Everyone deserves a second chance at happiness... even a killer. Serendipity Fizzlestitch wants nothing more than to be left alone. In a small cabin a stone's throw from the house where her sisters and mother breathed there last, Serendipity toils away, making the dolls her late father was working on when he disappeared beneath the ocean waves. Serendipity is content to spend the rest of her existence here, trying to atone for the mistakes of her past by creating the dolls that bring joy to so many others. When a mysterious letter arrives in her fireplace, an unusual stranger shows up at her door, and her favorite mouse friend goes missing, Serendipity is forced to face the outside world--and the ghosts from her past. Will she accept the opportunity to join the most famous toymaker of all time, or will her guilt prevent her from finding the happiness everyone deserves? The Doll Maker's Daughter at Christmas is a whimsical romantic fantasy that proves everyone deserves a second chance, no matter how horrific our past. Perfect for Christmas, or any time of year, The Doll Maker's Daughter at Christmas will bring back the magic we can only find when we truly believe.

Although born into privilege, Ayna Landau marries Karl Adler in 1924 and opens the door to a world of opportunities that propel her husband's company to the height of success in the porcelain doll industry of interwar Germany. As she basks in the glory of her triumphs, her idyllic life is interrupted by Adolph Hitler's meteoric rise to power in the 1930s as head of the Nazi Party. While the chaos the Nazis create throughout Europe culminates in World War II, Ayna and her family risk everything they have worked for to secure the safety and freedom of not only their family and friends, but strangers who seek their help, as well. Struggling to survive the depths of personal tragedy that befall her by the war's end, she abandons the Adler Doll Works and their beautiful villa to flee Germany mere days ahead of the approaching Russian army, determined to be reunited with her children in Switzerland. Ayna's perseverance and resolve to restore the Adler name to the prominence it once held becomes her final mission, in an effort to bequeath its legacy to her children, grandchildren, and all future Adlers.

A young girl's tragic loss will shape her dreams and her future... 1930 - Douro Valley, Portugal Twelve-year-old Catherine is watching the Rabalo race in Porto when the sound of a shot being fired changes her life forever. Her beloved mother, mistress for some years to Walter Shellard, a Bristol based wine and port merchant has received distressing news that her lover, Walter, has married a wealthy heiress. In her anguish she takes her own life, leaving poor Catherine alone and heartbroken. Angry and grieving, Catherine is sent to live under the guardianship of her eccentric Aunt Lopa in a small farmhouse high above the rich vineyards of the Douro valley. Here, she learns to adapt to her new life and her strange aunt but still blames her father, a man she barely knows, for her mother’s tragic death. Coming of age, beautiful Catherine is summoned to Bristol by her estranged father who presumes she’ll be as malleable as most other women. But Catherine is her father’s daughter, as strong as he is and still thirsting for revenge. A compelling family saga of loss and love perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy and Dinah Jefferies Previously published as 'House in the Hills' by Erica Brown

Coverage: 1895-1994.

Dollmaker is a historical review of a war many would just as soon forget. But Dollmaker is different. It provides the reader with an alternative outcome. Call it historical revisionism with a twist of bitter truth. From this unique vantage the war in Vietnam is experienced through the life and actions of an unlikely leader; a charismatic woman who isn't democratic, isn't communist, and is not going to take the back seat to the Americans in the conduct of the war. Le Bon, or Lady Bon, as she is affectionately known, finds passionate outlet early in life as a doll maker. She makes dolls of every description. Starting with dolls of cloth and clay, she soon graduates to crafting dolls of flesh and blood. Breaking traditional gender roles, she ascends to the highest pinnacles of power organizing a grassroots paramilitary force called the Blue Shirts. Soon these Vietnamese shock troops under her command garner respect with their communist foes. All during this time, a gung-ho Marine named Mike Grant is working his way up the ladder of military prestige and influence. When the female Vietnamese firebrand and the ambitious American meet, the war, its outcome, and the world would never be the same again. Dollmaker peels back the scab covering our collective consciousness regarding Vietnam. It exposes the underlying passions behind power and power's corrupting tincture. It is also a candid, frequently scathing review of what we, as humans, hold dear and what we often blindly adhere to through our allegiance to tradition.

From the bedtime story by L. Frank Baum to the classic 1939 film, no story has captured the imaginations of generations of children — and adults — like The Wizard of Oz. The story of Dorothy’s journey through Oz, the colorful characters, places, songs, and dialogue have permeated popular culture around the world. The contributors to this volume take a very close look at The Wizard of Oz and ask the tough questions about this wonderful tale. They wonder if someone can possess a virtue without knowing it, and if the realm of Oz was really the dream or if Kansas was the dream. Why does water melt the Wicked Witch of the West and why does Toto seem to know what the other characters can’t seem to figure out? The articles included tackle these compelling questions and more, encouraging readers to have discussions of their own.

Summer, 1998. Mei Misaki, age fifteen, has gone with her family to their seaside vacation home. There she meets the ghost of Teruya Sakaki, her classmate from Yomiyama North Middle School Class 3-3 who, like Mei, witnessed the mysterious events that had transpired at the school. There begins an adventure of memory and mystery as they search for the ghost's body and his memories alike.

Why, beginning in the late 1960s, did expressive objects made by poor people come to be regarded as "twentieth-century folk art," increasingly sought after by the middle class and the wealthy? Julia Ardery explores that question through the life story of