Did sex bring down the Iron Curtain? An orphan reflects on the unbreakable bond between love and freedom in the Soviet Union... In Soviet Russia the desire for freedom is also a desire for the freedom to love. Lovers live as outlaws, traitors to the collective spirit, and love is more intense when it feels like an act of resistance. Now entering middle age, an orphan recalls the fleeting moments that have never left him - a scorching day in a blossoming orchard with a woman who loves another; a furtive, desperate affair in a Black Sea resort; the bunch of snowdrops a crippled childhood friend gave him to give to his lover. As the dreary Brezhnev era gives way to Perestroika and the fall of Communism, the orphan uncovers the truth behind the life of Dmitri Ress, whose tragic fate embodies the unbreakable bond between love and freedom.

A magnificent story of courage and survival in the face of great adversity In a snowbound railway station deep in the Soviet Union, a stranded passenger comes across an old man playing the piano in the dark, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. Once on the train to Moscow he begins to tell his story: a tale of loss, love and survival that movingly illustrates the strength of human resilience.

Quelles blessures ont inspire au jeune Vivien de Lynden, nouvel enfant du siecle obsede par la decadence de l’Occident, son apocalyptique manuscrit Le Grand Deplacement ? Pour faire publier ce brulot, la mere du jeune auteur s’adresse a un ecrivain, ami de Gabriel Osmonde. Ce dernier, que Vivien s’etait choisi pour maitre a penser, porte sur le monde un regard profondement desenchante. Et voila que cette femme, revenue de toutes les utopies humanitaires les plus valorisantes, guettee par un vide existentiel dont le suicide lui semble l’unique issue, comprend qu’il faut quitter la scene ou tout le monde joue faux, tiraille par la peur de manquer et la panique de la mort. Une autre voie est possible. Une autre vie aussi. Chacun n’a-t-il pas droit a sa « troisieme naissance », au-dela des frontieres que l’on assigne a l’humaine condition ? Inclassable et magistral. Le Figaro litteraire. Vertigineux. Lire. Scandaleux au sens noble du terme. La Provence Brillant et explosif. La Voix du Nord.

On the far eastern borders of the Soviet Union, in the sunset of Stalin's reign, soldiers are training for a war that could end all wars, for in the atomic age man has sown the seeds of his own destruction. Among them is Pavel Gartsev, a reservist. Orphaned, scarred by the last great war and unlucky in love, he is an instant victim for the apparatchiks and ambitious careerists who thrive within the Red Army's ranks. Assigned to a search party composed of regulars and reservists, charged with the recapture of an escaped prisoner from a nearby gulag, Gartsev finds himself one of an unlikely quintet of cynics, sadists and heroes, embarked on a challenging manhunt through the Siberian taiga. But the fugitive, capable, cunning and evidently at home in the depths of these vast forests, proves no easy prey. As the pursuit goes on, and the pursuers are struck by a shattering discovery, Gartsev confronts both the worst within himself and the tantalising prospect of another, totally different life.

One night in St Petersburg, two men meet, both adrift in the brash new Russia: Shutov, a writer visiting after years of exile in Paris, and Volsky, an elderly survivor of the Siege of Leningrad and Stalin's purges. His life story - one of extreme suffering, courage and an extraordinary love - he considers unremarkable. To Shutov it is a revelation, the tale of an unsung hero that puts everything into perspective and suggests where true happiness lies.

Meet Peppa's favourite magical creatures! Peppa loves all magical creatures. Meet mermaids that swim in oceans, narwhals that live under water and unicorns that fly high in the sky. This book is packed full with fantastic creatures that are waiting to say hello! This chunky board book features 8 sturdy tabs for little hands - perfect for Peppa's biggest fans.

