Memoirs Books

Book SynopsisWITH A FOREWORD BY SIR PETER JACKSONBuckle up, grab a dram, and get ready for another unforgettable wild ride.They''re back! Stars of Outlander, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish are no strangers to the rugged beauty of Scotland. But this time they''re setting their sights on a new horizon: New Zealand.Join our intrepid Scotsmen on their latest epic adventure across The Land of the Long White Cloud in this thrilling follow-up to Clanlands. Setting out to explore a country that Graham calls home, and that Sam has longed to visit, these sturdy friends immerse themselves in all that New Zealand has to offer: stunning landscapes, rich history, world-class food and drink, and - much to Graham''s mounting anxiety and Sam''s deep satisfaction - famously adrenaline-fuelled activities! As ever there''s not nearly enough space in their trusty camper van and with plenty of good-natured competition and tormenting to go around, Sam and Graham''s friendship is put to the test once again. Along the way we learn about the length and breadth of this jewel of the Southern Seas, exploring the fascinating story of its people while testing the very limits of Graham''s sanity.Like the very best buddy movie sequel, this latest instalment is full of unforgettable experiences and loveable characters and promises to be an even more memorable ride with two of the most entertaining travel companions around.So, say goodbye to your inhibitions and kia ora to New Zealand like you''ve never seen it before.

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Book SynopsisA genre-bending and thought-provoking examination of capitalism and cancer ? and recent Brazilian history ? based on the author''s interviews with his truck driver father.In What Is Mine, sociologist José Henrique Bortoluci uses interviews with his father, Didi, to retrace the recent history of Brazil and of his family. From the mid-1960s to the mid-2010s, Didi?s work as a truck driver took him away from home for long stretches at a time as he crisscrossed the country and participated in huge infrastructure projects including the Trans-Amazonian Highway, a scheme spearheaded by the military dictatorship of the time, undertaken through brutal deforestation. An observer of history, Didi also recounts the toll his work has taken on his health, from a heart attack in middle age to the cancer that defines his retirement. Bortoluci weaves the history of a nation with that of a man, uncovering parallels between cancer and capitalism ? both sustained by expansion, both embodiments of ?the gospel of growth at any cost? ? and tracing the distance that class has placed between him and his father. Influenced by authors such as Annie Ernaux and Svetlana Alexievich, is a moving, thought-provoking and brilliantly constructed examination of the scars we carry, as people and as countries.

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Book SynopsisMary McCarthy, one of the leading American intellectuals of the twentieth century, skewers her strict Catholic upbringing in this witty and compelling memoir, one of her major works.

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Book SynopsisCristina''s son was about to embark on gender-affirming care that would likely cause infertility, when she realised the need to support both her child and the adult he would become, and give him the right to have children of his own. In doing so she discovered a future - where living your life authentically doesn''t mean giving up your fertility - that may be accessible to many, many more trans people in the coming years. Through interviews with trans thought leaders, letters to her son, and missives about the struggle for reproductive rights of trans people, as well as practical advice for parents, Cristina weaves together a tapestry of voices from the trans community to tell a story that has never been told before -- of transformation, and hormones, and hope. An amazing resource for parents of children undergoing gender affirming care, and a beautiful meditation on the euphoria and challenge of transition

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS'' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE ''Poetic, candid and utterly compelling'' - FREYA BROMLEY''Absolutely remarkable'' - LYNN BARBER''Reads with the tension of a thriller, illuminating the world of elite sport'' - CATHY RENTZENBRINK''An embodied water odyssey'' - LIDIA YUKNAVITCHThis is not a story about making history.Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell was once a double British Champion and the first Black woman ever to swim for Great Britain. As her body and mind are sharpened through gruelling training, press scrutiny and the harshness of adolescence, Rebecca charts her career''s ascent and her singular love of the water, before explaining why she walked away from it all.A compulsive and unforgettable study of intensity, These Heavy Black Bones meditates on Blackness, identity and the ecstasy of peak physical performance, and lays bare the pressures within the swimming world.

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of 'enchanting' If Clouds Were Sheep comes a new tale of family and the call of the farming life. Young mum and shepherdess Sue Andrews is working hard to make ends meet while she and husband Aubrey raise two small children on their busy farm in the Cotswolds. They have a growing reputation for breeding pedigree Texel sheep, but Sue also has a dream of her own ... She longs to breed and produce sports horses. Humorous and beautifully captivating, this is the true story of family life on a farm. Full of warmth and determination – and the people and animals who make all the difference along the wayTrade Review‘An enchanting picture of farming life, full of warmth and humour’ -- Katie Fforde; 'The love, not only for the sheep but for the sheep dogs, family and for one another, comes across loud and clear. A beautiful, poignant, entertaining and funny read' -- Reader review

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Book SynopsisA WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023: POPULAR SCIENCEWhat Is a Doctor? is a vital contribution to the ongoing debate about how we maintain an NHS that is both fit for purpose and free.Taking insight from his thirty-year career as a GP, Dr Whitaker offers a unique perspective on the medical movements and societal changes that have transformed the role of doctor, and suggests what could be done to save the future of the NHS.

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Book SynopsisAn engaging portrait of Hampstead Heath – a place rich not just in natural wonders but in history and monuments, emotions and memories, people and places. 'I enjoyed every inch of the way, from Parliament Hill to the Pergola... A late-life little masterpiece' Ferdinand Mount 'A love letter, both to the Heath and to his late wife' Islington Tribune 'An affectionate book which blends personal anecdote, history and interviews' Ham & High The eight hundred acres of Hampstead Heath lie just four miles from central London; and yet unlike the manicured inner-city parks, it feels like the countryside: it has hills and lakes, wild spots and tame spots. Hunter Davies has lived within a stone's throw of Hampstead Heath for more than sixty years and has walked on it nearly every day of his London life. For him, it is not just a place of recreation and relaxation but also a treasure-house of memories and emotions. In The Heath, he visits all parts of this, the largest area of common land in Britain's capital city: from Kenwood House to the Vale of Health, from Parliament Hill to Boudicca's Mound, and from the Ladies Bathing Pond to the fabulous pergola. As he walks, Davies talks to the diverse array of individuals who frequent the Heath: regulars; visitors; dog walkers; stall holders at the weekly farmer's market; famous faces having their morning stroll; twenty-first-century hippies spreading peace, love and happiness.Trade ReviewAn affectionate book which blends personal anecdote, history and interviews with key players from The Heath and Hampstead Society and City of London Corporation, to swimmers and dog walkers * Ham & High *A love letter, both to the Heath and to his late wife... Hunter's portrait of the Heath zips by, as a warm reminder of the familiar, but introducing you to new territory * Islington Tribune *Just like taking a walk on the Heath, most of the book is familiar before pointing out something you had not noticed before * Camden New Journal *I enjoyed every inch of the way, from Parliament Hill to the Pergola... I particularly liked the way [he] gently but remorselessly undermines everyone's preconceptions... A late-life little masterpiece -- Ferdinand MountPRAISE FOR LAKELAND: 'Davies's easy, affable style makes his Lakeland a plum-pie delight of gossip, pictures and facts. This is one to treasure' WI Life. 'Nicely produced and tastefully illustrated, the whole thing enchants from start to finish' The Times 'The generous illustrations to Lakeland are by turns beautiful and quirky. Engravings by artists of the Picturesque evoke the changing past of what Hunter Davies sums up as 'a living place not a museum'' TLS. 'A beautifully produced Lake District miscellany, informed by a lifetime's enthusiasm' TGO Magazine. 'A lovely read for everyone who loves the Lakes' * Cumberland News *

