The women of Freesia Court have come together at life's table, fully convinced that there is nothing that good coffee, delectable deserts and a strong shoulder can't fix. The five women each have a story to tell.

Sidony is a young English woman who, after fraudulently winning a writing competition, is sent by her editor to write a travel book on the near-mythical island of Hy Brasil. She comes across piracy, lost treasure, drug smuggling, political intrigue, an active volcano and a tragic love affair.

In 1810 Mark Greenhow leaves his Northern England home to find his sister who is a missionary and has been reported as lost somewhere in North America. Mark's journey as a Quaker is hard, Canada is on the brink of war with the USA and the continent is vast. He is forced to rely on fur traders and their canoeing skills.

A new edition of Bella Bathurst's epic story of Robert Louis Stevenson's ancestors and the building of the Scottish coastal lighthouses, against impossible odds.

Tells of an 11th-century Viking exploration of the North Atlantic from the viewpoint of one extraordinary woman. Gudrid lives at the edge of the known world, in a landscape where the sea is the only connection to the shores beyond. She then takes a multi-layered voyage into the unknown.

A biography of the great 18th-century novelist, Tobias Smollett, by the author of "Cyril Connolly: A Life". It is filled with curious details from the worlds of publishing, medicine, politics and literary life.