Prelude to a kiss

THE train was slowing. Augustine Brown looked again at the letter in her hand. Exciting news! her sister Cordelia had written. “An unexpected guest at the hotel: Maria Mironova. Exciting news indeed.

It was still dark when all the bells of Rome began to toll. Their chorus calling on the populace to wake, to pray, to work. Maddalena Viscuso looked back and saw a dawning strip which pushed against t

ELEANOR awoke with a start from a dream. Then she realised gradually, and with immense relief, that it was only a dream. It was one of the same sort that had been disturbing her sleep for some time. T

Musical instruments have power, simply as things. They speak. They generate emotion. They tell stories about life, death, happiness and sadness – and about the past, which they can resurrect with curi

INGLEFIELD Publishing Group, Primrose Barry speaking, good morning.” Primrose heard the coins drop at the other end of the line. Someone calling from a telephone kiosk. “Primrose?” Hearing her sister’

I JUST couldn’t get used to New York. I always felt as if it was closing in on me. That’s why I strode along the sidewalks at a pace, just as everyone else seemed to. It was as if there was no tomorro