It is the end of a wet English August and the Larkins, all ten of them, including little Oscar, the family's latest addition, bundle into the old Rolls and cross the Channel to escape the angry elements. But far from being the balmy, sunny and perfick spot Ma Larkin hoped for, France and the French prove not so welcoming to an eccentric English family. The tea's weak, the furniture breakable, and the hotel manager is almost as hostile as the wind and the rain they've brought with them. And when the manager learns that Ma and Pop are unmarried yet sharing a room, the trouble really begins. 'Very racy, earthy. Rabelaisian.' - The Spectator. 137pp, Penguin paperback.

A lone gunman takes the women and doctors at a controversial abortion clinic hostage. Nobody has ended up there by choice. As the tense negotiation for their release unfolds, hour by crucial hour, back in time through the day that brought the hostages and their captor to this moment, every certainty is questioned, every judgement thrown into sharp relief because matters of life and death look very different when you, or the ones you love, are staring down the barrel of a gun. The novel propels the reader through intertwining characters and uncovers motives in this unflinching exploration of what makes a life. Picoult's technicolour prose is full of nuggets like: 'Coal, with time and heat and pressure, will always become a diamond. But if you are freezing to death, which would you consider the gem?' 355pp, paperback.

By the author the immensely popular North Country sagas, here is a compelling story of family heartbreak and tragedy. Can he find his children before everything is lost? Unable to cope with raising his children alone, Robert Sullivan abandons three year old Nancy and seven year old Jack to those he believes can provide them with a better life. However he quickly has a change of heart and goes back for them, but on the way there, he is involved in an horrific accident. Jack and Nancy are placed in the brutal regime of the Galloway Children's Home, where Jack's fiery temper lands him in trouble. Clinging together, the children find themselves at the mercy of the corrupt Clive Ennington. As Robert recovers in hospital he is determined to reunite his family, but he soon realises the terrible consequences of his cowardly actions, and wonders if he will ever see his children again. Pure escapism, you will find a few tears but believe in the characters by this gifted writer. 452pp, paperback.

An unforgettable and dramatic tale of the lingering power of past betrayals. Past tragedies have cast a menacing shadow on the happiness of two families. 10 years ago Louise Hunter's life was torn apart when her husband Ben killed himself, her brother-in-law Jacob was murdered and her sister Susan abandoned her new-born daughter. Louise remains haunted by guilt over the one night she spent with Ben's friend Eric, and refuses to return Eric's love. But after adopting Jinnie, she finds new happiness - until Susan decides she wants Jinnie back. Meanwhile Adam and Hannah, whose mother was killed with Jacob, are on the run. What Adam witnessed on that dreadful night has put them all in danger, but their beloved grandmother knows that one day they must return to the place where it all began. A novel of heartache, greed and jealousy by this popular storyteller. 292pp, paperback.

Jenna Metcalf was with her mother the night she disappeared in tragic and mysterious circumstances, but she remembers nothing. Over 10 years have passed and still Jenna reads and rereads her mother's journals, hoping to find some clue hidden there in the meticulous recording of her scientific research with elephants. Desperate for answers, Jenna uses all her savings to recruit the aid of a private detective, and a psychic. Jenna knows her mother loved her and knows she would not leave her, and she will not rest until she finds out what happened that night to Alice after the car accident, as she retraces the events of that fateful night, but nothing can prepare her for the answers that await. An addictive novel full of twists and turns. If this author has passed you by until now, try her out. 480pp, paperback.

Ada Williams once believed money and power would bring her happiness, but now she is all alone except for her greedy son Peter, who waits only for the day he will inherit her fortune. Ada however has a different plan altogether. She enters the lives of the Bolton family, living just a few miles away in Blackburn. They may be poor, but the love they share means they can overcome almost any adversity, but no one could have foreseen the shocking events of Christmas night 1932, which split the family apart, leaving Larry crippled and the twins Ellie and Betsy in a foster home. Events that Ada Williams even after all these years will never forget. By one of the country's best-loved story tellers. 296pp, paperback.

Set amongst the snow-covered mountains of the Austrian Alps, the novel is the story of a forbidden attraction that will reveal long-buried secrets. Award-winning director Clover Phillips is riding high when she encounters Kit Foley, a surfer and snowboarder well-known for controversy. Involved in an accident that had devastating consequences for a bitter rival, Kit has never spoken about what really happened that day. Determined to find out the truth, Clover heads to the snowy wilderness of the mountains, sharing a romantic winter wonderland with a man who can't stand her. But as she delves deeper, Clover finds herself drawn both to Kit and even more convinced he is hiding something. Is he really as cold as he seems? Glamorous and irresistibly romantic, this is a well crafted tale of love, loss and reinvention from the Sunday Times bestselling author. 457pp, paperback with fairly large print.

When a letter announces the imminent arrival of Madame Dupont, Pop and Ma Larkin learn that little Oscar and Blenheim, Charley and Mariette's new boys - are to be christened. In fact, once Mr Candy, who will be officiating much to raven-haired Primrose's delight, learns that Pop and Ma have neglected the entire Larkin brood, the whole family seems set for a dunking! Pop who needs no excuse to open a few bottles of Dragon's Blood and host the perfick party, rushes out and buys a fun fair to celebrate, but there are one or two gate-crashers even he had not counted on turning up. 'Pop Larkin is a living, breathing quotable character, cast large in the heroic mould.' - The Times. 122 page Penguin paperback.

'Home looks nice. Allus does though, don't it? Perfick'. One pleasant May evening, Pop and Ma Larkin and their six children return to the rustic charms of their Kent farm but waiting for them is a young man, Mr Cedric Charlton, an upstanding inspector of taxes who has come to discover why they haven't paid any. Yet as junk-dealer Pop patiently explains nothing is ever simple at the Larkins'. Before long his eldest daughter Mariette takes a shine to young Cedric, seducing him with the delights of country living, the lusty scents of wild flowers, the pleasures of a bottle of Dragon's Blood, cold cream dribbled over a bowl of strawberries, and the sweet song of nightingales. Will Cedric come to his senses or will he beat a hasty retreat to the office? 'A pulsing comedy of country matters' this is a genuinely anarchic classic. 137pp, Penguin paperback.

23-year-old Katy Speed has always been fascinated by the house across the street. The woman who lives there, Gloria, is the most glamorous neighbour on the avenue, owning a fashionable dress shop in Bexhill-on-Sea. But who is the woman who arrives in the black car most Saturdays while Gloria is at work? Sometimes she brings women to the house, and other times the women come with children. Hilda, Katy's mother, disapproves of Gloria. She wonders where these mysterious visitors have come from, and what they want. Does Gloria have sinister reasons for secretly bringing strangers into the heart of the community? Then one night, the house burns down and in the wreckage the bodies of Gloria and her daughter are found. Katy is sure the unexplained strangers must be responsible, until her father is arrested and charged with murder. Surely the police have arrested the wrong person? Is the rest of the street safe? Can Katy find the truth before it's too late? 352pp, Penguin paperback.