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Book Synopsis'Charming - a love-letter to home, history, and nature.'LEAH BROAD, Author of Quartet'A tender and illuminating history of an overlooked world.'HORATIO CLARE'Truly a revelation on every page.'PETROC TRELAWNY'A richly textured book, replete with illuminating discoveries and observations.' COUNTRY LIFE'A wide-ranging meditation on place and past.'LITERARY REVIEWGavin considered himself an urban being... until he met his husband, Alastair. Together, they bought Stepps House in Pembridge, Herefordshire - on love at first sight. But then came the question: 'How old is it?' With its ancient beams, the date they'd been given seemed out by centuries. As Gavin traced Stepps House through various hands and eras, he saw a past emerge that resonates powerfully with our present.Mixing history and art, memoir and landscape, A Home for All Seasons is grand in its sweep and intimate in its account of rural life.Trade ReviewWhat starts out as a straightforward house history morphs into something else, a wide-ranging meditation on place and past, taking in climate change, rural depopulation, the Reformationand folklore...A gentle, reflective book. Plumley is at his best when describing the things he loves: his husband, his new home, its history. * Literary Review *A richly textured book, replete with illuminating discoveries and observations. * Country Life *A tender and illuminating history of an overlooked world, A Home for all Seasons is a beautiful portrait of time and place, a palpable labour of love. -- Horatio Clare, author of SOMETHING OF HIS ARTCharming - a love-letter to home, history and nature. -- Leah Broad, author of QUARTETTable of Contents1: Never a Native 2: The Unanswered Question 3: Between Bark and Heart 4: Picturing Arcadia 5: Safely Gathered In 6: Across Miles 7: The Dead of Winter 8: Bare Ruin'd Choirs 9: Unsprung 10: The Scent of Hawthorn 11: Before the Fall

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Book SynopsisJessica Hamel-Akré is an award-winning historian, researcher and cultural strategy consultant. She holds a PhD from the University of Montreal and was a postdoctoral scholar in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and Newnham College where she conducted a seven year study on the history of appetite control. An expert in the history of women's health, literature and feminist thought, she has helped some of the world's biggest brands navigate emerging ideas around gender, digital wellbeing and beauty. Jessica co-created and presented on the BBC Radio 4 documentary The Unexpected History of Clean Eating.

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Book SynopsisHugo Greenhalgh has been a journalist for more than thirty years. Now a full-time writer, he is the former LGBTQ+ editor of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Before that he worked at the Financial Times. In 2024, he was named an LGBTQ+ trailblazer on the Attitude 101 list. Previously he has been nominated for the European Press Prize, Amnesty International's Media Awards and the GLAAD Media Awards. He is also a former activist. Aged 19, he took the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights over the gay male age of consent in the UK.

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Book Synopsis'A spectacular guide to the inner world and relationships; it dispels myths, grounds you in transformative truth and reconnects you to your power' Yung Pueblo'This masterpiece will take you from pain to freedom' Nedra Glover TawwabRelationships have the ability to infuse our lives with the magic of intimacy and connection. But often we can find ourselves chasing unavailable love, putting other's needs before our own all the while abandoning the one who needs us most - ourselves. From Sheleana Aiyana, spiritual writer and founder of Rising Woman, comes a transformational inner-work journey to heal lifelong relationship patterns and reclaim power over your life. Becoming the One is your invitation to make peace with your past, stand in your worth and find your way home to yourself.Trade ReviewSheleana Aiyana has created a clear bridge between personal healing and improving our relationships. Becoming the One is for you if you want to live more fully and experience love at a greater level of harmony. This is a spectacular guide to the inner world and relationships; it dispels myths, grounds you in transformative truth, and reconnects you to your power. -- Yung Pueblo, New York Times bestselling author of InwardSheleana guides you on the journey of reclaiming yourself and defining your life. This masterpiece will take you from pain to freedom. Reading Becoming the One will help you understand the process and power of healing. Sheleana has created a must-read for people who seek to heal childhood wounds. -- Nedra Glover Tawwab, New York Times bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find PeaceAn extraordinary gift that illuminates the path to wholehearted self-acceptance ... Sheleana is a wise woman, a compassionate and clear-eyed guide, a visionary, and a teacher in the true sense of the word. I'd follow her up any mountain. -- Harriet Lerner, New York Times bestselling author of The Dance of Anger and Why Won’t You Apologize?Sheleana is one of those rare writers whose poetic wisdom touches deep into your soul. Her words will lead you back to yourself in a way that will feel more authentic than ever before. Enjoy this beautiful odyssey back to YOU. -- Dr. Shefali Tsabary, New York Times bestselling author of The Conscious Parent and A Radical AwakeningBecoming the One is a gift to every human being who's on their journey of healing and coming home to themselves. May all those who need this tender wisdom on their healing journey find their way to Sheleana Aiyana and this powerful book. -- Dr Scott Lyons, founder of The Embody Lab

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERJoyful, hilarious, effervescent, brilliant and deeply wise' Glennon Doyle, on Alua ArthurThinking deeply about your death whether it's imminent or not will breathe wild new potential into your life. Warm, generous and funny, Alua Arthur is a death doula supporting people at the end of the world. What emerges in these tender moments is the unfi nished business of life, when enduring regrets, secret loves and simple pleasures are uttered aloud, in resignation or delight. Weaving together these vivid experiences along with her own personal life path full of wonder, Briefly Perfectly Human is a soul-gathering memoir. Alua's intimate storytelling, compassion and wisdom are a beacon of comfort to us all as well as a tour de force appeal to cherish every part of who we are, including our own mortality. Hold that truth in your mind,' Alua says, and wondrous things will begin to grow around it.'

