From the moment that you enter the world (should you ever have that misfortune), your immediate concern will be to find a companion, and when you have done so you will believe that you have found yourself. You will discover a hitherto unimagined interest and value in all your actions, thoughts and memories, since you think to share them with another. Only gradually will you discover that it is impossible to do this wholly; that speech often obscures and sometimes conceals our thoughts; that the fictitious contacts of the flesh give an ecstasy which is poignant chiefly in that it reminds us of the incommunicable solitude of our souls.A powerful Enchanter, Aldebaran, discoverer of the precious Elixir of Eternal Youth, is tired of playing with the lives of men and retires to his beautiful kingdom located on the path between the earth and the moon. There, he passes his time educating his beautiful daughter, Melusine, in the intricate profession of sorcery; his only worry...

None So Pretty describes, with a sensibility and conviction unusual in historical fiction, the life of a young girl brought up in a large, aristocratic, but impecunious family, and married off at an early age to a neighbouring squire who nightly drinks himself under the table. It is not long before the young wife discovers that her sottish husband keeps a mistress at his lodge gates, and that he does not propose to consummate his marriage. Relief from a life of intolerable loneliness comes in the form of a young cavalier who stumbles into her bedroom one night after a hearty carouse downstairs, and the acquaintance thus started swiftly ripens into a deeper affection. To disclose the final sequence of events in this curious drama would be to spoil the story for a prospective reader; one must be content to conclude that by commending Miss Irwin's fascinatingly life-like and original characters, and her gift for creating vivid, unforgettable mental pictures.

The story of the romance between the Marquis of Montrose, the soldier-poet who fought so magnificently for Charles I, and the enchanting, wayward Princess Louise, sister of Rupert of the Rhine.

Philip, Prince of Spain, the unwilling bridegroom of Queen Mary, has been warned about the Queen’s half-sister, the young Elizabeth. According to all reports, she is a heretic, a rebel and a potential enemy, and has ‘a spirit full of enchantment’. An alluring description and one that immediately intrigues, rather than deters, the foreign prince.Accused of treachery by Mary and under threat of death, Elizabeth’s life hangs in the balance. Only Philip, idolised by his ageing wife and able to sway her decisions, holds the power to save the courageous young princess. And so Elizabeth must advance warily towards her destiny, running the gauntlet between Bloody Mary’s jealousy and Philip’s uneasy ardour . . .

July, 1553. Sibling rivalry has never been more turbulent and perilous than between the daughters of King Henry VIII. Queen Mary Tudor has just won possession of the throne, but her younger half-sister – the beautiful and vivacious Princess Elizabeth – holds the hearts of the people. Knowing this, Mary banishes her sibling to a country retreat, determined to keep her as far away from court life as possible.But Mary’s health is fading fast and her power beginning to crumble. The people of England are crying out for a new monarch and it seems, at last, they may have their wish and crown their beloved Bess as Queen. In these treacherous times, when all about her lies secrecy and deception, Elizabeth must rely on her faith and courage if she is to rise to fulfil her destiny.

Growing up in the shadow of her mother, the infamous Anne Boleyn, young Princess Elizabeth has learnt to be continuously on the watch for the political games played out around her. It is never certain when one might rise in, or precariously fall out of, royal favour. But when her distant father, Henry VIII, dies, the future brightens for Elizabeth. She is able to set up a home with Henry’s last wife, Katherine Parr, who now has a new husband, Tom Seymour.Tom, however, is playing a risky game. Marrying a widowed queen is one thing; flirting with the King’s daughter and second in line to the throne is another. As the adolescent Elizabeth finds herself dangerously attracted to him, tragedy looms ahead for her and the kingdom . . .

Queen of Scotland at six days old. Queen of France at seventeen years old. A widow at eighteen. The young and trusting Mary, Queen of Scots, is sailing home to her kingdom after years in exile. The danger from her cousin, the English Queen, has not lessened since then. Religious divides threaten to tear the nation apart and, across the border, Elizabeth keenly watches this new threat to her throne. Amid the furious turmoil and uncertainty in her Scottish kingdom, Mary finds she has one loyal servant James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, a glorious, rash and hazardous young man known to all as the Galliard. In Bothwell's courage and love for her, Mary finds serenity, and though fate works against them, no force can conquer their spirit. This stunning novel from the acclaimed author of Young Bess breathes new life into the little known story of the great love of Mary, Queen of Scots.

The first five stories in this collection are stories from Ireland, exploring the dark history of the country and the dogged optimism of its people. The following four tales are of the uncanny - striking studies of witchcraft and black magic, evoking a strange haunting atmosphere illustrating the power of evil and its effect on the imagination. 'Mrs. Oliver Cromwell' is a revealing glimpse of the Lord Protector through the eyes of his homely unassuming wife, unhappy in the unaccustomed grandeur thrust upon her by circumstances. The last story 'Where beauty lies' is an eighteenth century frolic over a nobleman's choice of bride.

This, unlike most of Margaret Irwin's books, is not an historical novel. It is a peep-show at recent times, so fantastically gay that this, our London, appears as the iridescent scene of a pantomime or holiday charade. What happened behind the door at which one had to knock four times? Many wildly incongruous happenings, but chiefly an attack on other doors, the 'everlasting doors' of Prince's Gate, Queen's Gate, Emperor's Gate, to make them open wide to the rash young adventurer Dicky who had once gatecrashed them, but was resolved to 'spurn Kensington, march on Mayfair,' and conquer both the New World and the Old. How Dicky fought his way to fortune, and how Celia fought hers to freedom from behind the Gates of Kensington, by knocking four times on Dicky's door, is told in this story, which dances along as irresponsibly as a soap bubble against its brilliantly realized background, shading from the raffish to the respectable. For all its laughter and absurd situations, it is...

James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, the soldier-poet who fought so magnificently and so fruitlessly for his King, Charles I. A tale of seduction and witchcraft and a promise made to Charles 1 to "raise Scotland for the King" Margaret Irwin's novels of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries have been popular for over five decades. The author's particular hall-mark is the way she blends exciting adventure, romance and penetrating character-study with scrupulous historical accuracy.

The story moves between the 1920s and the 1770s, following two heroines: 20th century Jan Challard, a London girl, and 18th century Juliana Clare, the youngest daughter of an aristocratic Berkshire family. Jan is independent and spirited, but leads a humdrum life, working in an office, and walks out with a very suitable young man. Juliana, at 17 years of age, is getting the upbringing of a young lady in the enormous family mansion, Chidleigh, and her life is devoid of excitement and event.The two heroines can see one another from time to time, momentarily, through some rent in the fabric of time, but never manage to meet and interact. Their lives converge as Juliana's world is turned upside down; her father dies and her notoriously wicked and mysterious brother, Lucian Clare, returns to take his position as head of the family. Lucian recognizes a supernatural power in Juliana, and uses this to reach out to Jan through the ages.