Rachel Ward – författare

A scorching debut and pyschological thriller, perfectfor fans of Black Mirror.Since her mother's death, fifteen-year-old Jem has kept a secret.When her eyes meet someone else's, a number pops into her head- the date on which they will die.Knowing that nothing lasts forever, Jem avoids relationships,but when she meets a boy called Spider, and they plan a day out together,her life takes a new twist and turn. Waiting for the LondonEye, she sees everyone in the queue has the same number - somethingterrible is going to happen. Over 1,000,000 copies sold worldwide. ‘First-time author Rachel Ward is certainly one to watch.But I’d avoid eye-contact if I were you.’PHILIP ARDAGH, THE GUARDIAN'Even the idea of this book gave me chills! How would youlike to know someone’s fate just by looking in their eyes?Creepy and original!’ R. L. STINE

Accompanying a major scholarly exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery, this book explores one of the most beautiful and enigmatic objects in The Courtauld's collection: the so-called 'Courtauld wallet', a brass container richly inlaid with gold and silver, imitating a lady's textile or leather bag, and probably made in Mosul in northern Iraq around 1300. No other object of this kind is known. Decorated all round with courtly figures and on the top with an elaborate banqueting scene featuring an enthroned couple, it has long been recognized as a masterpiece of Arab metalwork. Yet, despite the superb quality of its design and craftsmanship and its status as a unique object, this exceptional metalwork bag has never been properly published. Thus it remains little known outside a small circle of specialists, and little understood even within that circle. Encompassing a variety of multidisciplinary essays by distinguished historians and art historians - on subjects ranging from music at the Mongol court, Mosul under Mongol governorship and Mongol marriage customers to the role of women under the Ilkhanids - this publication aims to explore the origins, function and iconography of this splendid luxury object as well as the cultural context in which it was made and used. It will bring together other images of enthroned Mongols with female consorts, as well as scenes of hunters, revelers an musicians in a variety of media, including illustrated manuscripts, ceramics, textile, and metalwork. By presenting the bag alongside carefully selected contemporary material, it will provide an insight into courtly life under the Mongols in the newly conquered areas of their empire, and will also provide an unrivaled opportunity to investigate the inlaid brass tradition in Mosul after the Mongol Conquest. Objects made before and after this seismic event will be reproduced side by side to demonstrate how the Mosul metalworkers adapted their work for their new patrons.

‘I’m scared of anyone with a knife and a grudge’ New Year dawns and something is rotten in Kingsleigh. With a body on the bypass and pet cats going missing, supermarket sleuths Ant and Bea have a new case. But juggling problems at work and home takes its toll – and as they near the truth, more than one secret is going to come out.