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Neil Gaiman Before television and radio, before penny paperbacks and mass literacy, people would gather on porches, on the steps outside their homes, and tell stories. The storytellers knew their craft and bewitched listeners would sit and listen long into the night as moths flitted around overhead. The Moth is a non-profit group that is trying to recapture this lost art, helping storytellers - old hands and novices alike - hone their stories before playing to packed crowds at sold-out live events. The very best of these stories are collected here: whether it's Bill Clinton's hell-raising press secretary or a leading geneticist with a family secret; a doctor whisked away by nuns to Mother Teresa's bedside or a film director saving her father's Chinatown store from money-grabbing developers; the Sultan of Brunei's concubine or a friend of Hemingway's who accidentally talks himself into a role as a substitute bullfighter, these eccentric, pitch-perfect stories - all, amazingly, true - range from the poignant to the downright hilarious.Trade ReviewBrilliant and quietly addictive ... crammed with personality ... full of colour and life * Guardian *One of the hottest events in town ... enthralling, funny and moving * The Times *New York's hottest and hippest literary ticket * Wall Street Journal *The stories not only maintain their oral integrity but take on new dimensions, allowing you to ponder a turn of events or swirl the language around in your head without missing the next part of the story * New York Times *While these tales transport us into the lives of others, they also invoke recognition with our own; there are connecting wires with even the most disparate experiences and existences, the 'I's are turned into 'we's. They fulfil our fundamental human need to communicate, learn and grow through others. -- Alan Bett * The List *The Moth is beautifully simple, authentic, a little bit therapeutic and utterly addictive. It is a joyful reminder of the power of the story the need for story-telling and the desire to listen, and to read, deeply. -- Helen Davies * Sunday Times *[the stories] remains very much in the voices of those who spoke them and thus retain the vulnerability and rawness inherent in the situation of one person, alone at the mic, telling a room full of strangers something personal. -- Hermione Hoby * The Observer *

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Book SynopsisChil Rajchman, a Polish Jew, was arrested with his younger sister in 1942 and sent to Treblinka, a death camp where more than 750,000 were murdered before it was abandoned by German soldiers. His sister was sent to the gas chambers, but Rajchman escaped execution, working for ten months under incessant threats and beatings as a barber, a clothes-sorter, a corpse-carrier, a puller of teeth from those same bodies. In August 1943, there was an uprising at the camp, and Rajchman was among the handful of men who managed to escape. In 1945, he set down this account, a plain, unembellished and exact record of the raw horror he endured every day. This unique testimony, which has remained in the sole possession of his family ever since, has never before been published in English. For its description of unspeakably cruelty, Treblinka is a memoir that will not be superseded. In addition to Rajchman's account, this volume includes the complete text of Vasily Grossman's 'The Hell of Treblinka', one of the first descriptions of a Nazi extermination camp; a powerful and harrowing piece of journalism written only weeks after the camp was dissolved. Introduction by Samuel Moyn, Professor of History at Columbia University and author of A Holocaust Controversy: The Treblinka Affair in Postwar France.Trade Review'His 96-page memoir, translated from the original Yiddish, has a powerful immediacy' Martin Gilbert, The Times. * The Times *'The small details, both poignant and horrific, leave a mark, which is as it should be' The Irish Examiner. * Irish Examiner *'This is one of the most horrific books I have read, and I found it impossible to put down ... a major addition to the literature of the Holocaust' Mail on Sunday. * Mail on Sunday *'This is an important book that deserves a prominent place in Holocaust literature' Victor Sebestyen, Sunday Times. * Sunday Times *'Rajchman describes the indescribable in this devastating account of surviving Treblinka ... An essential and unforgettable piece of Holocaust testimony' Robert Collins, Sunday Times. * Sunday Times *Table of ContentsPreface by Samuel Moyn. Treblinka. 'The Hell of Treblinka' by Vasily Grossman. Map. Further reading.

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Book SynopsisTo Beach or not to Beach? combines the musings of an enquiring mind with a profound love of flora and fauna and a deep compassion for the world's inequalities. Rarely travelling alone, itineraries have enabled Mary to trek through jungles, cross lakes in dugout canoes and travel by skidoo across the 'Land of Nothing' behind the migrating reindeer of the Sami. Highlights and challenges are also part of expedition life: from witnessing the 5th King's Coronation in Bhutan to being dumped at a remote airport hours from the intended destination. We are invited to share the music, customs and environments of multiple regions. Mary also details the orphanages and hospitals that she has encountered, including Mother Teresa's. By the end, the reader will be much wiser about the less-frequented corners of the world. The adventures recorded are fascinating events in the life of the author, who, when she is not travelling, lives in leafy Warwickshire.

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Book SynopsisThe book begins by the North Sea. It is a late summer's afternoon, and a bright sun has dispersed the greyness of the day. Two Englishmen are enjoying a swim off the Essex coast when all at once both have the feeling that they are back at the French seaside. They find themselves starting to tell each other of their youthful experiences of living in France. The adventures they narrate follow one after another like waves rolling onto the shore. Clive, coming from London, had found himself spending a year deep in the French countryside within sight of the western Pyrenees; John, hailing from Devon, had ended up living for a while in the City of Light within sight of the Folies Bergere. Outsiders though they were, they momentarily became part of French society, their adventures fuelled by the culinary delights of their adopted land. They tell their tales with humour and relish as they recall their initiation into the French way of life of decades ago - and how it shaped their own.Trade Review"I predict this slim volume will become a quiet best seller. It has all the quirky fun of an authentic adventure, a trove of fascinating real-life tales - whilst it reveals the real France in all its remarkable differentness." -- Anne Garvey, Cambridge Critique; "The incidents and experiences [the authors] relate are very sympathetic to me, and induce a measure of nostalgia." -- Sir Quentin BlakeTable of ContentsFrontispiece; Prologue; 1. An Englishman in the ninth district; 2. Clive's voyage into the unknown; 3. Rene; 4. Clive the grape-picker; 5. John's stroll through Paris; 6. Clive arrives at Salies-de-Bearn; 7. John finds a job in the big city; 8. Clive settles in Salies-de-Bearn; 9. John's apprenticeship at a Paris bank; 10. Sad news for Clive from London; 11. Cinema verite: on location in Paris; 12. Clive back in the vineyard; 13. New waves for John; 14. Clive on a Mobylette to the Basque Country; 15. John and the elusive film world; 16. Bearnaise sauce; 17. John, the gourmet banker; 18. Clive rolls up his sleeves in the provinces; 19. John and the newly-weds; 20. Clive tries his hand at rough shooting; 21. John moves house; 22. Clive and Marianne; 23. John settles in on the rue Sainte-Anastase; 24. Provincial doctor to Clive's rescue; 25. John meets Luisa; 26. Clive learns his lesson skiing at Cauterets; 27. John's friends find connubial bliss; 28. Crossing the border into Spain; 29. John meets Chuchi; 30. Clive heads for the metropolis; 31. John joins the Paris rag trade; 32 Live pop music a la francaise; 33. John and the Marais copper-engraver; 34. Clive answers the call of the south; 35. The need to feed the inner man; 36. Clive enjoys good company in the cafe at Carresse; 37. John uses his Metro ticket; 38. Summer festivals - and Clive takes the mike; 39. John and the Irishman; 40. Small-town wedding; 41. John afloat in Paris; 42. Clive goes under at Saint-Jean-de-Luz; 43. John working with the Galerie Genot; 44. Clive on horseback in the Camargue; 45. John the balloon man; 46. Clive wields his knife and fork at Les Baux-de-Provence; 47. John's private view; Epilogue; Acknowledgements; Tailpiece

