The Salt Princess

Many little girls dream of becoming a princess some day. Theresia Pointinger, the "Salt Princess," Reserl to her friends, made the dream come true. The daughter of an estate owner near Austria's Lake Mondsee, she cast her spell over one of the most powerful men of her age: Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Skilfully, she arranged to become his lover, leaving nothing to chance. In the ten years they were together, she started a family with the emperor and had four children with him. The first-born son, Anton, was even given the privilege of being raised at the imperial court by the side of his father. In 1873, the emperor was prevented from visiting Theresia because of the World Exhibition in Vienna. Almost on a whim, she married Willi Buchwald, a comital hunter. But even this marriage did not stop Theresia from continuing her love affair with Franz Joseph when he returned from Vienna. The book tells this unique and fascinating story against the scenic backdrop of Austria's Salzkammergut region. It also describes the lives of the emperor's four children, some of which took a tragic course. The author, Hubert Pointinger, was born in 1961 and is married. He works as an airline pilot and lives in the Salzkammergut region. He is a direct male descendent of the emperor. This second edition is based on the first edition, published under the same title in May 2007 by Austrian publishers Ueberreuter. Contains 77 illustrations.

Erimia has been captured by brutal bandits and made a slave in the Sasamani clan village. When the Sasamani clan prince, Teromalui, tries to take advantage of her she initially avoids him. When Teromalui persists Erimia, and her best friend and fellow-slave Alios, are forced to fight back. Now they are in danger and have to run. Erimia and Alios are separated from her home in the Keltos captial by 150 leagues of trackless, bandit-infested wilderness. Awaiting them in the capital of the rich and powerful Keltos tribe is more treachery and insurrection that threatens to topple the whole kingdom. Kelo, the Salt King, doesn't know who to trust. Alios and Erimia may be young and unknown to Kelo, but they hold the keys to defeating his secret enemies.

A banished princess must show her father what she meant when she told him he was as "dear to her as salt is to meat."

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Get swept away by this “haunting” (Bustle) YA novel about twelve beautiful sisters living on an isolated island estate who begin to mysteriously die one by one. This dark and atmospheric fairy tale inspired story is perfect for fans of Yellowjackets. "Step inside a fairy tale." —Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Caraval In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed. Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last--the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge--and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods. Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that her sister's deaths were no accidents. The girls have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who--or what--are they really dancing with? When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family--before it claims her next. House of Salt and Sorrows is a spellbinding novel filled with magic and the rustle of gossamer skirts down long, dark hallways. Be careful who you dance with... And don't miss Erin Craig's Small Favors, a mesmerizing and chilling novel about dark wishes and even darker dreams.

When Petunia, youngest of the dancing princesses, is ambushed by bandits in wolf masks on her way to visit an elderly neighbor, the line between enemies and friends becomes blurred as she and her sisters get a chance to end their family's curse once and for all.