Memoirs Books

Book Synopsis'Searingly honest... gripping... fascinating and hugely entertaining.'- Sunday Times'Moving and frank ... A story of a childhood defined by loneliness, the absence of a father and the grim experience of a Quaker boarding school. It is also one of the most perceptive accounts of Britain in the 1970s.'- Misha Glenny'A crisp, unself-pitying memoir of a 'trainwreck' youth ... I've always likes Webb on the radio. But I like him much more after reading this book. He offers precisely the kind of brisk honesty and considered analysis he expects from his interviewees. Our politicians should all read it, and step up their game.' -Telegraph.........................................................................................................................................................Justin Webb's childhood in the 1970s was far from ordinary.Between his mother's un-diagnosed psychological problems, and his step-father's untreated ones, life at home was dysfunctional at best. But with gun-wielding school masters and sub-standard living conditions, Quaker boarding school wasn't much better.Candid, unsparing and darkly funny, Justin Webb's memoir is as much a portrait of a troubled era as it is the story of a dysfunctional childhood, shaping the urbane and successful radio presenter we know and love now.........................................................................................................................................'I thoroughly enjoyed Justin Webb's bonkers childhood. He captures the middle class of the age with a tenacity only possible in one of its victims.' -Jeremy PaxmanTrade ReviewOne of my books of the year: beautifully written. -- Alan Johnson * New Statesman *A gripping memoir ... fascinating and hugely entertaining. It's extremely thoughtful and shockingly honest. -- Christina Patterson * Sunday Times *A crisp, unself-pitying memoir of a 'trainwreck' youth ... I've always likes Webb on the radio. But I like him much more after reading this book. He offers precisely the kind of brisk honesty and considered analysis he expects from his interviewees. Our politicians should all read it, and step up their game. -- Helen Brown * The Telegraph *[Justin Webb's] affability and easy manner seems even more remarkable after reading [his] memoir, The Gift Of A Radio. The subtitle is My Childhood And Other Train Wrecks, which is apt: the experiences of his formative years would have driven most children completely off the rails * Daily Mail *Moving, darkly hilarious ... In his mother, Gloria Crocombe, Webb records a great tragicomic character. -- Melanie Reid * The Times *

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Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'With brutal, beautiful honesty, Clover articulates how bereavement shocks and dislocates - and in all the pain, there's SO much life.' MARIAN KEYES'MUST READ ... A remarkable acount of love and grief.' - DAILY MAIL'She is a vigorous and fearless writer, grabbing us by the throat to describe life's horrors and her responses to them, filling her pages with the magnetic force of her own life as wife, lover and mother of five which somehow has to go on.' SPECTATOR...............................................'Can death bring something good to my life?'A few weeks before Christmas, Clover's sister died of breast cancer, aged forty-six. Just days before, she had been given years to live. Her sudden death split Clover's life apart. The Red of My Blood charts Clover's fearless passage through the first year after her sister's death.It is a book about what life feels like when death interrupts it, and about bearing the unbearable and describing an experience that seems beyond words. Lyrical, hopeful, it is also about the magical way in which death and life exist so vividly beside one another, and the wonder of being human.'A beautiful addition to the literature of loss. It will serve as a lit match, to be passed from one person to the next in the darkest moments.' THE SUNDAY TIMESTrade ReviewA beautiful book. I loved every word. -- Fearne Cotton * Happy Place Podcast *Stroud's beautiful new memoir, The Red of My Blood, is studded with agonising moments ... This is a colourful blast of feeling that picks up on the hallucinogenic oddness of grief, along with the importance of honouring death as an unavoidable part of life. -- Gwendolyn Smith * i newspaper *Like a magician, she puts her grief into a hat and pulls out 70,000 perfect words to describe what it is like when language fails you. Courageous and utterly compelling, this is a book that will wring you out, wear you down and leave you filled with wonder. -- Francis Wilson * The Oldie *Clover writes with visceral honesty about the lived experience of her grief for her sister Nell - in all its hues; moving swiftly between darkness and light whilst her love for Nell remains powerfully alive and present. -- Julia SamuelThe Red of my Blood is one of the most haunting, gripping books I've read in recent memory. Stroud's writing about overwhelming loss is knife-sharp, beautiful, and profound. This is a masterful memoir, which will echo with its readers for a long time. -- Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles and Circe

