Ebook Spring Sale Titles

Spring has arrived and with it some great new books for your e-reader, currently on sale for under a pound!

Head to the country with two of our most beloved authors. Three titles from the great E.V. Thomspon are available: God’s Highlander, Blue Dress Girl and The Bonds of Earth. Alternatively, head further north to Yorkshire and try two reads from Nicholas Rhea, the author of the Constable… books: Constable Across and the Moors and Murder at Maddleskirk Abbey.

If crime fiction is more your style, two of Bill Kitson’s Mike Nash crime stories are part of the sale: Depth of Despair and Chosen.

Author Wendy Perriam heads to Broken Places for her story but if you prefer things a little more regal then don’t despair – A Crown of Despair by Jenny Mandeville is also part of the sale.

Sh! A Vow of Silence by Veronica Black is available, or you could enjoy a Star-Crossed Summer with Sarah Stanley.

If the spring has made you want to travel the world, you can head to Berlin with The Boy from Berlin by Michael Parker or see for yourself what living in Venice is really like with Polly Coles’s The Politics of Washing: Real Life in Venice.

If you like your stories dark then try The Pershore Poisoners by Kerry Tombs or wartime fiction The Lambs by Peter James Cottrell.

For those with a Nook, there are also two great Maggie Lane titles available on Jane Austen.

Happy reading and here’s to more great weather and reading outdoors!

OUT NOW: Homeland by EV Thompson

E.V. Thompson was born in London. After spending nine years in the Royal Navy, he served as a Vice Squad policeman in Bristol, became an investigator for British Overseas Airways, then headed Rhodesia’s Department of Civil Aviation Security Section before returning to England and becoming a full-time award-winning writer.

 His first novel, Chase the Wind, won the Best Historical Novel Award, and since then more than thirty novels have won him thousands of admirers around the world. In 2011 E.V. Thompson was awarded an MBE for services to literature and to the Cornish community. Ernest died in 2012.

‘A vigorous and fascinating piece of storytelling from the pen of a world-class professional’ – The Sunday Times

‘A crowded, vigorous and evocative novel’ – Yorkshire Post

‘Mr Thompson has the verbal photography of Ernest Hemingway’  – Cornish Guardian

Homeland by EV Thompson

Three men, all emigrants of Scotland, find new lives in far-distant countries: James Cameron, hounded by debt and scandal, heads for the vast wilderness of Upper Canada where he amasses a fortune that will bless future generations; Hugh MacCrimmon, forced to America when an act of brave defiance makes fleeing his only option; and Angus Ross, victim of tragedy, transported to a convict colony in Australia, left with nothing but his pride and a lust for revenge on the family that blackened his name.

For over a hundred years these families will help carve empires and fight for their countries. But their paths will cross again: in passion, in hatred, in combat – and in their urge to claim their cherished heritage.

Homeland by EV Thompson is available to buy now with a limited time only discount of 30%

OUT TODAY: The Music Makers by E.V. Thompson

E.V. Thompson was born in London. After spending nine years in the Royal Navy, he served as a Vice Squad policeman in Bristol, became an investigator for British Overseas Airways (during which time  he was seconded to the Hong Kong Police Narcotics Bureau), then headed Rhodesia’s Department of Civil Aviation Security Section. While in Rhodesia, he published over 200 short stories before moving back to England to become a full-time award-winning writer.

His first novel, Chase the Wind, the opening book in the Retallick saga, won the Best Historical Novel Award, and since then more than thirty novels have won him thousands of admirers around the world. In 2011 E.V. Thompson was awarded an MBE for services to literature and to the Cornish community. Ernest died in 2012.

The Music Makers by E.V. Thompson

In the troubled countryside of Ireland, the 1840s are harrowing years; the seasons when potato crops fail and the gaunt spectre of hunger stalks the landscape.

Against this stark world stands Liam McCabe, one-time fisherman of Kilmar, now turning his hand to politics to offer his countrymen the thing they need most: a glimmer of hope. Never far away are the women in Liam’s life: Kathie, the fiddler’s winsome daughter, and Caroline, a dazzling lady of the aristocracy.