In present-day France a Russian writer recalls his harsh childhood at a Stalingrad orphanage in the 1960s and the old Frenchwoman, a family friend, whose tales fed his dreams of a better world. One story in particular has stayed with him: that of her brief, passionate affair, during World War II, with the French fighter pilot Jacques Dorme, who subsequently died in a plane crash in the Siberian mountains. So the narrator decides to retrace Jacques Dorme's steps, beginning a journey which leads him not only to revisit the land of his birth but also to see his adopted homeland in an unflattering new light. A profound and moving novel about the dangers of ideology and of war, delivered with humour, sensuousness and great lyricism.

The Time Lords are an immensely civilised, and immensely powerful, race. Yet we know very little about them, save that they can live forever (barring accidents) and possess the secrets of space and time travel. Their history has been shrouded in myth and mystery. Until now. A Brief History of Time Lords unlocks the secrets of this ancient, legendary alien race - a civilisation that inflicted some of its most notorious renegades and criminals on the universe, but was also the benevolent power that rid the cosmos of its most fearsome enemies. Drawn from the ancient records of Gallifrey, and handed down from generation to generation, this remarkable book reveals the Time Lords in all of their guises: pioneers and power-mad conspirators, time-travellers and tyrants, creators and destroyers. Be careful who you share it with.

Little Turtle loves the ocean with her whole heart. As the years pass, she repeats an incredible journey across the world to the beautiful coral reefs. But one day she finds that plastic has invaded her ocean. Could Turtle’s journey be over forever?

Some days you remember forever. But what if you could live them again? If Isla Pembroke could turn back time, she knows exactly which days of her life she would change. The day she started working in the local aquarium, not knowing that she'd still be stuck there seven years later. The day her sister Morgan ran away from home. And, most of all, the day that changed everything, when her mother's death cracked her family in two. So when she's given an impossible gift - a chance to go back and relive those life-changing moments - Isla realises that she might be able to save the people she loves. But sometimes the most surprising days aren't the ones that change everything, but the ones that come after... Fresh, funny, and heart-wrenching, this is a story for anyone who's ever wanted to turn back time...

Gabriel loves Silvia and is very disappointed when she chooses to go out with rich, handsome Marco instead of him. But that evening a terrible earthquake strikes the town and their lives are changed forever… A moving and dramatic tale of love against the odds.

Marisol, a beautiful young woman, is followed home by a green rabbit. That night, the rabbit turns into a handsome prince. The prince is under a spell. Only someone who truly loves him can break the spell and make him a man forever. Can Marisol prove her love? Retold by Cindy Pioli.

Around the world, people wake up, check the news, open the front door.On every doorstop is a box. Inside that box is the exact number of years that person has left to live.Whether they open it or hide it under their bed, each person must learn to live in this new world: a couple who thought they didn't have to rush their life together, a doctor who cannot save himself from his own fate, best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything...Enchanting and deeply uplifting, The Measure is a sweeping, ambitious and invigorating story about family, friendship, hope and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest.

Around the world, people wake up, check the news, open the front door.On every doorstop is a box. Inside that box is the exact number of years that person has left to live.Whether they open it or hide it under their bed, each person must learn to live in this new world: a couple who thought they didn't have to rush their life together, a doctor who cannot save himself from his own fate, best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything...Enchanting and deeply uplifting, The Measure is a sweeping, ambitious and invigorating story about family, friendship, hope and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest.

Eerie Elementary is falling apart! Floors are splitting, walls are crumbling, and the students are in serious danger! Principal Winik announces that the school must be torn down. But Sam, Lucy, and Antonio are not sure that is the answer. Could this all be part of Orson Eerie's plan to live forever? Sam and his friends must work fast to find out!

Charmaine sees an advertisement for a project called Positron that promises you a job, a place to live, a bed to sleep in – imagine how appealing that would be if you were working in a dive bar and living in your car. She and her husband, Stan, apply at once. The only catch is that once you’re in there, you can’t get out. No one writes the lust and the loves, the wickedness and the weakness of the human heart like the splendid Margaret Atwood.