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The Unicorn Hunt
The Unicorn Hunt
Nov 21, 2024 5:12 AM

Author:Dorothy Dunnett

The Unicorn Hunt

The exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett's revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.

The Unicorn Hunt is Book Five in The House of Niccolo series.

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'Rich, newly wed, with a palatial banking house, a busy fleet, a small army, why should Nicholas vander Poele choose to travel to Edinburgh?'

That is the question on everyone's lips in the Autumn of 1468 - especially those of his enemy, Simon de St Pol of Kilmirren, who seeks nothing less than the destruction of the House of Niccolo and its cunning head.

But Nicholas soon proves that there are very good mercantile reasons for expanding his trading empire into the north. They also help to conceal his attempts to discover the true father of the child his vengeful wife insists is not his own.

From Scotland to the Tyrol, Cairo to Cyprus, Nicholas pursues a truth that many fear will destroy him and everything he has tried to build . . .

'Terrifically exciting. Some wonderful set-pieces and a cliff-hanging climax'The Times

Reviews

Praise for Dorothy Dunnett

—— - , -

A storyteller who could teach Scheherazade a thing or two about pace, suspense and imaginative invention

—— - , New York Times

Marvellous, breathtaking

—— - , The Times

A masterpiece of historical fiction

—— - , Washington Post

One of the greatest tale-spinners since Dumas

—— - , Cleveland Plain Dealer

Lashings of excitement, colour and subtlety

—— - , The Times

Vivid, engaging, densely plotted - are almost certainly destined to be counted among the classics of popular fiction

—— - , New York Times

I love all Jane Corry's books but this is her best yet. So clever, compulsive and twisty with a reveal I never saw coming. Superb

—— Claire Douglas

I Made a Mistake is an absorbing and gripping masterpiece, skilfully plotted with superbly drawn characters who will stay with you long after you've finished reading

—— Kathryn Croft

Corry often explores darker themes, and those living on the fringes of society and this book is no exception: gritty, real, interesting and clever. Highly recommended

—— Gillian McAllister

Brilliant and chilling. Jane Corry knows exactly how to turn the screws in this compelling and hard-hitting story about the dark underbelly of respectable family life. Another outstanding novel by Jane Corry

—— Kate Furnivall

Jane Corry nails it again. This is a page turner with depth, with characters and human conflicts that stay with you long after the novel is finished. Superb

—— Kate Hamer

A convincing suburban thriller with a compelling sense of doom

—— Ross Greenwood

Wow! What an utterly tense and addictive thriller. It kept me riveted the whole way through!!

—— Shalini Boland

Gripping and surprising, with killer twists that will keep you guessing right up until the end

—— Ella Dove, commissioning editor for Good Housekeeping, Prima and Red

Storytelling at its finest. An expertly plotted page turner with real emotional depth

—— Victoria Selman

No one tugs at the heartstrings quite like Lucy Dillon

—— Red

Entertaining

—— Sunday Mirror

Darkly humorous

—— Best

Dramatic, mysterious and compelling

—— Vogue

Accelerates with intensity and sheer originality with every page

—— Australian Women's Weekly

Will grab readers and refuse to let go. An author to watch

—— Booklist

It kept me guessing to the end

—— Sun

A darkly droll page-turner

—— Publishers Weekly

Hammad taps into the satisfying slow-burn style of classic literature with a storyline that captures both the heart and the mindThis is an immensely rewarding novel that readers will sink into and savor.

—— Publishers Weekly

An assured debut novel that sets the life of one man against the tumultuous backdrop of Palestine in the waning years of British occupation… Closely observed and elegantly written.

—— Kirkus *Starred Review*

Undeniably beautiful.

—— The Times *The Best New Novelists of 2019*

An engrossing, sweeping novel.

—— Evening Standard

The are moments of such lyric beauty in The Parisian, Isabella Hammad’s debut novel, that you want what they describe to be permanently closed, hers to be the final word… [The Parisian] also has a close grasp of history, and the high quality of its writing never fades.