But Liam will need more than just their support as he confronts new and dangerous enemies, spinning a web of corruption across his tormented nation….

Praise for the Author

‘A vigorous and fascinating piece of storytelling from the pen of a world-class professional’ – The Sunday Times

‘A crowded, vigorous and evocative novel’ – Yorkshire Post

‘Mr Thompson has the verbal photography of Ernest Hemingway’ – Cornish Guardian

‘An entertaining and enjoyable read’ – Historical Novels Review

The Music Makers by E.V. Thompson is available to buy from today with a limited time only discount of 30%.

E.V. Thompson Tribute

November saw the publication of THE BONDS OF EARTH, the last new novel by the much-loved author Ernest (E.V.) Thompson who, sadly, passed away earlier this year. Ernest was a joy to work with, a consummate professional whose long writing career comes to an end with this book. Ernest came to us, he said, because he wanted the warmth and passion of a family-owned, independent publisher who would care for his books as much as he did. There is much to be said for being part of a small outfit such as ours – we might not have the budgets of the likes of Random House, HarperCollins, or Penguin, but we can respond to queries instantly, read most submissions within three weeks, and authors get to know each member of staff individually rather than a member of a faceless team. It was the approach Ernest was looking for.

Ernest appreciated what we managed to achieve for him and, with the publication of this new book and the reissues of some of his much older and long out of print titles, we can maintain his presence on our list and satisfy his thousands of readers.

THE BONDS OF EARTH sees Ernest back to the top of his form: I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed editing it.

At the moment, it is available in hardcover, trade paperback and on ebook.

– Gill Jackson, Robert Hale Ltd Managing Director

OUT TODAY: Blue Dress Girl by E. V. Thompson

E.V. Thompson was born in London. After spending nine years in the Royal Navy, he served as a Vice Squad policeman in Bristol, became an investigator for British Overseas Airways (during which time he was seconded to the Hong Kong Police Narcotics Bureau), then headed Rhodesia’s Department of Civil Aviation Security Section. While in Rhodesia, he published over two hundred short stories before moving back to England to become a full-time award-winning writer.

His first novel, Chase the Wind, the opening book in the Retallick saga, won the Best Historical Novel Award, and since then more than thirty novels have won him thousands of admirers around the world. In 2011 E.V. Thompson was awarded an MBE for services to literature and to the Cornish community.

A much-loved author with devoted readers all over the world, Ernest Thompson died in his beloved Cornwall in July 2012.

BLUE DRESS GIRL OFFICIAL BLURB

When a Chinese peasant girl is chosen as a concubine to Li Hung, Chief Customs Officer for the bustling port of Canton, her parents tell her it is a great honour – but the seedy reality is far from honourable. After an incident with a lecherous British trader she is sent away and is injured during the voyage when a British man-o’-war fires at the junk in which she is travelling. Second Lieutenant Kernow Keats, a Royal Marine from the man-o’-war, boards the junk and, moved by the plight of the fragile young girl, makes arrangements to take her to a mission hospital in Hong Kong where their romance blossoms.

However, a love affair between a British officer and a Chinese peasant girl is unthinkable in 1857, and when Kernow becomes inextricably involved in the vicious war being waged by the Chinese Taiping rebels it seems their love is doomed.

From the author of Chase the Wind and Though the Heavens May Fall this beautifully told saga is majestically woven around the lives of two people, discovering unexpected feelings in unfamiliar territory.

Praise for the author:

‘Mr Thompson has the verbal photography of Ernest Hemingway’ – The Cornish Guardian

‘With settings that stretch from China to Cornwall, these sagas delight.’ – Independent

Blue Dress Girl by E.V. Thompson is available to buy now with a limited time only discount of 30%. His new book THE BONDS OF EARTH will be published by Robert Hale in November in hardcover and trade paperback. An ebook of it will also be issued in December, priced at £7.99.

OUT TODAY: Beyond the Storm by E. V. Thompson

E.V. Thompson was born in London, After spending nine years in the Royal Navy, he served as a Vice Squad policeman in Bristol, became an investigator for British Overseas Airways (during which time he was seconded to the Hong Kong Police Narcotics Bureau), then headed Rhodesia’s Department of Civil Aviation Security Section. While in Rhodesia, he published over two hundred short stories before moving back to England to become a full-time award-winning writer.