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Book SynopsisRichard Skelton spent nearly half a decade living in a small valley high in the Furness hills of Cumbria, in northern England. When not writing or composing music, most of his days were spent beating the valley's bounds, exploring its network of paths, streams and walls. Beyond the Fell Wall is a distillation of his observations and thoughts about this particular patch of land. It is a poetic enquiry into the life of an seemingly inanimate landscape - its otherwise unheard melodies and unseen movements. It considers both vast geological epochs and brief moments of intimacy, and in turn it asks us to consider sentience in all things, whether animal, vegetable or mineral. At the heart of the book is the fell wall itself: vast and serpentine - a vessel for the lives, voices and myths of the landscape.Trade ReviewBeyond the Fell Wall is a graceful meditation upon the relationship between landscape, language and sound - The Spectator

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Book Synopsis"Portugal is not all that far away, or exotic, or dangerous, but it felt like a huge stretch for me to leave my partner, family, job and home and just go off. An overland solo trip lasting months in an ancient little campervan was not the kind of thing I did. But it was something I was about to do."In her debut memoir A Van of One's Own, Biddy Wells tells the story of how, propelled by a thirst for peace and quiet, for a modest adventure and, perhaps, for freedom, she left for Portugal on her own, with only her old campervan, Myfawny, and her GPS, Tanya, for company. Having left just about everything behind, her solo trip forces her to face her fears, her past, and herself. The road provides the perfect canvas to connect the dots between a past breakdown and her present need for freedom, as she reflects on her own life, her relationship, her family and the world around her - to see whether her life still has room for her in it. As she meets wise and not-so- wise people, members of the campervan community and friendly locals, her outlook on life begins to shift, and a chance meeting in a bar leads to the person who will put her on the right track.But will she go back home, to Wales?And what is the meaning of 'home? 'A Van of One's Own is a journey through the breath-taking scenery of France, Spain, and finally Portugal, populated by colourful characters and the roar of the ocean, the taste of fresh fish and the grind of the asphalt; but more importantly, it is a journey through past memories and present conflicts to inner peace.

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Book SynopsisA brilliantly evocative memoir from the golden age of newspaper publishing, from a man who helped define our modern media. When Les Hinton first fulfils his schoolboy dream of working on Fleet Street, it is still a place awash in warm beer, black ink, fag ash, and hot metal. Fifty-two years after being sent out to buy a sandwich for his first boss, one Rupert Murdoch, when Les finally leaves Murdoch’s employment in 2011, the business of news has been turned upside down, in a tumble of social and technological change. Les Hinton has been present at and noiselessly directed several key scenes in that tale of revolutionary transformation, as employee and later head of Murdoch companies in newspapers, magazines, and television, on three continents over five decades, in Wapping and Wall Street, Australia and California. Born amid the rubble of the blitzed docklands of Bootle, and schooled by an itinerant Army childhood, he came to the centre from the periphery, just as Murdoch did. There, with a gang of like-minded outsiders, he set about redrawing the map of the media. Hinton depicts the upheavals that swept his trade with the same widescreen perspective and sharp colours he deploys to show us how politicians from Clinton to Blair, from Brown to Cameron, alternately canoodled and raged inside their arranged media marriages. We see the death of Diana, the IRA bombings, the charisma of Bill Clinton, and the phone-hacking scandal from a revelatory new angle. And we get the most undeluded and undiluted portrait yet of the man who is perhaps the last of the great press barons. Above all, emerging out of Hinton's scintillating stories of half a century of Murdoch and news revolutions, comes the voice of a wandering Liverpudlian who is still in love with the life of a newspaperman, and now the author of one of the defining media memoirs of our age.Trade Review‘An epic story … and a penetrating insight into the mind of Murdoch.’ * Daily Mail *‘Les Hinton lifts the lid on his 52 years working with the media mogul Rupert Murdoch … This ‘untidy life in news’ yields a rich crop of anecdotes.’ * The Times *‘[A] great romp of a journalistic memoir.’ -- Stephen Robinson * The Sunday Times *‘It vividly captures the rise and fall of the press over 60 years … [no] acolyte’s paean.’ -- Ian Burrell * i *‘[Gives] an unprecedented insight into the media mogul [Murdoch’s] ways.’ * i *‘Les Hinton's story is about the glory and the tragedy of the newspaper business. He knows all the secrets of this tale and few are more clear-eyed than him when they tell it.’ -- Michael Wolff, author of Fire and Fury‘A terrific memoir by one of the all-time great newspapermen. Highly recommend if you want to know what it takes to be a journalist.’ -- Piers Morgan‘[A] must-read for anyone with even a fleeting interest in the media.’ -- Noreen Barr * Press Association *‘A rollicking good tale of his extraordinary life ... an utterly charming autobiography.’ * William Shawcross *"Does not shy away from criticism of Murdoch’s mistakes .... honest, revealing — and a beautifully written page turner.” -- William Shawcross‘Hinton is likeable and self-deprecating as he conjures up the lost worlds of boyhood and early newspaper days. A must-read for anyone with even a fleeting interest in the media.’ * Surrey Advertiser *‘A fascinating read.’ * The Sunday Post Dundee *‘Hinton evokes delicious memories of the analog age of newspapers, describing the smells and sounds of chutes, linotypes, molten lead stereo casting machines and presses roaring amid mists of paper fluff.’ * Weekend Australian *‘Brilliant ... a remarkable book.’ * Weekend Australian *‘Les Hinton’s The Bootle Boy: An Untidy Life in News, is an ode to journalism and the amazing, eyeopening, exciting and gratifying life it offers.’ * The Australian *‘Les Hinton tells the story of his remarkable life in a remarkable book.’ * Weekend Australian *‘An honest, cleanly told autobiography … The journalist within Les Hinton has observed the right professional care by setting his life in context, conveying it with an abundance of charm and refreshingly robust honesty.’ * Australian Book Review *‘An amiable autobiography ... pacey, engrossing and a lot better written than most hacks' memoirs.’ -- Michael Leapman * British Journalism Review *‘His narrative of growing up in Bootle, in Liverpool, and many other places around the world then moving into journalism is inspirational for any wanting to follow that path.’ -- Steve Howard * Manly Daily *‘The yarns are delivered with a classic journalist’s eye for the telling physical detail, an ear for the revealing quote and a knack for sequencing facts.’ -- David Cohen * Sunday Star Times *‘The stories are all told from the front row.’ -- Roy Christopher * Well-Red Bear *