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Book SynopsisDo you marvel at people who seemingly have it all only to drop everything for life in a remote village? Have you wondered about leaving your roots for migration to the unknown? ‘Fit only for climbing coconut trees.’ The mockery invented by Philip’s father because he was badminton-mad and useless (said father) at all else, lingered with him through school in Malaysia. It travelled with him on an Aeroflot to England in 1970, aged 18, functioning on adrenaline. It stuck through his navigation of parochial middle England – washing backsides in a mental hospital, law practice, sports, and professional and personal relationships. Toughened by an Indian father and a Chinese coach, lifted by a messiah-like Englishman and grounded by a Labrador soulmate, Racket Boy – Where’s My Country, explores Philip’s life over six decades. From being ordered by the British government to leave England, accosted in Bombay, mugged in Barcelona to horse-trading with a petro giant in Ecuador and thrilling in a World Cup in military-ruled Argentina, to list just a few. Philip is now a spectator in the hills of Tuscany, more than just fit to be climbing coconut trees!

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Book SynopsisThe Time for Lovers is a captivating memoir of self-discovery and transformation. Britt Ahlfert Brown recounts her formative experiences and revisits her past loves years later. It is a testament to the unpredictability of life and love.

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Book SynopsisJoanna shares her adventures to some of the most remote corners of the world while facing the added challenge of living with Crohn's Disease.

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Book SynopsisPatrick is a memoir that describes periods of self-medication, therapy, and recovery, while also providing insight into some of the most pressing humanitarian crises of our time. The book also explores his neurodiversity and the impact it had on his childhood, schooling, and career.

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Book SynopsisTruly Silly is a collection of stories and anecdotes, as experienced by or told to the author. Nick loved regaling people with these and many other stories, and he was very good at it. He had an inimitable style which, for anyone who knew him, is very much apparent in this book. Consistency of detail was not a priority for him; having a good laugh with friends and family was. Often at other people's expense, it has to be said, but no harm was ever intended. Everything and everyone were fair game to Nick, providing there was a good laugh to be had. His humour was often self-deprecating, for he had no ego whatsoever. Fortunately for his family and friends, he was persuaded to commit some of his favourite anecdotes to paper.Nick passed away in May 2022. With the publication of this book, his wife Sue and sons Patrick and Alex wish to honour his memory and provide a little memento for those who knew and loved him.

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Book SynopsisCatherine Wallace's Orchard Stories tells the story of a block of flats in West London over forty years, exploring the lives of the residents through the pandemic and beyond.

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Book SynopsisA bold memoir, filled with drama, loss and bitterness (with a significant dose of humour) of a dysfunctional family with a domineering mother at the helm.

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Book SynopsisA unique memoir of the pandemic from the viewpoint of a toddler's family life which provides a timeline of the news and restrictions associated with Covid-19. A humorous, but also raw, account of a child's development throughout the strangest period in modern history.

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Book SynopsisA wonderfully humorous and witty true-crime memoir, documenting the highs and lows of life and offering insight into the institution of British policing.

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Book SynopsisAn engaging, humorous collection of stories from Steve Eddison, all based on his real life experiences as a classroom teacher.

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Book SynopsisIf life seems to be a series of difficult episodes, gracefully acknowledge each setback and always get ready to pick yourself back up and work through your problem. Once you truly understand the problem and accept it then life is no longer difficult. Nombeko Mpako not only teaches art, but also survival techniques based on personal life experiences, and surmounting formidable challenges. If you surmount a challenge or difficult situation, you're not just getting over it. You're outdoing yourself, exceeding expectations, and overcoming the task at hand. From early life as a sickly young girl of eight, through to her mid-teens, and missing out on several years of schooling, to picking herself up and then having a near death experience as an adult, none of these things stopped Nombeko from achieving academic goals; first as an artist and then as a teaching professor. An added impulse was to use the creation process of artworks as a therapeutic endeavour. Nombeko felt a need to not only tell her life story as life's lessons to others, but also to reflect on her life circumstances as a form of self-acceptance, embracing every aspect of her life, good and bad.

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Book SynopsisA personal, unfiltered exploration of marriage, identity and self-discovery that embraces the complexities of relationships, challenges societal norms and highlights the courage it takes to live authentically.

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One 'alone, but not lonely' boy's triumph over adversity, motivated by his dream of becoming a professional footballer and a longing for truth and connection. Street's childhood memoir is a sensitive and honest portrayal, through a poetic autistic lens, of growing up with learning differences and epilepsy in an unconventional family during the 1950s and 60s. A unique and vivid social document of the period, highlighting much of the discrimination still faced by minority and disabled communities today.

