AustLit

'The explosive conclusion to the Branded Season duology: two sisters harness their powers to fight for the people they love. But when those powers are capable of overturning worlds, love can be an uprising.

'Nara and her twin sister, Osha, have escaped the Citadel and the brutality of the Wastelands to arrive in the capital of Reis, home of the wrangler.

'The Shadow City is rife with political power plays, complicated by rumours of a long-awaited prophecy – the coming of a Pure healer with the ability to cure the Branded. With her healing powers growing ever stronger, all eyes are on Osha. But there are those in Reis who would kill to control her gifts.

'If she is to protect her sister, Nara must navigate new allies and old enemies in the Shadow City. That’s easier said than done when she’s caught between her first love and the man who’s stolen her heart but broken her trust. Worn down by lies and deception, Nara is forced to question who she truly is and what she can believe.

One thing is becoming clear: she and Osha must learn to wield their powers to guard their freedom, but also to fight for what is right. With dark forces taking control across the continent, the Branded must rise to survive.

'The explosive, action-packed conclusion to the epic, high concept fantasy duology, The Branded Season.' (Publication summary)

'Isfalk is divided into two classes- the Branded, who are vulnerable to disease, and the Pure, who are bigger, stronger and immune. Orphaned twins Nara and Osha are sequestered in the citadel, where their unbranded skin entitles them to a life of privilege, as precious breeding stock.

'Nara itches to escape her confines and return to the wilds of the Fornwood where she and her sister grew up, but when she is forced to run, she discovers there's much more at stake than her own life. The Branded are on the rise, and the girls are caught up in their prophecies.

'Forced to accept the help of a mysterious southern Brand known only as the Wrangler, Nara discovers the latent power lying dormant in uncanny abilities she's had since childhood. But in a world where women are traded as commodities, who can she trust in the lands beyond the Fornwood? What does the Wrangler know about her forgotten childhood? Two sisters without a past hold the weight of the future in their hands.

'The Branded is an epic, high-concept speculative novel with explosive ideas around gender and class, served up with romance, conflict and quick-fire narrative pace.'  (Publication summary)

'In 1949, the insular English village of Leyton seems to have emerged from the war in relative calm - that is, until a family of Italian peasants arrives to work the estate at Leyton House. There's nothing like a former prisoner of war and his two sons to set tongues wagging at Cleat's Corner Store. For Connie Farrington, a 17-year-old shop assistant at Cleat's, the Onorati brothers are a window to the wider world she has often longed for. The two brothers are adapting to their new life in different ways: while the charismatic Vittorio is determined to reinvent himself and embrace all things English, the solitary Lucio is haunted by the secrets of his past, by events that tether him to the war in the mountains of Lazio. As Vittorio's drive and Lucio's quiet toil begin to cast an influence over Leyton, Connie's world is turned upside down, and she is forced to re-examine her ambitions and dreams. Populated with a cast of charming characters, The Italians at Cleat's Corner Store is a beautifully observed tale of small-town life, exploring love, prejudice, and identity in the wake of World War II.' (Publisher's blurb)