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Book Synopsisni de aquí, ni de allá: It starts neither here nor there, a liminal space between two states of being. A life captured within his lines, At Least This I Know guides the reader through Andrés N. Ordorica’s own story, of ancestry, nationhood, activism and queerness, through childhood photographs, across international highways, to tales of love and loss, and beyond. These poems are a means of working through the belonging in both the physical sense and emotional, be it the belonging of immigrant bodies in new countries, or that of the queer self within found families and safe spaces. Navigating his family origin and personal journey to belonging, from Mexico, the USA, to Scotland, it’s a story to be welcomed into, one that flows from the page and envelops you.Trade Review"Vivid, humane, caustic brittle and witty. A compelling take on story, state, sorrow and soul." - Jenni Fagan, LuckenboothTable of ContentsNovember 16th, 2014 Where I begin Photograph Mother in the community pool blessings For Papá At least this I know How I have grown The sun is the only constant Word association: Gay Breakdown on I-35 I am listening Things I want Bottled Blue then and now Birdsong What I have lost Things I think but never do By the seashore Si Dios Quiere These pyramids are houses for the dead Untitled [May 14th, 2010] Rosemary What I have given Amor El vaquero Faggot Four men Losing myself Newark Liberty International Airport The party 8 synonyms for vermillion fresas He that I love Mountaintop The unspeakable type Hove Neroli Kiss We are young and still have time It had been so long Where I will burn Bennachie Mother tongue Ceremony Ramesh’s magic carpet ride Endless Belonging Stout The sea is rising The one who outcounts Epilogue Mis raíces

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Book SynopsisAs a boy growing up near Liverpool in the 1950s, Andrew Lees would visit the docks with his father to watch the ships from Brazil unload their exotic cargo of coffee, cotton bales, molasses, cocoa - the ships’ names and goods noted down in loving detail in his exercise book. One day, his father gave him a dog-eared book called Exploration Fawcett. The book told the true story of Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Fawcett, a British explorer who in 1925 had gone in search of a lost city in the Amazon, and never returned. The riveting story of Fawcett’s encounters with deadly animals and hostile tribes, his mission to discover an Atlantean civilization, and the many who lost their own lives when they went in search of him, inspired the young Lees to believe that there were still earthly places where one could ‘fall off the edge’.Lees travelled to Manaus in Fawcett’s footsteps. After a time-bending psychedelic experience in the forest, he understood that his yearning for the imaginary Brazil of his boyhood, like Fawcett’s search for an earthly paradise, was a nostalgia for what never was. Part travelogue, part memoir, Lees paints a portrait of an elusive Brazil, and a flawed explorer whose doomed mission ruined lives.Trade Review"A. J. Lees’s new book Brazil That Never Was is an engaging treasure, urgent in its message, thrilling in its telling. His masterful tale marries the grandeur of the natural historian with the passion of the outlier poet. Like the physician Arthur Conan Doyle, and friend and fellow neurologist Oliver Sacks, Lees is a detective, tracking the mysteries of the human mind....We follow two journeys: Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett’s and Lees’s own...Lees’s eloquent tale urges: support Native peoples, protect other species, help win this battle. For soon the real tropical cornucopia of Brazil will likely be lost, as if it never was." —Kathelin Gray, Los Angeles Review of Books “This is a book about daydreams, melancholy and nostalgia in the very best sense. It is also a dramatic travelogue, from boyhood fantasy about an imagined Brazil to its flawed but life-transforming reality. It is a poetic meditation on time past and present, beautifully written and expertly composed.” —Andrew Hussey “This book is about the quest for a place that, like the mythical Lake Parima on ancient maps of South America, is only an illusion. Following in the maddening footsteps of the lost explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett, Andrew Lees explores his own life, and his longing for the deepest places of the mind and the remotest places on Earth. The trip is beautiful even if, in the end, that place is nowhere to be found.” —Héctor Abad “What begins as a personal reflection on the western world's endless fascination with Amazonia and its mysteries, develops in a most unexpected way, as Andrew Lees' prose becomes our Virgil, taking the reader for a leap into the unknown, way further than any other expedition has ever dreamed of.” —Ciro Guerra, director of the Academy Award–nominated Embrace of the Serpent “Reality is no match, it seems, for the rapture of existence conveyed in a long-ago book. Dr. Lees’s own writing can be such an exercise in enthrallment. . . . sentences in Dr. Lees’s elegy for vanished youth flare up and shimmer with revelation, like lost arrowheads upturned by the plow.” —Danny Heitman, The Wall Street Journal

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Book SynopsisLouisa May Alcott (1832–1888) is, of course, best known as the author of Little Women (1868). But she was also a noted essayist who wrote on a wide range of subjects, including her father’s failed utopian commune, the benefits of an unmarried life, and her experience as a young woman sent to work in service to alleviate her family’s poverty. Her first literary success was a contemporary close-up account of the American Civil War, brilliantly depicted in Hospital Sketches drawn from her own experience of serving as an army nurse near the nation’s capitol. As with her famous novel, Alcott writes these essays with clear observation, unforgettable scenes, and one of the sharpest wits in American literature. Blending gentle satire with reportage and emotive autobiography, Alcott’s exquisite essays are as exceptional as the novels she is known for. Published together for the first time, this delightful selection shows us another side to one of our most celebrated writers.Trade Review'Lively, occasionally grim, and genuinely funny essays from a beloved author.' * Kirkus *'A Strange Life is a thorough pleasure. Modest in size and design – it’ll fit in a pocket – the book puts emphasis where it belongs: on the vigorous prose of one of America’s most charming and memorable stylists.' * Wall Street Journal *'In bringing together opinion pieces, travelogues and personal snippets, this pocket-sized volume opens fascinating windows into Alcott’s mind.' * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisIn July 1983, James Morgan Kane returned home in the evening to find a corpse in his living room.Fearing that he would be held responsible, and sensing that his wife was somehow involved, he wanted to do all he could to protect his young family.Jamie worked through the night to dispose of the body, all the while disbelieving the situation he found himself in. But his luck ran out days later, as he was arrested and sentenced to thirteen years in prison. Jamie entered the American prison system and was to stay there for 34 years with stints in San Quentin, Folsom State Prison and the notorious Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) in California. He would rub shoulders with some of the world's most infamous serial killers such as Charles Manson, Edmund Kemper, Charles Tex Watson and Herbie Mullin, as well as gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican cartels.This book tells of his time locked up with no hope of release, living the brutality of the tough and unforgiving American penitentiary system, and finding his new purpose in life. As well as tales of his many run-ins with some of the world's most dangerous inmates.For the first time ever, he tells his story. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, no matter how incredible it may sound.