—— Charles Finch , Washington Post

The Parisian by Isabella Hammad has already won advance praise from Zadie Smith, and deservedly so: this tale of a Palestinian immigrant... is beautiful historical fiction.

—— Evening Standard

Hammad traces her protagonist’s emotional journey with great sensitivity, against a backdrop of historical events… a vivid, capacious historical novel.

—— Jude Cook , Spectator

The Parisian is a graceful and balanced book, animated throughout by an immense social intelligence… a pleasure to read.

—— Literary Review

A sweeping historical novel that opens in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire… The Parisian calls to mind a 19th-century novel.

—— New York Times

Complex, subtle and challenging… [The Parisian is] excelling––with a powerful ending that is moving in the way it knits together the themes of self-betrayal and social and political treachery.

—— Gareth Jenkins , Socialist Worker

Reconciling oneself with the pain and pleasure of the ties that bind one to certain people and places is something that lies at the heart of Hammad’s novel… the world Hammad paints is a rich one.

—— Lucy Scholes , i

Hammad… convincingly weaves the conversations and arguments around the Palestinian table, inviting the reader to join the friends and family who are full of complexity and humanity, and refuse to be defined by the tragedy that is befalling them… To read The Parisian is to gradually get to know a friend, like drinking tea with a favourite uncle and hearing about family stories, gossip and politics.

—— Tanushka Marah , Middle East Eye

A timely reminder of what matters: kindness and love

—— Cressida Connolly , Spectator Books of the Year

This gloriously warm novel felt heaven-sent when it appeared in deepest lockdown

—— Anthony Cummins , Metro, *Christmas Gift Guide 2020*

A new book from this wonderful writer is always a joy... Tyler packs feeling and insight into every single sentence

—— Joanne Finney , Good Housekeeping, *Books of the Year*

I adored Redhead by the Side of the Road... It is so subtle, and so brilliant as are all Tyler's novels... Witty and warm, its only fault was that I wanted it to be twice as long!

—— Victoria Hislop , Daily Express, *Books of the Year*

Tender and beautifully paced

—— Heather Martin , Daily Express, *Books of the Year*

Compassionate and alert to the complexities in even the most ordinary lives, the book reminds us why, at 79, Tyler is held in such high regard

—— Claire Allfree , Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year*

The qualities that have long won Tyler admiration and affection - wry humour, shrewd perception, characters who leap off the page with authenticity - are in generous supply

—— Julia Durman , Sunday Times, *Books of the Year*

You can't go wrong with Anne Tyler. She makes it look easy creating characters that feel so believable, so three-dimensional

—— Robbie Millen , The Times, *Books of the Year*

Tyler engrosses with the 'and-thenand-then' of domestic detail

—— Rose Tremain , i

I do think the world would probably be a better place if everyone read Anne Tyler . . . She's such a brilliantly empathetic writer - there's no 'them' and 'us' in Tyler's world - and she often writes from the perspective of the kind of people who you would walk past and barely notice in the street . . . Reading Tyler helps people to become better people, and I really fully believe that

—— Hadley Freeman , Good Housekeeping

Tyler's irresistibly readable 23rd novel follows Micah, a socially inept, OCD-ish IT man whose orderly life is turned upside down by the arrival of a son

—— Daily Telegraph Books of the Year

Tyler's affectionate and quietly observant novel reveals her deep empathy for the hidden struggles of everyday lives

—— Jane Shilling , Daily Mail

Another shrewd yet kindly novel about the mysterious business of family life by one of the world's great writers

—— Reader's Digest

A charmingly offbeat love story

—— Mail on Sunday, *Summer Reads of 2021*

The narration here is a joy: you will be leaning towards the speaker to catch every nuance of Tyler's gently comediccharacterstudy of the Baltimore bachelor and fix-it man Micah Mortimer

—— Patricia Nicol , Sunday Times
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