Saracen and a scholar – there couldn’t be two more dangerous pastimes for a woman as the frenzy of the Inquisition grips Europe. Barcelona, 1495. A scholar lies dying in a spice merchant’s stable when Nadira receives his last words. To Nadira, words are her life. Sold into slavery as a girl, her unusual gift of language keep her employed as her master's scribe. Now, the words that have long been her solace have put her in mortal danger. The dying scholar speaks of an ancient text, the Hermetica, that promises its readers the secrets of the magi of ancient Babylon. Hungry for power, the dark architects of the Inquisition will stop at nothing to find the Hermetica and to use it to solidify their position. At a time when faith is valued and knowledge is dangerous, Nadira emerges as one of the few who can unlock the mysteries within the pages of the Hermetica. Soon she is the unwilling companion to an English baron and his troupe of warriors as they traverse Europe in search of the manuscript, and revenge. As Nadira begins her transformation from servant to sorceress, will she escape the fires of the Inquisition, the clutches of the Borgia pope, and the ambitions of a French king? The Servant Girl’s Secret is the first book of an enthralling historical fantasy series by Annmarie Banks. Set in medieval Europe, it is a twisty tale of adventure and mysticism, and will appeal to readers of Noah Gordon and Kate Mosse. Note: Originally published as "The Hermetica of Elysium."

Nadira's secret gifts have been revealed, but can she harness her powers for good? Rome, 1495. No longer a slave, Nadira is revered for her ability to read and apply the teachings in the mystical ancient text, the Hermetica of Elysium. No, she has earned her place in the company of adventurers who travel to Istanbul to uncover another ancient text. However, Nadira finds herself torn between competing agendas. The Templar Knights are intent on recovering a Grimoire, stolen from them over 200 years ago. The Grimoire is a book of spells that promises to raise the dead, and is being used by the Sultan's necromancer. Her love, Lord Montrose , won't be satisfied until he can avenge the death of his scholar brother, and he wants Nadira to help him find the murderer in Istanbul. Her friend and soulmate, Friar William is in the throes of doubt, as his faith and his deep connection to Nadira is challenged by his first taste of alchemy. And what about what Nadira wants? Can she find a space between the competing agendas of these persuasive men to achieve what she believes her destiny to be? The Servant Girl’s Sight is the second book of an enthralling historical fantasy series by Annmarie Banks. Set in medieval Europe, it is a twisty tale of adventure and mysticism, and will appeal to readers of Noah Gordon and Kate Mosse. Note: Originally published as "The Necromancer's Grimoire."

Nadira is far from where she started. Now a necromancer, capable of speaking to those in the after life, she grapples with what it means to live and love. Persia, 1497. Nadira and her motley crew of companions have been through a lot together. Their journey is now to the rocky, inhospitable foothills of Mount Damavand, to meet with a mysterious power who dwells in the mountains of Arborz. Blinded by grief for her first love, she is intent on bringing him back from the realms of death. Very much alive is the inscrutable and principled Turkish sea captain Kemal Reis, the "Terror of the Waves" who has loved Nadira for years. She will need his help to protect a new set of ancient texts, the Books of the Dead, from falling into the wrong hands. Will the books contain what she needs to stop the European powers from igniting a new and bloodier crusade? The Servant Girl’s Sorcery is the final book in the enthralling historical fantasy series by Annmarie Banks. Set in medieval Europe, it is a twisty tale of adventure and mysticism, and will appeal to readers of Noah Gordon and Kate Mosse. Note: Originally published as "Books of the Dead."

Courtesan. Spy. Assassin. Across the Kingdom of Arestea, the shadowy league of professional killers known simply as the Guild has long since earned its terrifying reputation. And none of its current members are more infamous than the Black Lily. No one knows who the Lily is, but everyone recognizes the efficiency with which he or she brings down even the most guarded targets. There is no one, it is said, who is safe from this fiend once they have caught the assassin’s attention. Now Lily herself is about to discover if her reputation has been inflated or not, for she has just been assigned the most daunting mission of her career: infiltrate the royal palace and eliminate the entire Arestean line of succession to make room for the Guild’s puppet ruler. It’s a challenging job, but one that will secure her place in the history books should she succeed. But when unplanned circumstances take the king from his country to help secure the front lines in his latest war of expansion, Lily is left trapped in her assumed persona behind the palace walls and forced to stall for time. And when a particularly bad stroke of luck reveals her cover to the king’s brother, Crown Prince Adrian, Lily finds herself ensnared in her own web, forced to use all her skills of subterfuge and manipulation if she is to stay one step ahead of the naïve but righteous young man and finish her mission — or die trying.

There are now more servants in Britain than in Victorian times. This explosion in paid domestic employment is part of a global trend. Women from countries such as the Philippines take on domestic jobs in order to support families at home, whilst students from Eastern Europe, the EU and Brazil work as au pairs in order to study English and improve their employment prospects. Rosie Cox's timely new work examines the reality of paid domestic labour in Britain today and explores the global trends that sustain this growth of domestic employment. She shows how the economy depends on women working outside the home, how it is the employment of domestic workers that helps make this possible and examines the experiences of both employers and employees who have joined this new global labour market.

'If this is not heaven, I do not know what heaven is, for all the suffering that can ever be put into words, could not enable anyone to earn such a reward and for ever possess it.' A central figure in Christian mystical literature, the Dominican Prior Henry Suso was the author of the seminal work The Life of the Servant. Transcribed by an enlightened amanuensis without his explicit consent, Suso began burning the manuscript until a heavenly missive from God decreed that the text should be spared further desecration. The remaining fragments of that conflagration are vividly resurrected in this volume, elegantly translated by James M. Clark. Suso's subjective account of the spiritual and invisible world, told in prose of unsurpassed poetic beauty, is reflective of the ardent spirituality of his devotion. Informed by severe mortifications, visions, ecstasies and revelations, this canonical text endures as a sublime cultural artefact. Resonating profoundly with contemporary concerns about austerity and materialism, this classic text of mysticism is once again accessible to a new generation of readers and to those existing admirers seeking to re-evaluate its many virtues.