On a drunken impulse, Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter at a country fair, an outrageous act for which he suffers an agonizing remorse. Years later, when he has become a respected and prosperous man, his wife and daughter seek him out in Casterbridge. He attempts to right the long-ago wrong and sets in motion a series of events that spell his destruction.

Some say George Smiley is in innocent retirement. Others say he was sacked after the Czech scandal. But all agree that nobody ever leaves the 'Circus' without some unfinished business. Brought out of retirement to trace an enemy infiltrator in the department where he was once the prize employee, the shy and retiring master of espionage moves forwards to investigate and finds himself going backwards over very old ground ...

For years, Bob Champion, a talentd young jockey, dreamt of winning The Grand National Steeplechase. Then Champion's life changed forever when he was stricken with cancer at the age of 31. During six courses of chemotherapy, in which his body literally wasted away, he refused to give up.