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Book SynopsisThe long-awaited memoir of Booker T. Jones, leader of the famed Stax Records house band, architect of the Memphis soul sound, and one of the most legendary figures in music. From Booker T. Jones's earliest years in segregated Memphis, music was the driving force in his life. While he worked paper routes and played gigs in local nightclubs to pay for lessons and support his family, Jones, on the side, was also recording sessions in what became the famous Stax Studios-all while still in high school. Not long after, he would form the genre-defining group Booker T. and the MGs, whose recordings went on to sell millions of copies, win a place in Rolling Stone's list of top 500 songs of all time, and help forge collaborations with some of the era's most influential artists, including Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam & Dave. Nearly five decades later, Jones's influence continues to help define the music industry, but only now is he ready to tell his remarkable life story. Time is Tight is the deeply moving account of how Jones balanced the brutality of the segregationist South with the loving support of his family and community, all while transforming a burgeoning studio into a musical mecca. Culminating with a definitive account into the inner workings of the Stax label, as well as a fascinating portrait of working with many of the era's most legendary performers-Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Tom Jones, among them-this extraordinary memoir promises to become a landmark moment in the history of Southern Soul.

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Book SynopsisAs the creative force behind Berry Gordy Jr.'s Motown Records in the mid-Sixties, a writing credit from Holland Dozier Holland was virtually a guarantee of chart success. From Stop! In The Name Of Love to How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, they were the songwriting and production dream team responsible for some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century. In this compelling autobiography, brothers Eddie and Brian Holland share their story for the first time, starting with growing up in Detroit raised by a single mother and their grandmother, before shining a light on their early musical careers. A gifted lyricist, Eddie started out as a solo singer with Berry Gordy as his manager before partnering up with his brother Brian and Lamont Dozier, both talented arrangers and producers. When Holland Dozier Holland came together, they helped transform Motown Records from a local soul label into a worldwide hit factory, home to international superstars such as Marvin Gaye, Martha & The Vandellas, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Miracles, The Four Tops and The Isley Brothers. After an awe-inspiring tenure they left Motown in 1968, continuing their successes at new labels and with new collaborators for years to come. Featuring honest and open first-hand accounts, Come and Get These Memories is more than just a behind-the-scenes look at Motown Records at its peak: Eddie and Brian set the record straight on both their personal and professional lives and offer a revealing slice of pop-music history.

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Book SynopsisCynthia Rogerson’s mother is dying. Often. Travelling between her home in Scotland and California, as she spends time at her mother’s bedside Cynthia recalls her youthful adventures: living in a squat, train-hopping, hitchhiking and all the other things she never told her mother. Wonderfully witty and refreshingly candid, Wah! is an unflinching look at life in all its uncertain and messy glory.Trade Review‘A rich, lyrical text that will show the tears at the heart of things.’I devoured Wah! A delicious memoir from the from the much loved ex director of Moniack MhorEncompasses all the different kinds of love.As poignant as it is hilarious.Witty, rich in revelation, and elegantly written.Wah! is both moving and funny, with a wonderfully light touch - completely charming.A selfie of a tearaway with a real writer in control of the chaos. A wonderful and courageous book.This sparkling memoir is a revelation.Witty, compassionate, playful, scarily honest.Her wisecracks skewer even the bleakest moments.Laugh-aloud funny, poignant, wicked, shallow and profound.

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Book SynopsisThis is an account of a year in the life of Peter Berry, an ordinary man living in a sleepy Suffolk village. Happily married and running a successful business, Peter's life changes when, at the age of fifty, he is given a terminal diagnosis of early-onset dementia. Since that day, he has learned to live with his very own 'dementia monster'. From depression and suicide attempts through to his determination to confront his dementia, Peter has embarked on a series of challenges to show that 'life isn't over with dementia, it's just a little different'. Peter has now raised thousands of pounds for dementia charities, cycling hundreds of miles in his quest to show that life is always worth living. When Peter meets Deb, recently retired, they embark on regular cycle rides and, as their friendship grows, Deb is able to look at her own life through the lens of Peter's dementia. In 'Slow Puncture', Peter tells the world what it is really like to live with a terminal condition and Deb learns to enjoy each day more fully. With a foreword by best-selling author Wendy Mitchell, author of 'Somebody I Used to Know', this is an inspirational look at both living in the present and coping with dementia.Trade Review"The way Peter and his wife have come to terms with the dementia that has descended on him is both humbling and uplifting. Millions of people witnessed on television the raw honesty of Peter’s pain, as well as the extraordinary positivity he found from deep within his spirit. His story is an inspiration." Hugh Bonneville, film and television actor.

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Book SynopsisMonk in the Market Place … and the Simpsons is a memoir like no other. Ray Simpson, Founding Guardian of the international new monastic Community of Aidan and Hilda, recalls the story of a unique life in which he has followed faithfully a calling to live monastically beyond the traditional enclosures of monastery or shrine. Ray’s unputdownable account charts human pain and God-incidents in his childhood and college, baptisms of fire in industrial heartlands and multi-racial London, pioneering a Village of God at Bowthorpe, Norwich, the call to be ‘a contemplative in the market place’ living without a salary, his co-founding of the Community of Aidan and Hilda, and twenty years as founder of the Celtic Christianity library and CAH Retreat Facilities on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, ‘the spiritual capital of England’.Trade Review‘A rare combination of contemplative, charismatic and commentator, Ray Simpson charts his journey from encyclopedia salesman and Butlin's holiday camp assistant to pioneer ecumenical minister and founder of a thriving international dispersed Christian community. He tells his story with candour and spiritual insight.’ -- Revd Professor Ian Bradley‘Ray is the most extraordinary person - his personality, faith, freshness and eclectic nature all burst through from the pages of this, his life’s pilgrimage. His honesty and immediacy beam through - the story he tells reflects the man - you meet Ray and feel yourself talking with him as you journey with him through these chapters, from childhood to the Potteries, Norwich and Lindisfarne.’ -- Rt Revd Stephen Platten

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Book SynopsisOn a Saturday morning in August 2010 my mother, Sally Challen, killed my father, Richard, at the family home with twenty blows of a hammer to the head. She was sentenced to life behind bars after suffering 40 years of abuse.David Challen grew up in a household that was accustomed to his father''s abuse and coercive behaviour - his criticisms, humiliations, manipulations and mind games. As David grew older, he realised there was something deeply wrong with the way his father treated their mother, Sally. Though she eventually left him, it was only weeks later that she murdered her husband of 31 years, leaving David with the most unimaginable moral dilemma: defending his mother.CONTROL tells the story of the abuse Challen unknowingly witnessed throughout his childhood, the coercive control that led to his mother, Sally Challen, killing his father, and the subsequent trial that changed everything for women.