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Book SynopsisMargaret Nuttall’s autobiography spans over 80 years. Born just before the outbreak of World War II, and the youngest of six children, she grew up in Rochdale, Lancashire. Her story begins with her early recollections of wartime, with blackouts, rationing and an air-raid shelter full of frogs. She recounts anecdotes from her home life, school days, youthful social life and working life, having started work at the age of fifteen. Margaret married her first husband, Leonard, in 1959 and they had two daughters, Carolyn and Tracy. A skilled typist, Margaret gained a job at the motorway police post in Heywood, which marked a turning point in her life. She met Tony Nuttall, a police chief inspector, who was to become her second husband. The couple share a passion for foreign travel, and Margaret gives a colourful account of their many holidays, including trips to Thailand, Bermuda and a recent world cruise. The book concludes in lockdown during the current coronavirus pandemic, with Margaret enjoying her garden. Margaret has travelled the world, but will always be a Lancashire lass.

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Book Synopsis'I was on the last leg of my first cross country flight. My next radio call would be to ask permission to land. I began to relax. I was nearly home. That's when the aircraft's engine stopped.' The Self-Improver is an autobiographical account about how a university drop-out took his first steps towards becoming the world's most experienced Boeing 747 captain. Author Nick Eades was going nowhere fast when it struck him that after all, he was destined to follow in family footsteps and become a pilot. The book takes us into the cockpit to follow his journey to captaining one of the most iconic aircraft ever flown. The Self-Improver relates Nick's step-by-step path up the aviation ladder. Working his way through a variety of jobs, he enrols and passes the necessary training courses to achieve the licences and ratings that will move him towards ever-improving jobs up the pilot hierarchy. His journey takes him from close to home in the UK over to the US and back again, as he makes his way in the world of aviation. Including many amusing anecdotes and gripping incidents mixed with tragic ones too, The Self-Improver is a personal account of one man's mission to reach the skies and achieve the ultimate dream.

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Book SynopsisBrandon Smith-Johnson, a young man from Huddersfield with British, Romany gypsy and Jamaican heritage, dreams of a successful future engaging in creativity through writing, photography, art and custom clothing whilst feeling different to everyone around him. At Leeds City College he meets Lauren and the pair navigate adolescence and enter adulthood together. Brandon inhabits many environments across West Yorkshire from his mother’s house, to Lauren’s family home, to B&B's home to addicts, to lost youth hostels and to troubled people hotels. The Crypt, a homeless shelter, is where the pair live from which trouble and torment follow. They are relentlessly preyed upon by the lost, criminals and addicts through manipulation and violence. Lauren and Brandon indulge in drinking and substances, exacerbating their struggles with mental health as they become increasingly unstable. They face being stolen from, overdoses, psych ward stays and arrests based on misunderstandings. But Brandon finds he can attain a sense of peace by connecting to nature through camping in the Lake District and when taking a boat ride by the Swiss Alps. Caught between pursuing escapism and wanting to break free from pain and poverty to achieve something meaningful, Brandon realises he must learn what he truly desires, who he really is, how to take care of himself and how to make life worth living before it is too late and he loses both the ongoing battle inside his mind and the relationships in his life.

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Book SynopsisIndulge your artistic side, explore your imagination and record your thoughts or life in your own personalized scrapbook journal, collaged with ephemera and embellished with stickers, cut-outs and motivational quotes.Sometimes referred to as a smash or junk journal, scrapbooking can be used to create collages of your favourite themes, record moments or ideas, or keep a lasting record of memorabilia. Discover all the inside tricks and tips from the most popular scrapbooker on social media, and explore her themed layouts, from dark academia to vintage fashion. Find out how she puts her pages together, what inspires her, how and where she sources materials and tools, and how she works in those tiny, tiny notebooks. Packed with inspirations, motivations and practical know-how, you'll soon be hooked on this hands-on hobby that expresses your creativity and relaxes your mind and body at the same time.Table of ContentsIntroduction • Materials - All the essential bits to begin scrapbooking • First Things First - Getting organized with materials, sorting and storing, planning your design etc • Themes - With themes such as seasons, nature, animals & wildlife, good memories, travel, fashion, etc • Unique Techniques - Step-by-steps for more involved techniques • Resources & Shopping • Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisThe Brave Shall Inherit the Earth is the motto of the Rajputana Rifles, the oldest rifle regiment in the pre-World-War-Two Indian Army. It is a fitting epitaph to this remarkable young officer who commanded the mortar platoon in 3/6th Rajputana Rifles during the 14th Army’s invasion of Burma in 1944. Denis O’Leary came from a family of soldiers; his father was also RajRif. Just out of officer training, a practicing Catholic, handsome, athletic, twenty years old, Denis joined 3/6th Rajputana Rifles on the eve of Field Marshal Slim’s invasion of Burma in 1944. This book is the story of his Regiment in that Homeric engagement. It is also about the close friendships formed in war between a British officer and his Rajput and Punjabi ‘Mussalman’ soldiers. The Regiment ‘had been fortunate in our introduction to war. It had been a gradual process.’ Luckily Denis learnt quickly and by the time he came to his Kurukshetra – a decisive battle to hold Pear Hill against suicidal Japanese attacks during the Irrawaddy crossings – his mettle had been tested and forged. During this battle, in which he won his first Military Cross, he was badly wounded by shrapnel and evacuated back to India for the rest of the war, only re-joining his beloved battalion in pre-Independence Burma, which this account also covers. Denis O’Leary was a life-long soldier, he is a modest historian, he writes simply but eloquently. There are few books so hauntingly beautiful about something so savage as war.

