Best Selling Books by Joan Aiken

A young man must prevent a magic harp from falling into the clutches of a sinister and diabolical Lord.

Taking up where Jane Austen''s "Pride and Prejudice" left off, Aiken''s newest novel focuses on Lady Catherine de Bourgh, her daughter Anne, and the misadventures one spring brings to Rosings Park, their family estate.

Dark family secrets can be murder . . . ''Joan Aiken''s triumph with this genre is that she does it so much better than others'' New York Times Book Review Married to an ambitious but feckless architect and living in the pretentious show home they can ill afford, Jane is forced to return to work, leaving her children in the care of a less than reassuring childminder. As the weeks pass, her disintegrating marriage and the discovery of her husband''s secrets lead Jane into a battle to save both herself and her children from an explosive summer of hatred, jealousy - and murder. This claustrophobic thriller, based on events from the author''s own life and her struggles as a young widow, marries the desperate ring of truth with all the added horror of Joan Aiken''s gothic imagination.

1832 - a period of English History that never happened. Good King James III is on the throne and the country is ravaged by wolves which have migrated through the newly-opened Channel Tunnel. When Sylvia and Bonnie (both orphans) fall into the hands of evil Miss Slighcarp, they must use all their wits to escape unscathed - for the governess is more cruel and merciless than the wolves that surround the great house of Willoughby Chase.

A beautiful Cornish coastal village is the setting for a highly sinister conspiracy involving a kidnapped baby, mysterious monks and an almost irresistible new perfume... ''Joan Aiken''s triumph with this genre is that she does it so much better than others'' New York Times Book Review Martha works for an advertising agency, filming a TV commercial on location on the stunning Cornish coast. The client is the eccentric owner of a chemicals company that has invented a new, almost irresistible perfume, and Martha is in charge of shooting the romantic ads - unfortunately starring his beautiful but highly manipulative daughter-in-law. Before long, Martha finds herself embroiled in the conspiracy over the perfume''s true origin - to say nothing of a kidnapped baby, sinister monks, her own long-since vanished ex-husband and a series of exploding soup cans. And what of her own floundering love life...? ''Witty and acute ... a nice romantic thriller'' Punch

After monsters invade Britain with the aim of destroying civilization, an expedition is mounted to defeat them. Two children with extrasensory perception, a boy and a girl, join the expedition and it is thanks to them that the monsters are routed. With illustrations.

Lob''s girl -- Miss Spitfire -- Finders keepers -- The windowbox waltz -- The swan child -- Merminster -- Mrs. Chatterbox -- Two races -- Old Fillikin -- Snow horse -- The hunchback of Brook Green -- Homer''s whistle --The last specimen.

Revised and updated, this essential and practical guide by an award-winning children''s author explains how to write books for children, from where to look to inspiration to practical advice on how to create characters and structure a plot.

As readers and listeners enter the pages of these nine adventures, they will discover a universe where the everyday and enchanted worlds of very real humans and kelpies, elves, and fairies comingle in perfectly logical, funny and magical ways.

The children of London are disappearing—can Is solve the mystery before she vanishes too? Is Twite, younger sister of the daring Dido, is on a desperate mission. An uncle she never knew just showed up at the cottage she shares with her sister Penny. He is being pursued by ravening wolves, and before he dies, the uncle begs her to find his missing son—Is''s cousin, Arun. The quest takes Is to London—a city mysteriously devoid of children, including the king''s only son and heir. Is soon finds herself aboard the Playland Express, a secret midnight train that leaves town once a month, just before the new moon. The kids aboard believe they''re headed to a far-off kingdom filled with fun and games. In reality, Playland is a freezing underground city ruled by the greedy "Gold Kingy," who has lured the youngsters there under false pretenses. His real objective is to put them to work in the coal mines. But the worst is yet to come: Gold Kingy is none other than Is''s other uncle Roy! Now it''s up to Is to avoid a terrible fate and use her wits, ingenuity, and powers of telepathic communication to free the children. Is Underground is the 8th book in the award-winning Wolves Chronicles, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Joan Aiken including rare images from the author''s estate.

Eight stories of magic and witchcraft.

Dido Twite is rescued from the sea by Captain Casket, who takes her to his Nantucket home where Dido''s suspicions about Aunt Tribulation result in the uncovering of a plot to blow up King James III with a long-range gun.