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Book SynopsisIn ‘Is That Really True, Sir?’, the artist, barrister, schoolmaster, musician, journalist and explorer Michael Aubrey negotiates a succession of improbable events and narrow escapes. Starting with a vivid account of his wartime childhood, Aubrey shares the joys, hazards, surprises and often hilarious disasters of his colourful experiences in many countries, encountering a range of unusual people along the way. With a comic lightness of touch, he revels in life’s absurdities at the same time as celebrating the beauty and harmony of the various worlds which he has inhabited. The memoir is lavishly illustrated, including over eighty of the author’s vibrant watercolours. His acute eye for the ridiculous, keen observation of character, lyrical accounts of unfamiliar places and illuminating insights make this a joyous book, one to lift the spirits even on the dullest of days.

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Book Synopsis'Secrets Never to be Told’ is an extraordinary story, compellingly told, which unravels a century and a half of family secrets. It reveals how being born illegitimate shaped the lives of two women – one of them, the author. Starting with a letter revealing a mystery inheritance, the author goes on a five-year quest taking her from Victorian Cambridge to modern Vancouver. She uncovers how her cousin Jessie emigrated to Canada, one of thousands of female domestic servants exported as ‘surplus’ women before the First World War. Woven alongside the contemporary detective investigation on the trail of one immigrant’s untold story, is that of the author’s strange 1960s childhood of social isolation in a Midlands city, obsessed with a world seen through TV - and with the Beatles.Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations 13 Prologue 15 Chapter One 29 Chapter Two 48 Chapter Three 64 Chapter Four 83 Chapter Five 100 Chapter Six 129 Chapter Seven 149 Chapter Eight 163 Chapter Nine 181 Chapter Ten 198 Chapter Eleven 217 Chapter Twelve 237 Chapter Thirteen 255 Chapter Fourteen 275 Chapter Fifteen 295 APPENDIX Acknowledgements 315

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Book SynopsisIn the summer of 2017, Will and his wife Amy lost their baby, Elowen, a few days before their due date. After a traumatic induced birth, they returned from hospital to their cottage in the New Forest, grief-stricken and struggling to make sense of what happened to them. Unmoored by sadness, what became clear in the weeks and months following Elowen's death is that there is no established vocabulary with which to understand this experience, either for Will or the people around him. Indeed, as he discovers, there is no word in the English language for a parent who has lost a child. Without any linguistic or emotional scaffold, the disorientation of his grief feels ever more lonely and alienating. Elowen charts the darkness of Will's grief over the course of two years with unflinching honesty, but it also describes in sonorous prose what sustained him: the natural world, and in particular the silence and attentiveness of tracking wolves in the forests of Sweden. These animals, only ever fleetingly seen, nonetheless provided profound solace, and in the act of searching for them he began to find a way to live with his grief. This profoundly moving, ultimately uplifting book challenges the way we think about loss and help us to re-evaluate our relationship to the natural world. Elowen is not only a remarkable portrait of grief, but also an impassioned hymn to the wild and a treatise on the restorative potential of nature in uncertain times.Trade Review'A beautiful portrayal..raw, visceral, delicately tender.' Raynor Winn. 'A deeply moving portrait of a family that dares to be completely open and completely vulnerable. It is an extraordinary generous and brave book, and I am grateful to this writer, to this family.' Barney Norris.

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Richard Hawley. So It Started There chronicles the life and career of drummer Nick Banks, and how he came to be in one of the UK's most iconic and beloved bands: Pulp. Beginning with his childhood in Rotherham, Nick recounts his personal and musical journey through the genres, first as a punk, then as a goth; how it all started when he was first inspired to pick up the sticks by Sex Pistols drummer, Paul Cook. Flash forward to the eighties, Nick has been playing in a handful of Sheffield groups and spies an ad from his favourite band, Pulp, in a local club. He pays Jarvis and the gang a visit and the rest is history. From there, Nick describes his growth as a professional drummer and musician, the trials and tribulations of chasing success in the music industry, touring triumphs and horrors, the band's journey from relative obscurity to becoming a global sensation, and the process of writing and recording their most famous albums.Trade ReviewWarm and witty... There's tons of detail for fans to thrill over, some cracking anecdotes, woven together to give a reassuring sense of a man who took it all in his stride and loved almost every minute of it. Record Collector; Told in a wonderful, personably style exuding Northern charm and wide eyed wonder... an entertaining insight into a truly unique band. 4**** Classic Pop; Until Cocker writes his own Pulp history, this is the definitive version. MOJO; Nick Banks is the time-keeper of Pulp, and within these covers are the early times, the good times, the not-so-good times and the WTF times. Do You Remember the First Time? Nick does. Great stuff. Jarvis Cocker;

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Book SynopsisGardens teach us to live in the moment. They nourish us, provide solace in grief and offer sanctuary from the stresses of modern life.In a celebration of the healing power of nature, New Zealand gardening guru Lynda Hallinan focuses on the gentle delights that bring joy to our backyards, from birdsong to seasonal beauty.Slowing down, letting go, working in harmony with nature and cherishing the accidental pleasures, from self-sown seedlings to bumblebees sleeping in dahlia blooms: these are the things that make our hearts sing.Lynda also writes about the way memory and tradition connect us to special plants and places, and the thrill of sharing a love of gardening with friends and family.

