Kirjahaku

Imagine the isolation of a place where, within several miles of home, there were no people other than immediate family--no modern conveniences, telephones, television, internet, newspaper or mail delivery, supermarkets or shopping malls. Imagine a terrain sometimes more hospitable to mesquite trees, rattlesnakes, and jackrabbits than to human inhabitants. Imagine hot, dry weather that could change abruptly as a blue norther rolled in across the plains, dropping temperatures thirty or forty degrees before nightfall. Could you thrive in such an environment? The author did, and she reflects on these vicissitudes with both nostalgia and humor.

Hermione has been thrown out by her father Menelaus, king of Sparta, and sent to stay with her uncle Agamemnon at Mycaenae. Menelaus is angry. Hermione's mother Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, has eloped with Paris, the young prince of Troy, and at present Menelaus can't even bear to see his daughter. The journey to Mycaenae brings both joy and sadness to Hermione. She meets a boy with a mop of yellow hair and a lop-sided smile, who also has a famous parent. But tragedy is building. Agamemnon and Menelaus plan to make war on Troy. Menelaus aims to win back his wife; and Agamemnon wants to attain Troy's gold. However, Agamemnon has offended a powerful goddess and there will be a price to pay - one more terrible than Hermione could ever have imagined. The first book in an exciting Young Adult series set in Ancient Greece.

Electra is eagerly looking forward to her father Agamemnon's triumphant return to Mycenae after the long war in Troy. But his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus have other plans - Clytemnestra cannot forgive her husband for the sacrifice of her eldest daughter Iphigenia at the start of the war, and Aegisthus covets the kingship. Instead of celebrating his return, they murder him horribly; and suddenly Mycenae isn't a safe place for Electra or her brother Orestes. Orestes goes into exile, and Electra has to submit to a humiliating fate. When Orestes eventually returns, there is only one word on his mind - revenge! What part will Electra play in this? The third book in an exciting Young Adult series set in Ancient Greece.

A new poetry collection covering memories, loss, family life, history and nature from author Frances Thomas. For more information and to find out about Frances' other publications, visit her website at www.francesthomas.org

Frances Thomas was born in Wales, where she now lives, having spent many years in London. She has written various books for adults and children, including a biography of Christina Rossetti. She has won the Welsh Arts Council’s Tir na nOg prize four times for her children’s books. She has also written two ‘poetry journals’, A Bracelet of Bright Hair and Dancing in the Chequered Shade. Her most recent work is the Girls of Troy quartet, published by SilverWood Books. For more information, visit her website at www.francesthomas.org.