Janneke Zwart Books

When Tiro, the confidential secretary of a Roman senator, encounters a terrified stranger on a cold November morning, he unwittingly sets off a series of events that will lead his master into a historic courtroom drama. The stranger, a Sicilian wronged by the corrupt governor Verres, brings a case to Cicero, a brilliant young lawyer and orator eager to achieve supreme power. This marks the beginning of a compelling narrative, told from Tiro's perspective, that immerses readers in the treacherous world of Roman politics. It explores how one man—clever, compassionate, and vulnerable—navigates the complexities of ambition and power. The story emphasizes the significance of articulating ambition, as Cicero's bold declaration of his aspirations ignites hope and possibility. Robert Harris reflects on his long-standing fascination with politics, likening it to a contact sport. He highlights the timeless elements of oratory, strategizing, and public manipulation that make politics exhilarating. Cicero’s journey is not just a historical account but a universal exploration of ambition and the thrill of political life.

From the acclaimed author of The Waters of Eternal Youth, Commissario Guido Brunetti dredges up dark secrets from Italy's anti-Semitic past in his captivating eleventh case. Mystery lovers everywhere are addicted to Donna Leon's ever-honorable Commissario Guido Brunetti and her portrayal of Venice's beautiful but sinister byways and canals. In Willful Behavior, Brunetti is approached for a favor by one of his wife's students. Intelligent and serious , Claudia Leonardo asks for his help in obtaining a pardon for a crime once committed by her now-dead grandfather. Brunetti thinks little of it-until Claudia is found dead. Soon, another corpse and an extraordinary art collection lead Brunetti to long-buried secrets of Nazi collaboration and the exploitation of Italian Jews-secrets few in Italy want revealed.

A novel of unsentimental charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, this book introduces Joyce as a wise--and utterly irresistible--storyteller.

Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the Whittakers—a family of botanical explorers, led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker, a poor-born Englishman who makes his fortune in the South American quinine trade, and swiftly becomes the richest man in the New World. His daughter, Alma, born into great luxury in 1800, ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. She is brilliant and insatiable, driven by an unquenchable sense of wonder, and also by a desperate need to understand the hidden mechanisms behind all life itself. But as Alma’s research takes her deeper into the central mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man who draws her in the opposite direction—into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Exquisitely researched and told at a breathless pace, The Signature of All Things soars across the globe—from London to Peru to Philadelphia, Tahiti, Amsterdam, and beyond. Along the way, the story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. But most memorable of all is the story of Alma Whittaker—a true and tireless seeker who stands at an extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas.

Picking up where her bestselling memoir "Eat, Pray, Love" left off, Gilbert details the extraordinary circumstances that surround her love with Felipe, the man she swore never to marry.