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Book Synopsis''At times roaring and visceral, in turn gentle and embracing, always driven by hope and determination''RAYNOR WINN''Haunting and powerful'' KATE MOSSE Natasha Carthew was born into a world that sat alongside picture-postcard Cornwall, one where second homes took the sea view of council properties, summer months shifted the course of people''s lives, and wealth converged with poverty on sandy beaches.In the rockpools and hedgerows of the natural world, Natasha found solace in the beauty of the landscape, and in the mobile library she found her means of escape. In Undercurrent she returns to the cliff paths of her childhood, determined to make sense of an upbringing shaped by political neglect and a life defined by the beauty of nature.This is a journey through place, and a vivid story of hope, beauty and fierce resilience.''Marvellous, moving and mesmerising'' ANITA SETHI''A story of queer resTrade ReviewA powerful story of social inequality told with the depth of voice that only comes from a writer passionately rooted in place. Like the Cornish tides that fill her life, Carthew is at times roaring, visceral and exclusive, in turn gentle, embracing and inclusive, but always driven by hope and determination. * Raynor Winn *Haunting and powerful, a book about the sea and the power of belonging, about secrets and words, this is a beautiful and powerful memoir. I read it in one sitting. * Kate Mosse *Raw, rebellious, urgent and hopeful, this is a stunning tale of a life made and saved by nature -- Dr Helen ScalesNatasha Carthew shines the light on another side of Cornwall, one far from the world of bright Instagram pictures and celebrity travel shows. She reveals a place of poverty, dead-end jobs and little hope. But she writes so passionately about a world she knows well and her humanity and sense of humour shine though on every page, ensuring that the often dark subject matter fuels a rich, rewarding read -- Petroc TrelawnyLuscious layers of poetic prose that fluidly lead us through the landscapes and seascapes of Cornwall, recounting stories of poverty and often tough childhood struggles. Stories told by one who knew that they needed and wanted so much more for their life, but one for whom the seascape of Cornwall is still the hypnotic textural lens. This book is a beautiful, sometimes difficult, elegy to our innermost hopes, fears and dreams. Gorgeously and generously written -- Juno RocheA book like a beacon, blazing with love and anger for how it is to grow up poor and full of serious ambition in a place others use as a playground. Carthew's unbreakable commitment to making art from the outside edge of social provision is a rallying call to all of us who grew up pushed to the margins. This is a fierce, inspiring story -- Tanya ShadrickPoetic, political and powerful, Natasha Carthew weaves lyrical and sensual nature writing with the tough realities of growing up in poverty -- Chloe TimmsA compelling counterbalance to the conventional Cornish story, Undercurrent takes the reader into a side of Cornwall that is rarely presented to the outside world. Natasha Carthew, in scintillating prose, recounts her childhood by the sea, in a place full of dazzling natural beauty, but with a dark side of poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity. Her moving story of finding a way to become a writer is both a testament to her strength, and a passionate call for social justice for disadvantaged rural communities -- Sophie PierceRailing against the brutal unfairness of accepting the life she seems condemned to lead, Natasha weaves an exhilarating story of escaping the dangerous undercurrents of her life and becoming the writer she was always meant to be. I was with her until the end -- Linda GaskCarthew shows us Cornwall as it often lived but rarely seen, where the rich holiday and others struggle to survive. It's a tale of two counties with the ever-changing sea as a constant. It is a story of queer resistance, of community and of finding your own voice -- Damian BarrBy turns marvellous, moving, & mesmerising * Anita Sethi *A fierce, urgent memoir by one of our most important writers. Natasha Carthew is a warrior you'd want on your side in almost any battle, but more important, she is a torchbearer. If you want to understand life in rural Britain, look where she casts her light. * Amy-Jane Beer *This important and beautifully lyrical book asks questions about identity, belonging and the ability of words to transform a life * The Times *A simmering dissection of rural poverty -- Luke TurnerBeautiful and lyrical, Undercurrent explores the world of rural poverty with both striking honesty and heart. There is no other writer like Carthew * Mahsuda Snaith *Undercurrent is a fierce and different kind of nature writing, where the wildness is within as well as without: the life you're dealt, and how you manage it - survival, resourcefulness, protection, the ferocity and necessity of having an escape-dream, and the discovery of self-expression through creativity. Delivered in wave upon wave of the flotsam and jetsam, light through water, love, chaos, lack and rage, of trauma, abandonment and poverty in a rural, working class life.An eloquent shouting into the storm, there are quiet coves, where the wild beauty of a 'destination' landscape contrasts with deep and damaging eddies of deprivation. It is also a lifting of the eyes, heart and hope above the horizon, through the life-changing power and importance of literacy, cultural capital and the mobile library, as a means of freedom and opportunity.It's the paradox of how to love a place you belong to but cannot dwell in (that hurts you) and the need to escape it. Brace yourself. It left me breathless, and more determined than ever, to be a good and relevant school librarian. * Nicola Chester *This is an absolutely brilliant, essential book. I am only halfway through and can already tell it will change my heart and mind * Lucia Osborne-Crowley *The most lyrical description of Cornwall I have ever read... highly recommended * The Tablet *A proud, defiant account and despite all the bluster and squalls, Carthew is walking fire, fury and sinew, and yet not afraid to show her more vulnerable underbelly. One thing is clear - that this book is also about love. Familial love, love of community, platonic love, unrequited love, love of words, poetry, people and place - but where her words really sing is in her love of Cornwall, its coastlines, laneways, open skies and hidden places - places she wants to survive and thrive * Caught by the River *A vivid story of hope, beauty and resilience * Manx Independent *Charged with the power of nature, writing and little-heard rural working-class voices, this beautiful memoir is an ode to Cornwall, creativity, and resilience * Love Reading *Ferocious . . . A story of humour, resilience and doing things 'with Kernewek pride' * TLS *Carthew's fierce and honest memoir of her childhood and teenage years reveals the precarious nature of working-class life in a county where dazzling wealth and natural beauty rub shoulders with dark, grinding poverty. This is an inspiring tale of resilience founded on humour, poetry and love of nature * BBC Countryfile Magazine *Praise for Natasha Carthew:A beautiful piece of writing, such a testament to the generations of strong women who have inhabited this coast and told in a poetic Cornish accent so evocative of time and place -- Raynor WinnA real thing of beauty. The innovative structure and striking illustrations combine to create a verbal and visual feast. The reader feels like they are down in the darkness of mine and eavesdropping on the past -- Cathy RentzenbrinkCarthew is an elegantly lyrical writer * Independent *Gripping stuff, Carthew's prose has a startling ferocity * Telegraph *Carthew's writing is breath-takingly fierce, smart and tender * Times Educational Supplement *Natasha writes with a vivid, imagistic language * FInancial Times *Carthew's is a different voice: sinewy and inventive -- Patrick Gale

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Book SynopsisBeyond the Throne is the first memoir to share behind-the-scenes stories of the perils and triumphs of Game of Thrones from beloved performer Kristian Nairn, who played Hodor and became one of the most recognizable figures of the global television phenomenon.The story of an unlikely hero who fulfilled his destiny...Fans will be fascinated by Kristian Nairn''s experience on Game of Thrones, from his unlikely audition to his on-the-job training as an actor to his ascendance as one of the most beloved and pivotal characters on the show. Nairn details the camaraderie that develops as the actors face the elements on set, not entirely unlike the ones their characters must endure on screen, as well as the life-altering effects of worldwide stardom.Nairn''s personal story-raised by a single mother during the Troubles in Ireland, coming of age as a gay man in Lisburn and Belfast, navigating intolerance, and seeking out his sce

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Book Synopsis''I loved this memoir'' - Raynor Winn, author of The Salt Path''A whole new way of looking at a familiar landscape'' - Neil Ansell, author of The Last Wilderness''Simmons observes the natural world with precision and affection'' - Times Literary SupplementAn old map. A lost pilgrimage route. A journey in search of our walking heritage.On an antique map in Oxford''s Bodleian Library, a faint red line threading through towns and villages between Southampton and Canterbury suggests a significant, though long-forgotten, road. Renamed the Old Way, medieval pilgrims are thought to have travelled this route to reach the celebrated shrine of Thomas Becket.Over four seasons, travel writer Gail Simmons walks the Old Way, winding 240 miles between the chalk hills and shifting seascapes of the south coast, to rediscover what a long journey on foot offers us today. What it means to embrace ''slow travel'' in the age of the car?

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