His first novel, Chase the Wind, the opening book in the Retallick saga, won the Best Historical Novel Award, and since then more than thirty novels have won him thousands of admirers around the world. In 2011 E.V. Thompson was awarded an MBE for services to literature and to the Cornish community.

BEYOND THE STORM BY E.V. THOMPSON – OFFICIAL BLURB

When the fiercest storm in living memory pounds the shores of 19th century Cornwall, wrecking ships and bringing death and destruction to seafarers and coastal communities, a young girl is found, barely alive, washed up among the rocks of a remote North Cornish cove.

Her arrival and the mystery surrounding her background will affect the lives of those who come to know her and, for Alice Kilpeck in particular, nothing will ever be the same again.

Praise for the Author

“A vigorous and fascinating piece of storytelling from the pen of a world-class professional” – The Sunday Times

“A crowded, vigorous and evocative novel” – The Yorkshire Post

“Mr Thompson has the verbal photography of Ernest Hemingway” – The Cornish Guardian

“An entertaining and enjoyable read” – The Historical Novels Review

Beyond the Storm is available to buy now with a limited time only discount of 30%.

E. V. Thompson on Writing Historical Novels and ‘The Bonds of Earth’

I am often asked why I chose to write Historical Novels when there is much in my own background that would be of interest to readers. The easy answer is that I am essentially a private person who prefers to keep work and home life separate. Were I to set my stories in the present day I feel readers would imagine they could detect some of my own exeriences in the novels – and they could well be right!

As it is, by having my characters living more than 100 years ago the time gap is too much to be put down to personal experience. Nevertheless, my research shows time and time again that those who lived, for instance, in the Victorian era, had emotions and experienced situations that had quite as much impact on their everyday lives as they would have today – however improbable such situations may seem to be.

For instance, in my book The Bonds of Earth, to be published by Robert Hale in November this year, a farm on which the young hero has worked since he was a boy is given to him by a grateful farmer. Far-fetched and stretching imagination too far?

Well, when I returned from Africa to live in Cornwall some forty-odd years ago I bought an old cottage from an 83 year-old farmer. As a young boy he began working on two farms, one from dawn until midday, the other from midday until dusk, seven days a week.

When one of the farmers died childless, leaving behind a seriously disabled widow, the now newly-married farm labourer and his wife took her in and cared for her until she too died, but before doing so she made a gift of the farm to the young man who had done so much to help her and her husband.

When I knew him the one-time farm labourer was an old man, but he was still as indomitable as he had been as a boy, despite living in a world that had changed almost beyond recognition during his lifetime.

The life of that old man planted the seed of a story that remained with me until I felt able to embellish and make use of it in The Bonds of Earth.

– E. V. Thompson

E. V. Thompson has written numerous novels. His latest, Beyond the Storm is out this month in paperback and available to pre-order now. The Bonds of Earth is set for publication in November 2012.

Welcome from Robert Hale Ltd Managing Director, Gill Jackson

Welcome to all book lovers, our established authors, would-be authors, and those just interested in the world of publishing, to our new Robert Hale Ltd blog.

Robert Hale Ltd is a small, independent, family-owned publishing company and has been in business for over seventy-five years. In that time we have issued novels here by some notable authors, not least amongst them Berthold Brecht, Robert Goddard’s very first book  Past Caring, Harold Robbins, Robert Bloch’s Psycho,Wendy Perriam, E.V. Thompson and, of course, Jean Plaidy. We are adding to our list of new books every year and trust that this blog will bring to your attention stories to please you and new authors whose names will, I hope, rise to the same heights as those of the writers just mentioned. Our wide-ranging non-fiction lists of general books, horological and jewellery books, and the country’s foremost equestrian list of J A Allen, are second to none and contain something to interest and please every reader.

If you are looking at our blog then I imagine you are as passionate about books in all forms as I am. Thank you for reading thus far and enjoy the rest of the blog.

Gill Jackson

Managing Director