Arrow Books The Italian Woman Plaidy Jean

The first book in the captivating Spanish Trilogy, focusing on the remarkable lives of Spain's most famous monarchs • In the 15th Century, Spain is full of intrigue and threatened by civil war. The independent young princess Isabella has become the pawn of her ambitious, half-crazed mother, kept as a virtual prisoner at the sordid court of her half-brother, France's Henry IV • Just sixteen years old, all seems lost: is Isabella fated to be the victim of the Queen's revenge, the Archbishop's ambition and the lust of Don Pedro Giron, one of the most notorious womanisers in Castile? • Numbed with grief and fear, Isabella holds onto one cherished hope: that one day, she will escape her tormentors and marry Ferdinand, the handsome young Prince of Aragon - her only true betrothed

The fourth book in Jean Plaidy's epic Plantagenet series • The untimely death of Richard the Lionheart left his nephew Arthur and his younger brother John in contest for the throne of England. Reluctantly the barons chose John, and so began years of rule by a ruthless and greedy tyrant • Yet despite his reputation, John, still manages to seduce the young and beautiful Isabella of Angouleme. But in taking her as his bride he makes an enemy for life. And in the tempestuous years that follow many men come to believe that the House of Anjou was tainted by the Devil's blood, the loathsome monarch was himself Evil Incarnate, the very Prince of Darkness

The fifth book in Jean Plaidy's Plantagenet saga tells the fascinating story of the hatred between two queens • The first half of the thirteenth century is dominated by two women, as proud and ambitious as they were beautiful, yet different in all other qualities • Isabella, flamboyant and passionate, a medieval Helen of Troy - wife to King John and mother to Henry III • Blanche of Castile, serene and virtuous Queen of France, wife of Louis VIII and mother of Louis IX • The two women hated each other on sight. Isabella would stop at nothing, not even murder, in her passion to destroy the French Queen

The second book in Jean Plaidy's epic Plantagenet series • News of Thomas a Becket's martyrdom has spread throughout Christendom and the blame is laid at the feet of Henry Plantagenet, King of England. Two years later, with Becket canonised, Henry's position is precarious: punished at the Pope's insistence for his part in Becket's death, he now also has an enemy in his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after her discovery of his longstanding infidelity with Rosamund Clifford. Eleanor is determined to seek vengeance, so, with King Philip of France, she encourages her sons to conspire, both against their father and each other • Much embattled, the old eagle Henry struggles to fend off both rebellion and the plots of his aggressively circling offspring

The sixth book in Jean Plaidy's marvellous Plantaganet series • Marguerite, eldest daughter of the Count of Provence, had married a king of France - and now her sister Eleanor is determined to make just as grand a match • Good fortune and wily cunning bring her Henry of England. A good and generous husband but a weak king, he rules a nation that still remembers his cruel and foolish father, King John. As Henry showers gifts on his new bride his extravagance forces him to levy ever greater taxation on the land, and the spectre of revolt soon looms against him. For Simon de Montfort, the adventurer who will give England its first true parliament, the house of destiny is at hand

The tension is simmering. The lies are piling up. Who do you trust? • Jocelyn loves her nanny more than her own mother – until the night that the nanny disappears. Jo is seven years old when it happens and never gets over the loss • Now, thirty years later, Jo is returning to her family home with her daughter in tow – just as human remains are pulled out of the house's lake • Then there’s a knock on the door. And a woman claiming to be her nanny stands outside • Is she who she says she is? • Can she be trusted? • And what really happened on that fateful night all those years ago? • Sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie

The critically acclaimed bestseller from the number one bestselling author of The Moment and A Special Relationship. A powerful romantic novel set in the tumultuous world of post-war America. New York, 1945 - Sara Smythe, a young, beautiful and intelligent woman, ready to make her own way in the big city, attends her brother's Thanksgiving Eve party. As the party gets into full swing, in walks Jack Malone, a US Army journalist back from a defeated Germany and a man unlike any Sara has ever met before - one who is destined to change Sara's future forever. But finding love isn't the same as finding happiness - as Sara and Jack soon find out. In post-war America chance meetings aren't always as they seem, and people's choices can often have profound repercussions

The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the presents are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill's wedding • Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby's four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death, but when Gaby announces that she's getting married - and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day - she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays • But the wedding isn't the only surprise - there is one more unexpected gift, and it could change all their lives for ever • With deeply affecting characters and the emotional twists of a James Patterson thriller, The Christmas Wedding is a fresh look at family and the magic of the festive season

The Forgotten Legion - fighting for honour, freedom and revenge • Romulus and Fabiola are twins, born into slavery after their mother is raped by a drunken nobleman. At thirteen years old they are sold - Romulus to gladiator school, Fabiola into prostitution, where she will catch the eye of one of the most powerful men in Rome. Tarquinius is an Etruscan, a warrior and soothsayer, born enemy of Rome, but doomed to fight for the Republic in the Forgotten Legion. Brennus is a Gaul, his entire family killed by the Romans, and he rises to become one of the most famous and feared gladiators of his day • The lives of these characters are bound and interwoven in an odyssey which begins in a Rome riven by political corruption and violence, but ends far away, at the very border of the known world, where the tattered remnants of a once-huge Roman army - the Forgotten Legion - will fight against overwhelming odds, and the three men will meet their destiny

The dramatic climax to Ben Kane's Forgotten Legion Trilogy • Having survived the perils of a journey across half the world, Romulus and Tarquinius are press-ganged into the legions, which are under imminent threat of annihilation by the Egyptians • Meanwhile in Rome, Romulus's twin sister Fabiola lives in fear for her life, loved by Brutus, but wooed by Marcus Antonius, his deadly enemy • Soon after, Romulus fights at Zela, the vicious battle where Caesar famously said, 'Veni, vidi, vici'. Tarquinius, separated from Romulus in the chaos of war, hides in Alexandria, searching for guidance. But mortal danger awaits them both • From the battlefields of Asia Minor and North Africa, to the lawless streets of Rome and the gladiator arena, they face death daily, until on the Ides of March, the twins are reunited and must decide either to back or to betray Caesar on his day of destiny

The stunning new novel by the acclaimed author of The Power of the Dog ('so good you want to keep him to yourself' Ian Rankin), bought for the movies by Robert de Niro, who plans to play Frankie himself • Frank Machianno is the guy, a late-middle-aged ex-surf bum who runs a bait shack on the San Diego waterfront. That's when he's not juggling any of his other three part-time jobs or trying to get a quick set in on his long board. He's a beloved fixture of the community, a stand-up businessman, a devoted father to his daughter. Frank's also a hit man. Well, a retired hit man • Back in the day, when he was one of the most feared members of the West Coast mob, he was known as Frankie Machine. Years ago, Frank consigned his mob ties to the past, which is where he wants them to stay

The third title in Paul Scott's masterpiece, The Raj Quartet, dramatised by Radio 4 • It is the last, bitter days of World War II and the British Raj in India is crumbling. Ensconced in the Indian Hill Station of Pankot are the English wives, mothers, daughters and widows of the officers embroiled in the ongoing conflict. With their old beliefs and assumptions under increasingly virulent attack, all eyes are upon Captain Merrick and the British military to protect them in this troubled time. But Merrick, though outwardly a consummate professional, is brutal and corrupt, and not even his machinations can stop the change that is swiftly and inevitably approaching, change which is increasingly undermining the old myth of British invincibility