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Book SynopsisThe tale of British Jazz music over the 20 years from the end of the Second World War. Told by the 9 musicians interviewed over the last 12 years, who were lucky enough to be there at the time. The likes of Chris Barber (band leader and trombonist), John Critchinson (Ronnie Scott’s pianist), Paul Jones (the singer in Manfred Mann), Don Rendell (John Dankworth’s tenor saxophonist), Wally Houser (Ronnie’s Club solicitor), Harold Pendleton (The Marquee Club owner/Reading & Leeds Festival founder). The UK at its hardest up about to live it up as best it can! Bringing to life the boom of the traditional jazz revival, the first British popular music. Telling the story of the birth of British modern jazz. Providing an entire chapter on the London jazz clubs that are no more. Illustrating the early negotiations in New York that led to the touring in the US of British jazz groups, and the return of Americans to the UK during the MU/AFM trade dispute. The jazz that in turn led to GB’s rhythm and blues and the break-out from that into our popular music of today.

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Book SynopsisPerfect for readers of Last Stop Auschwitz, The Volunteer and The Tattooist of Auschwitz'This is an extraordinary biography. A gripping narrative that opens as derring-do wartime escape drama rapidly turns into a horror story about man's inhumanity to man...Important and unforgettable' JONATHAN DIMBLEBYThe awe-inspiring and gripping true story of the young man who survived not one, but three concentration camps, only - in the final days of the war - to be bombed while aboard a Nazi prison boat. Stowed away on top of a train, twenty-year-old Wim Aloserij escapes the obligatory work camps in Nazi-ruled Germany in 1943. The young man from Amsterdam then goes into hiding on a farm - sleeping in a wooden chest hidden underground. But it's not to last.In the cover of night, Wim is captured during a raid and transported to the infamous Gestapo prison in Amsterdam. There, his life changes forever as he is thrown into the nightmare of the Holocaust and transported to Camp Amersfoort - the first of three concentration camps he must endure. Drawing on the lessons he learned as a child as the victim of an alcoholic and abusive father, Wim is forced to adapt quickly and urgently to his hellish surroundings. However, it is with the end of the war in sight, that Wim must draw on every last strength he has when he finds himself caught in the very centre of Allied-Nazi crossfire. At the age of 94, Wim finally felt ready to tell his incredible story, which he kept secret for most of his life. A true story of bravery, courage and resilience, The Last Survivor will leave you amazed by one young man's determination - against the odds - to survive.Trade ReviewThis is an extraordinary biography. A gripping narrative that opens as derring-do wartime escape drama rapidly turns into a horror story about man's inhumanity to man. Vividly told in spare prose, The Last Survivor charts one young man's unspeakable torment at the hands of the SS and his astonishing survival against all the odds. Important and unforgettable. * Jonathan Dimbleby *

