Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means “slave girl,” begins to collect other words discarded or neglected by the dictionary men.

1889: Kitty Gray dreams of attending university and becoming a doctor, but when she is married off to Charles Maclean, one of Glasgow's richest and most eligible bachelors, her aspiration suddenly slips far from reach. Exiled to her new remote home in the Scottish Highlands, with its gargoyles, gothic arches and turrets, Kitty seeks solace in creating a restorative herb garden. Combining her medical knowledge and new-found fascination with herbalism, Kitty spends her days absorbed in a world of herbs and their healing properties until a devastating tragedy strikes...

I sent 19-year-old Phyllis, my youngest recruit, into a city crawling with enemy soldiers. And this beautiful house on a tree-lined street, the headquarters of cold-hearted German soldiers, was the last place she was seen. I trail my fingers along the gilded furniture and see the light dance off the glittering chandeliers. On the top floor, I find the dates inscribed by beaten prisoners, and I know my girl was shown no mercy.

For Iris, each visit to her mother in St Mabon’s Cove, Cornwall has been the same—a serene escape from the city. But today, as she breaths in the salt air on the doorstep of her beloved childhood home, a heavy weight of anticipation settles over her. Iris knows she’s adopted, but any questions about where she came from have always been shut down by her parents, who can’t bear to revisit the past. Now, Iris can’t stop thinking about what she’s read on the official paperwork: BABY GIRL, FRANCE, 1939 – the year war was declared with Nazi Germany.

Paris, 1940: As the German soldiers march down the Champs-Élysées, the Bélanger twins know there is no escape – their lives are about to change forever. But while Sophie, a third-year medical student, works long days and nights saving casualties of war at the American hospital, and waits anxiously for news of her fiancé from the front line, her recently widowed twin, Adèle, is determined to enjoy her freedom. Nothing – not the bombs, the curfews or the Nazi officers sidling up to her in nightclubs – can stop her from indulging in the temptations of Parisian society.

In a house full of history and secrets, the past will not stay where it belongs.... Lou has always loved Hill House, the derelict manor on the abandoned land near her home. As a child, the tragic history of its owners, the Mandevilles, inspired her dream to become a history teacher. But in her late 20s, working in a shop to pay off student debts, life is passing her by. That changes when a family disaster sends Lou’s life into a downward spiral, and she seeks comfort in the ruined corridors of Hill House.

When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets.

Germany, 1945. As the ground shakes and the air raid sirens wail, Katja holds her tiny baby to her chest. She pictures Karl’s handsome face and kind blue eyes, her breath catching at the thought of him heading back to the front. She must never tell anyone about the letters she delivered for him or the other secret she is hiding....

Sam Gribley is terribly unhappy living in New York City with his family, so he runs away to the Catskill Mountains to live in the woods - all by himself. With only a penknife, a ball of cord, 40 dollars, and some flint and steel, he intends to survive on his own. Sam learns about courage, danger, and independence during his year in the wilderness, a year that changes his life forever.

Anna works two jobs to get herself through college and never, ever talks about her family. It’s easier to keep her distance from everyone until she can finally leave her old life behind. That is, until chance throws her together with Gabe....

The blue-skinned old woman who made the mountains. Finfolk, selkies, and the Makers of Dreams. Within these sections are the little-known stories of Scotland, collected and retold by an oral storyteller who performs them throughout the world. From folk-tales and local legends to ancient epics, these stories will astonish and delight listeners everywhere. Daniel Allison is a USA Today best-selling author and acclaimed oral storyteller who performs everywhere from schools and prisons to global festivals.

This delightful and interesting account of the Pilgrims is written especially for children. It explores the religious oppression of the Pilgrims in England, their escape to Holland and eventual crossing to America on the Mayflower, and their early days in New England. Based on historical fact, the stories are filled with details of everyday life and vivid characterizations of Pilgrim families as they struggle to maintain their faith in the New World.

Young Jody lives with his ma and pa on a farm in backwoods Florida. Life is hard there: cutting wood, planting fields, hauling water from a distant sinkhole. It is dangerous: wolves and bears roam the night. It’s also lonely for a young boy. One spring day, Jody’s pa kills a deer for meat. When Jody sees her spotted fawn in the brush, he convinces his father they should bring the fawn home. Thus begins a year when deer and boy are never far from each other. But the day will come when Jody must make a terrible choice between his beloved pet and his family’s survival.

No one would accuse 11-year-old Caddie Woodlawn of being dainty and ladylike. In spite of her mother’s best efforts, Caddie is as wild as the wind, playing freely and rambunctiously with her two brothers in the Wisconsin backwoods. There are rafts to build and trees to climb and pranks to play. Caddie especially likes to watch her friend Indian John build birchbark canoes at the river. Every day seems wide with possibility - as wide as the frontier. But living on the edge of civilization has its risks, too....

Escape to Blueberry Beach in this charming collection of sweet, heartwarming romances!