Kirsty Manning - Free Library Land Online - Language

The Lost Jewels

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 10:30:50 +0300

From the author of The Song of the Jade Lily comes a thrilling story of a family secret that leads to a legendary treasure.

Why would someone bury a bucket of precious jewels and gemstones and never return?

Present Day. When respected American jewelry historian, Kate Kirby, receives a call about the Cheapside jewels, she knows she's on the brink of the experience of a lifetime.

But the trip to London forces Kate to explore secrets that have long been buried by her own family. Back in Boston, Kate has uncovered a series of sketches in her great-grandmother's papers linking her suffragette great-grandmother Essie to the Cheapside collection. Could these sketches hold the key to Essie's secret life in Edwardian London?

In the summer of 1912, impoverished Irish immigrant Essie Murphy happens to be visiting her brother when a workman's pickaxe strikes through the floor of an old tenement...

The Paris Mystery

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 16:41:21 +0300

Intrepid reporter Charlotte "Charlie" James arrives in Paris in 1938 eager to make a fresh start, but little does she know the trouble that awaits her...
Charlie James is chasing her first big scoop as correspondent for British-based newspaper The Times, and she needs to prove to her boss that she can do this job as well, if not better, than her male counterparts. The best way to forge the necessary contacts quickly is to make well-connected British expats, Lord and Lady Ashworth, her business. Lady Eleanor knows everyone in Parisian high society, and at her sumptuously extravagant annual party, a Circus Ball, Charlie will meet them all.
On the summer solstice eve, the Circus Ball is in full swing, with the Parisian elites entranced by burlesque dancers, tightrope walkers, a jazz band . . . and a horrific murder. A wealthy but unscrupulous investor is dead, and the list of suspects is a veritable who's who of le haut monde. As Charlie tries to...

The Song of the Jade Lily

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 16:51:41 +0200

Kirsty Manning makes her US debut with this gripping historical novel that tells the little-known story of Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai during WWII."Compelling, passionate, and admirable."— Australian Women's Weekly
1939: Two young girls meet in Shanghai, also known as the "Paris of the East". Beautiful local Li and Jewish refugee Romy form a fierce friendship, but the deepening shadows of World War II fall over the women as they slip between the city's glamorous French Concession district and the teeming streets of the Shanghai Ghetto. Yet soon the realities of war prove to be too much for these close friends as they are torn apart. 2016: Fleeing London with a broken heart, Alexandra returns to Australia to be with her grandparents, Romy and Wilhelm. Her grandfather is dying, and over the coming weeks Romy and Wilhelm begin to reveal the family mysteries they have kept secret for more...

The Midsummer Garden

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 23:10:45 +0200

Travelling between lush gardens in France, windswept coastlines of Tasmania, to Tuscan hillsides and beyond, The Midsummer Garden lures the reader on an unforgettable culinary and botanical journey.1487 Artemisia is young to be in charge of the kitchens at Chateau de Boschaud but, having been taught the herbalists' lore, her knowledge of how food can delight the senses is unsurpassed. All of her concentration and flair is needed as she oversees the final preparations for the sumptuous wedding feast of Lord Boschaud and his bride while concealing her own secret dream. For after the celebrations are over, she dares to believe that her future lies outside the chateau. But who will she trust?2014 Pip Arnet is an expert in predicting threats to healthy ecosystems. Trouble is, she doesn't seem to recognise these signs in her own life. What Pip holds dearest right now is her potential to make a real difference in the marine biology of her beloved Tasmanian...