Simone Kabst Books

Born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue, Zarité -- known as Tété -- is the daughter of an African mother she never knew and one of the white sailors who brought her into bondage. Though her childhood is one of brutality and fear, Tété finds solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and in the voodoo loas she discovers through her fellow slaves. When twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770, it’s with powdered wigs in his baggage and dreams of financial success in his mind. But running his father’s plantation, Saint-Lazare, is neither glamorous nor easy. It will be eight years before he brings home a bride -- but marriage, too, proves more difficult than he imagined. And Valmorain remains dependent on the services of his teenaged slave. Spanning four decades, Island Beneath the Sea is the moving story of the intertwined lives of Tété and Valmorain, and of one woman’s determination to find love amid loss, to offer humanity though her own has been battered, and to forge her own identity in the cruellest of circumstances. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden.

From naughty children to rebellious teenagers, Rosie and Alex have stuck by each other through thick and thin. But just as they're discovering the joys of teenage nights on the town and dating disasters, they're separated. Alex's family moves from Dublin to America - and Alex goes with them. For good.Rosie's lost without her best friend. But on the eve of her departure to join Alex in Boston, Rosie gets news that will change her life forever - and keep her at home in Ireland.Their magical connection sees them through the ups and downs of each other's lives but neither of them knows whether their friendship can really survive the years and miles - as well as new relationships. And at the back of Rosie's mind is whether they were meant to be more than just good friends all along. Misunderstandings, circumstances and sheer bad luck have kept them out of each others' arms, but when presented with the ultimate opportunity, will they gamble everything - including their friendship - for true love?Destiny, Alex and Rosie discover, is a funny thing and fate isn't quite done with them yet ...

Spanning the 1930s to the present day, from a magnificent estate in war-torn England to Thailand, this sweeping debut tells the tale of a concert pianist, Julia, and the prominent Crawford family whose shocking secrets are revealed, leading to devastating consequences for generations to come.

The beautiful family drama from the international bestselling author of THE MURDERS AT FLEAT HOOUSE and The Seven Sisters series 'A beautiful story, brilliantly woven through generations' 5***** Reader Review 'Stunning, enchanting, evocative . . . You can feel the wind in your hair' 5***** Reader Review 'Takes you on a journey . . . Beautifully written' 5***** Reader Review ________ How did a secret from 1914 cause a century of heartache? . . . After a devastating loss, Grania Ryan returns home to Ireland and the arms of her loving family. There, she meets young Aurora while walking along the cliffs. Mysteriously drawn to her, Grania discovers that the histories of their families are strangely and deeply entwined. From a bittersweet romance in wartime London, to a troubled relationship in contemporary New York, the two families, past and present, have been entangled for a century. Can Aurora help Grania understand the past, and change her future? Haunting, intriguing and deeply moving, The Girl on the Cliff tells of the triumph of hope over loss. ________ Praise for Lucinda Riley 'Thoroughly addictive storytelling with a moving, emotional heart' Dinah Jefferies 'A brilliant page-turner' Daily Mail 'An absolutely fantastic storyteller' Katherine Webb 'Brilliant escapism' Red