Before his death in [1999], Puzo (The Last Don) had begun work on a novel featuring the 15th-century Borgias, whom he regarded as "the original crime family." There are obvious parallels between the Borgias and the Corleone clan immortalized in The Godfather, but the resemblances are mostly superficial, at least as they are presented in this limp historical romance. The story opens with Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia manipulating papal elections in 1492 to become the new Pope Alexander.
As a summer full of romance draws to a close, a young woman discovers the heartbreak that autumn ushers in. Lorna Raver s narration masterfully tells the story of the rebellious but genuine Charity Royall. Raver s reading is thoughtful, capturing the warm emotions of the heroine while keeping with the slower pace of Wharton s depiction of the setting. In SUMMER, Wharton diverges from her usual focus on the New York elite, instead setting the story in rural New England. Raver makes the inhabitants of the small town come alive by using the rural dialects in her vocal characterizations.
The subtitle, "A High Tech Love Story," need not frighten Steel's loyal fans. More fanciful than technologically snappy, this novel (her 42nd, after The Long Road Home) grafts one scientific wrinkle onto the usual romance. Stunned when her feckless husband declares that their companionable but passionless marriage is over (then sues her for alimony and child support), 41-year-old Stephanie spends the next year improving both her body and her self-respect. During a trip to Paris, she attracts a suitor; Peter Baker is a fellow New Yorker - and everything Stephanie's been hoping for.
Designed to support writing projects, this volume offers advice to children on writing a story. It makes suggestions to guide and encourage children to be creative - whilst delivering and reviewing basic skills. It is part of a series seeking to provide both dip-in resources to support the National Curriculum and the National Literacy strategy and "from cover to cover" projects to produce one or more pieces of extended writing, or multiple pieces of shorter work. The books should also help readers to evaluate work (theirs and that of others) as well as helping them make their own work.
