National Network for Equitable Library Service

Hurricane Katrina bares down on New Orleans, evoking in 95-year-old Louis Proby memories of the fateful--and life-defining--flood of 1927. And tied up in these memories are all the triumphs, missteps and family obligations that make up his life.

Caught on the front lines of the Great War and torn by feuding families, the French village of Briecort is rocked by fear, suspicion, and blame. As the tale unfolds, the chaste and tender love of an adopted villager and a Belgian refugee shines brightly against a dark backdrop of pride, vanity and greed.

In prehistoric times, Mount Kilamanjaro is known as Great Sky Mountain to the peace-loving Ibandi people. One day, a boy named Frog Hopping on the Inner Boma clan witnesses a savage invasion by a neighboring clan in which many of his people are captured and enslaved. No he and T'Cori, a young woman training in the herbal arts, must scale Great Sky Mountain to consult with mighty Father Mountain--for it is ony he who can protect their future.

Lord John is in a difficult spot. His cousin Olivia is engaged to marry the Honorable Joseph Trevelyan, but he has just observed something of a rather personal nature that, if confirmed, might put an end to any talk of marital bliss. Determined to investgate further, Lord John is distracted when the Crown calls for his services. A comrade in arms has been slain, and to complicate matters, the victim may have been a traitor. Now Lord John has not one, but two puzzling mysteries to solve.

In these tales, Lord John vows to avenge a murder, investigates a terrifying "night-hag" on the battlefields of Europe, and discovers treason in His Majesty's ranks.

It is 1758, and the flames of the Seven Years' War are burning hotter than ever. The rigors and dangers of battle are actually a welcome respite for Lord John and his brother Hal, who feel the constant strain of their family's troubled history.

In 19th-century London, Lord John is investigating the death of a red-haired man when the suspense begins to build. Soon he is mixed up in the affairs of Sir Francis Dashwood and his notorious Hellfire Club. Suddenly, Lord John's own life may be in danger.

The House of Seven Gables, a fixture in Hawthorne's Salem, serves as the ancestral home of the fictional Pyncheon family--whose distinguished legacy is tainted by pious thievery. When country cousin Phoebe arrives at the house, she is like a cool breeze, refreshing a room that has been sealed for too long.

London's Great Plague of 1665 devastated the city, as Europe's final bubonic outbreak killed thousands of helpless citizens. Daniel Defoe, author of the classic Robinson Crusoe, was five years old when the Plague swept through London, and grew up hearing many stories - some truthful, others exaggerated - of its deadly effects. Blending those anecdotes with his childhood recollections and factual data from government registers, Defoe wrote this comprehensive account of what happened to London in 1665.

In 985 A.D. the life of a Viking thrall in newly settled Greenland is harsh and unforgiving. Katla, a proud, beautiful slave girl, is ostracized because of her arrogant ways and the mystical rosary beads she wears. She survives a violent rape only through the compassion of Thorbjorg, a pagan seeress and shaman. But Katla's mure daughter--concieved during the rape and reared by Torbjorg to be a shaman--maliciously exploits the pagan teachings to exact revenge on her mother for abandoning her.