Rachel Portman

No stones in slingshots. No skirmishes too late in the day. They're rules of war for the youngsters of two neighboring Irish villages. And here's another rule: if you spit-shake on something, you better follow through. Kids will be kids. But sometimes they, in their own fanciful ways, will be adults. It's a winning tale in which buttons are the spoils of a would-be war.

When his army unit is ambushed during the first Gulf War, Sergeant Raymond Shaw saves his fellow soldiers just as his commanding officer, Major Ben Marco, is knocked unconscious. Using the incident for political gain, Shaw eventually becomes a vice-presidential nominee, but Marco is haunted by dreams of what really happened in Iraq. As Marco investigates, the story begins to unravel. He begins to figure that the entire unit was kidnapped and brainwashed...

The heartwarming 'tail' of a young girl whose life is changed by a scruffy, fun-loving pooch she names Winn-Dixie. The special bond between them works magic on her reserved dad and the eccentric townspeople they meet during one unforgettable summer.

Chronicles the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. She was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life. She was a vibrant beauty and celebrity of her time. Georgiana is trapped in an unhappy marital triangle with her husband and his live-in mistress. She falls passionately in love with Earl Grey, an ambitious young politician, and the affair causes a bitter conflict with her husband and threatens to erupt...

Honor, courage, and sacrifice are revealed in unexpected ways as a ranking U.S. prisoner in a Nazi POW camp is joined in December 1944 by a law-student lieutenant who'd been captured despite his father's powerful military connections. When a black pilot from the famous Tuskeegee airmen is falsely accused of murdering a fellow prisoner, Lt. Hart tries his case and discovers the real motivation behind the ranking officer's kangaroo court.

Centuries ago, two 'sworn sisters' are isolated by their families, but stay connected through a secret language written in the folds of a white silk fan. Now in modern-day Shanghai, their descendents must draw inspiration from the past as they struggle to maintain their own eternal bond in the face of life's complications. What unfolds are two stories, generations apart, but everlasting in their universal notion of love, hope and friendship.

Episodic story, divided into five chapters, each bearing the name of a character; main characters appear in most chapters. Most of the characters are connected by the fact that they hang out or work at the Brooklyn Cigar Store, where they tell stories and smoke a lot. Chapters explore the interpersonal relationships between this large and diverse group of characters.

The protagonist of this metaphysical fable is Rannulph Junah, Southern aristocrat and World War I hero. In a tournament in Savannah, he defeats two golf pros by following the teachings of his guru, Bagger Vance, a black mystic serving as his caddie.