On a summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment's flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony's incomplete grasp of adult motives and her precocious imagination bring about a crime that will change all their lives, a crime whose repercussions Atonement follows through the chaos and carnage of World War!! and into the close of the twentieth century.

While the residents of Pickax eagerly await a festival celebrating the 150th anniversary of the town's founding, newspaper columnist James Qwilleran must entertain Harvey Ledfield, an aspiring architect. Strange occurrences seem to follow Harvey around. Koko, the Siamese cat, leaps on his head, a knitter predicts murder, and a woman comes from California to leave a message for Qwill. It's up to Koko to help Qwill piece the clues together. -- from...

"Single mom Sidonie Lindstrom has her hands full with a troubled foster son, an abrupt adjustment to country living, and an unforeseen lack of funds. When her taciturn neighbor, MacKenzie Knightley, repeatedly offers practical help, Sid reminds herself she's not interested--despite his kindness, pragmatism, and quiet charm. MacKenzie sees the vulnerability beneath her pride, and he's determined to change her mind."-- back cover.

"I don't know who was most excited that morning when the three of us hoisted packs on our backs and started off down the trail. Just before we disappeared from view of our yard, I turned for one more wave. You woulda thought we were marching off to war or something ... They all looked glad and sad at the same time ... ". On the brink of manhood, young Josh faces important questions about life, love, and himself.

"Rosamunde Pilcher brings her readers into the lives of five very different, but equally intriguing people. Plagued by loneliness, regret, abandonment and loss, fate will unite them in a dilapidated estate house in Northern Scotland. It is in this house, on the shortest day of the year, that these five people will find each other and, ultimately, find themselves."--Page 4 of cover.

A film star returns to Pickax but her arrival is marred by the birdnapping of her Amazon parrots, and the circumstances of her brother's death appear increasingly suspicious to columnist James Qwilleran.

"At fifty-one years old, twins Jeanie and Julius still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation in the English countryside. The cottage they have shared their entire lives is their only protection against the modernizing world around them. Inside its walls, they make music, and in its garden, they grow everything they need to survive. To an outsider, it looks like poverty; to them, it is home. But when Dot dies unexpectedly, the world they've...

Elliot the little elephant and his best friend, Mouse, play hide-and-seek during an autumn vacation in the countryside.

"In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good. Picking up her mother's old packhorse library...

Edward Dickens, the tenth child of author Charles Dickens, has consistently let down his parents. Unable to apply himself at school and adrift in life, the teenaged boy is sent to Australia in the hopes that he can make something of himself - or at least fall out of the public eye. Determined to prove to his parents and more importantly, himself, that he can succeed in this vast and unfamiliar wilderness, Edward works hard at his new life amidst various...