father has asked that his ashes be taken back his native city, Rome. Suddenly, Gaby and her new family are thrown headfirst into the wider de Angelis clan, and all of their conflicting ideas and opinions. As the family journeys to Rome to say a final goodbye to Enzo, emotions run high; but none higher than Gaby's, as she comes face to face with the man she once thought she would marry, and is forced to question everything of which, until now, she was so sure.

The Eternal City

The Di Napolis may have been raised in England, but their souls are Italian... Charismatic, irascible and defiantly Italian, Cesare presides over his large family much like his Roman namesake. But when a journalist begins asking questions about his allegiances during the war, Sophie realises how little she really knows her adored grandfather. She embarks with him on a journey of discovery through turn of the century Naples, 1920s Clerkenwell and the war years, in the course which she learns something else: whom it is that she really loves.

Sophie is only a quarter Italian. But that quarter is her charismatic grandfather Cesare, and he has instilled in her a great love of her Italian heritage. So when a journalist starts to investigate Cesare's war record, Sophie reluctantly questions just how proud she should really be. She embarks upon a journey into the past which takes her from nineteenth-century Naples to London's Italian quarter and one of the war's forgotten tragedies. And along the way she also learns something very important about herself...

Return to the Italian Quarter

A heartfelt, witty story of one woman's journey from heartbreak to adventure, full of gorgeous Italian flavour. Emily Robertson looks like the woman who has it all: the lovingly restored Tuscan farmhouse, the three beautiful children, the successful, attentive husband. But when her husband dumps her by text message, she has to face up to some stark home truths. How will Emily cope, stranded in the countryside with no man, no money, dodgy phrasebook Italian and a psychotic cleaner? Her eldest girl is out of her depth with the local seducer, her middle daughter is dangerously underweight, and her darling baby is fast becoming a brat. But soon Emily finds herself being drawn into the village of Monte Albano, and discovering a more genuine Italy, darker and more intriguing than she had ever imagined. She and her children are outsiders no more - and if she can get over a slightly embarrasing obsession with her youthful first love, an attractive stranger might be about to show her the time of her life...

Domenica De Rosa

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