The author of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase presents a darkly humorous adventure starring two troubled orphans in a weird and wild world. Lucas Bell is lonely and miserable at Midnight Court, a vast, brooding house owned by his intolerable guardian, Sir Randolph Grimsby. When a mysterious carriage brings a visitor to the house, Lucas hopes he''s found a friend at last. But the newcomer, Anna Marie, is unfriendly and spoiled—and French. Just when Lucas thinks things can''t get any worse, disastrous circumstances force him and Anna Marie, parentless and penniless, into the dark and unfriendly streets of Blastburn . . . Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl "There is nobody like Joan Aiken for creating chilling nightmares. In . . . Midnight is a Place we have machines which crush children to death, herds of man-eating hogs in subterranean sewers . . . . Aiken writes superbly, with a force, a color, and strength of imagination that one encounters all too rarely today." — Daily Telegraph (UK) "An abundance of action, suspense, and melodrama . . . there is never a dull moment." — School Library Journal "Aiken knows how to keep a kid on the edge of his seat." — Book World "The author proves once again that she writes about children in distress better than anyone since Dickens." — Time

A charming companion book to Jane Austen''s Mansfield Park by one of her most sparkling successors.

In this fantasy adventure, a young girl visits a land where birds carry off men, fish eat human flesh, and she must rescue a pilfered lake. Readers who have followed Dido Twite''s escapades in Black Hearts in Battersea and Nightbirds on Nantucket will welcome her return in her wildest escapade yet. Now back in print, The Cuckoo Tree and The Stolen Lake continue the Wolves Chronicles, the exhilarating and imaginative series that stemmed from Joan Aiken''s classic The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. A dazzling piece of dramatic, snowballing adventure, The Stolen Lake is full of fantastical details: revolving palaces, witches who are also court dressmakers, an apocalyptic volcanic eruption, and an infernal country with a noticeable lack of female children. On her way back to London aboard the British man-of-war Thrush, twelve-year-old Dido Twite finds herself and the crew summoned to the aid of the tyrannical queen of New Cumbria. A neighboring king has stolen the queen''s lake and is holding it for ransom, and it''s up to Dido and the crew to face fire, flood, execution, and wild beasts to get the lake back—or else. Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl "Aiken lures us into historical fantasy . . . our interest never slows." — School Library Journal "The adventure Miss Aiken has dished up . . . in The Stolen Lake is zanier and more devilishly fiendish than ever." — New York Times

In this hilarious classic adventure, an innocent boy and his friends must stop a plot to topple the King of England. Simon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew''s fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. With the help of his friend Sophie and the resourceful waif Dido, Simon narrowly escapes a series of madcap close calls and dangerous run-ins. In a time and place where villains do nothing halfway, Simon is faced with wild wolves, poisoned pies, kidnapping, and a wrecked ship. This is a cleverly contrived tale of intrigue and misadventure. Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl "It''s a marvel!" — The New Yorker "A wild yarn, not to be put down once it is started." — Washington Post "A riot of wildly improbable adventures happening to absurd and loveable characters with Dickensian names in a time that never was . . . Heartrending, hair-raising, rib-tickling, and delightful." — New York Times

Coping with a family tragedy from a strange a new home, a boy encounters ghosts linked to his heritage in this supernatural fantasy for young readers. After the mysterious disappearance of both his mother and older brother, Cosmo is sent away to live with his eccentric mathematician aunt. Lonely and confused, Cosmo must also deal with being the new kid at school. Not an easy assignment! But things take a weird twist when Cosmo is visited by ghosts from the past. Ghosts who claim to need his help fighting an ancient curse! Only in time will Cosmo learn that he is at the center of that ancient—and deadly—curse. "Writing seems to be as natural to Joan Aiken as breathing; her imagination is as untrammeled as ever, the precise construction of the astonishing plot lends conviction, and her style is as witty and sparkling with images." — The Horn Book "Through interactions between characters, Aiken brings out the bittersweet ironies of friendships both otherworldly and in the here-and-now. Her sense of timing unfurls the mystery at just the right pace, giving the curse its rightful aura of power." — Booklist

SUMMARY: Haunted by a recurrent nightmare, a young English girl travels to Cornall to trace the source of the dream.

Seppy forces the moon to give him his wish, to be the maker of enchanted fiddle music, but almost pays a horrible price for it.