Audrey Howard
Rose Alley

Rose Alley is one of Liverpool's worst slums, a place where hunger, filth and violence are a way of life. It's no place for proud Queenie Logan and her daughter Gillyflower. And it seems Queenie's dreams of escape will come true.Transformed by Miss Hunter's School for Girls, Gilly opens a successful dressmaking shop. And though she always thought she would marry the boy next door, soon she is courted by one of the richest young men in the city. But they have made a terrible enemy, who lurks in the Liverpool slums and seeks his chance to destroy them. And in the respectable new world they have joined, someone else will prove even more dangerous to Gilly and those she loves.

`Her thousands o f fans recognise the artistry of a true storyteller'- Lancashire Life

Alexander McCall Smith
Espresso Tales

Since the comings and goings at 44 Scotland Street first appeared in daily episodes in the pages of The Scotsman newspaper in 2004,the inhabitants of that Edinburgh New Town house have become familiar to Alexander McCall Smith's growing army of fans.The first serial novel, 44 Scotland Street, was collected in book form and became an instant hit both in Great Britain and the United States, where it appeared in the top ten of a number of bestseller lists across the country. By popular demand, and the author's growing addiction to his cast of characters, a second series inevitably followed. In this new volume, Espresso Tales, we see the continuation of many themes: Bertie, the precocious six-year-old is still in therapy and dreams of slipping his mother's leash; the ghastly Bruce still hold himself in ridiculously high esteem; and worldly-wise Domenica continues to observe events with her customary mordant wit.

A treasure of a writer whose books deserve immediate devouring'-The Guardian

As a young child, psychiatrist Dr David McBride witnessed the death of his six-year-old brother and it is this traumatic event that has shaped his own personality and choice of profession. One day a failed suicide, Elizabeth Cruikshank, is admitted to his hospital. She is unusually reticent and it is not until he recalls a painting by Caravaggio that she finally yields up her story.We learn of Elizabeth Cruikshank's dereliction of trust, and the man she has lost, through David's narration. As her story unfolds David finds his own life being touched by her account and a haunting sense that the `other side' of his elusive patient has a strange resonance for him too. Set partly in Rome, The Other Side of You explores the theme of redemption through love and art.

`Shimmers with style and elegance'- Independent on Sunday