Classic / British English Jane Eyre, a poor orphan, grows up in misery until she becomes the governess in the house of wealthy Mr Rochester and falls in love. But mysterious events take place in the house at night, and Mr Rochester appears to be hiding a terrible secret. Can Jane even hope for happiness?

This is the story of Bathsheba Everdene, who inherits her uncle's farm, then surprises the villagers of Weatherbury by deciding to run it herself rather than hire a manager. Three men vie for the affections of this independent young woman.

It seemed the clouds that had darkened so much of Maisie's early life had cleared away. Freed from a disastrous marriage, and now a best-selling author, she is about to remarry, this time to her publisher. But is she destined never to know pure happiness?

'Celestial Bodies' is set in the village of al-Awafi in Oman, where we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries Abdallah after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla who rejects all offers while waiting for her beloved, who has emigrated to Canada. These three women and their families witness Oman evolve from a traditional, slave-owning society slowly redefining itself after the colonial era, to the crossroads of its complex...

'Japan Story' is a fascinating, surprising account of Japan's culture, from the 'opening up' of the country in the mid 19th century to the present, through the eyes of people who always had their doubts about modernity - who greeted it not with the confidence and grasping ambition of Japan's familiar modernizers and nationalists, but with resistance, conflict, distress.

Abandoned at birth and threatened with a life in service, Defoe's young rebel sets her heart on independence. One fatal seduction and five husbands later, she resorts to a life of self-supporting crime.

Nancy Ann Hazel was the bright and high-spirited daughter of a country parson. Her courage and fortitude were soon tested by the challenges of a controversial marriage, when conflict and tragedy alike had to be faced and overcome.