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DILLY COURT
A Mother’s Secret
publication: 03/03/2011
price: 5.99
size: B format
pages: 496
ISBN: 9780099538837
The compelling new saga set in turn-of-the-twentieth-century London
by the author of The Ragged Heiress
When seventeen-year-old Belinda Phillips falls in love with a handsome
Anglo-Indian officer, she knows that he is a man she can never hope to
marry. When he is reported missing, believed killed in action, Belinda
discovers that she is pregnant. Facing disgrace and ruin, she has no option
other than to accept an arranged marriage with a middle-aged widower,
knowing she must keep the secret of her child’s birth for ever.
Reluctantly she sends her beloved daughter to a foster mother in
Cripplegate, little realising she has entrusted Cassy’s care to Biddy
Henchard, a woman who runs a notorious baby farm in an area full of
poverty and disease. Despite her terrible upbringing, Cassy survives the old
woman’s cruel neglect. All the while she dreams of a mother she has never
known, hoping she will come and save her from her dreadful fate. But
when Biddy dies suddenly, ten-year-old Cassy finds herself destitute and
with little hope of ever finding the mother she so longs for...
Dilly Court grew up in north-east London and began her career in
television, writing scripts for commercials. She is married with two
grown-up children and four grandchildren, and now lives in Dorset
on the beautiful Jurassic Coast with her husband and a large, yellow
Labrador called Archie. She is also the author of Mermaids Singing, The
Dollmaker’s Daughters, Tilly True, The Best of Sisters, The Cockney Sparrow,
A Mother’s Courage, The Constant Heart, A Mother’s Promise, The Cockney
Angel, A Mother’s Wish and The Ragged Heiress. To find out more about
Dilly Court visit her website at www.dillycourt.com.
DONNA LEON
A Question of Belief
publication: 03/03/2011
price: 7.99
size: B format
pages: 336
ISBN: 9780099547624
The new novel from Donna Leon, the Sunday Times bestselling author of
About Face
As Venice experiences a debilitating heatwave, Commissario Brunetti
prepares to escape the city and spend time with his family in the
mountains. For Ispettore Vianello, however, the weather is the last thing on
his mind; it appears his aunt has become obsessed with horoscopes and has
been withdrawing large amounts of money from the family business. Not
knowing what to do, he consults Brunetti and asks permission to trail her.
Meanwhile, Brunetti receives a visit from a friend who works at the
Commune. It seems that discrepancies have been occurring at the
Courthouse involving Judge Luisa Coltellini and Araldo Fontana, an usher
with a flawless track record. Intrigued, Brunetti asks Signorina Elletra to
find out what she can while he is away on his family holiday.
But when news reaches Brunetti that Araldo Fontana has been murdered
in a violent attack, he returns to the city to head up the investigation. Why
would someone want a good man dead, and what might his death have to
do with the discrepancies at the Courthouse?
Donna Leon has lived in Venice for many years and previously lived
in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a
teacher. Her previous novels featuring Commissario Brunetti have all
been highly acclaimed; including Friends in High Places, which won the
CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Through A Glass, Darkly, Suffer
the Little Children, The Girl of His Dreams and, most recently, About Face.