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Book SynopsisIn 1974, 22-year-old virgin sailor Mick escapes unemployment, family and 3-day-week London to become a deckhand on a small sailboat, Gay Gander, setting out to sail the Atlantic from England's West Country, via the Canaries, to Antigua in the Caribbean. Under the eye of an unfathomable skipper, John Francis Kearney, and his formidable sailing companion Carola (both escaping from a rain-sodden Ireland and broken marriages), Mick has to learn sailing, table manners, bridging the generation gap and getting along with Stryder, the Russian Blue ship's cat. The Long Lost Log should be fiction but is the true story of a voyage of discovery that Mick - against all odds - survived to tell this remarkable and hilarious tale. His inner and outer journey combines danger with the unexpected, the erotic and the comic, in a resonantly related rite of passage that leaps from the page like the curious whale that once disturbed the narrator's watch. The skipper involved happens to be the publisher's late father.Trade Review'The Long Lost Log is an entertaining account of crossing the Atlantic in 1974. Those who have ever been young, muddled and gullible will enjoy this book.' -Julia Jones; 'Yachting Monthly A vivid, spellbinding account of a true-life adventure, packed with insights into the human condition - this witty, well-paced rite of passage is full of freshness, sexual impulse and a clash of values. It is a rollicking tale written with verve, keen observations and sparkling with wry humour. Long Lost Log is a period piece for the nostalgic traveller and the armchair adventurer of any age.' - Kevin Cannon, Kevin's Book Reviews ; '... laced with some witty exchanges amongst the crew and some ribald adventures ashore by the writer ... in early September 1974, Mick finds himself literally up the creek without a paddle.' - Tom O'Sullivan, Irish Examiner ; 'Chapman Pincher has an ease with words, crafting his memories of sailing across the Atlantic into a thrilling page turner, peppered with humour, insight, beauty and the eager hope of a youth finding his way in the 70s. As well as the physical book, I was also able to listen to the audiobook recorded by the author ... Chapman Pincher has a way of telling a story with not only the written word, but a method of delivery which leaves you chuckling away out loud on the bus much to the mystery of your fellow traveller. Each character is deftly spun and each encounter and vignette in this adventure of a first-time sailor is expertly told.' - Rose Hall, Goodreads ; 'a book for those who have ever been young, muddled or wanting adventure ... Long Lost Log: Diary of a Virgin Sailor is witty, charming, and proof that some risks are worth taking ... A beautifully crafted book, multi-layered and bravely written, Long Lost Log has many interesting insights into the skills and craft of sailing and the broader history of the day.' - Shire Times ; 'A wonderful read, a thoughtful and heartfelt insight into a young man’s grasping of life and its infinite possibilities and confusions and the wonders of the sea and sailing.' - WM Nixon, Afloat Magazine ; 'It’s really quite something. A wonderful read.' - William M Nixon, Afloat ; Well written and genuinely funny; already a bestseller for us!' - Coach House Books ; 'It's an excellent read - fun - casual - and simply enticing.' Book-blip.com ; 'This is a rite of passage tale worth publishing.' - Yachting Monthly ; 'The vivacity is all in the quick phrasing of extraordinary things...' - Prof of Literature at Galway University ; 'One of the best books I've read this year.' - Jakereadsbooks -TikTok Influencer ; 'Chapman Pincher is a natural penman. I was gripped.' - Ed Maggs. ; 'A hilarious look back at the misspent youth I wished I'd had.' - Adrian Bracken, Film producer ; 'It's perfect gem of a book and I don't like boats.' Jeananne Crowley ; 'Written in a nice easy style..ideal for anyone who likes a good adventure story.' - Reedsy Discovery

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Book SynopsisIn this reflective and enriching memoir, John Tuomey navigates the places and memories of his life over the scope of twenty-five years. First recognised for the urban regeneration of Dublin’s Temple Bar, which included the construction of the Irish Film Institute, the National Photographic Archive and Gallery of Photography, his life in architecture led him to design social and cultural spaces such as the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, the Glucksman Gallery in UCC and the Victoria & Albert East Museum in London. Imbued with many inter-textual references to poetry, drama and literature and written in limpid prose, this memoir is inherently literary in nature. Tuomey looks back to his early life where he was born in Tralee and lived in different counties around Ireland, from small towns to country landscapes, from schooldays in Dundalk to student activism at University College Dublin. He traces the pathways that led to his formation as an architect, reflecting on the many cultural and social influences on his life. He excels in capturing the social landscape of Dublin in the 1980s and pays particular attention to the many buildings and social hubs of the inner city. His transient years of moving from Dublin to London, and subsequently working in places like Nairobi and Milan, chronicle the international influences on his outlook. The key relationships in his life, including meeting his future wife, Sheila – a fellow student of architecture in UCD – and his pivotal employment by James Stirling in 1976, form the backbone of his personal and professional life. Tuomey’s expertise in his field is unsurpassed, with meticulous detail given to the finer aspects of design and architecture. His thoughts on the challenges facing the encroaching erasure of city life in Dublin are essential reading for anyone with an interest in the future of building in the city.Trade Review'First Quarter is light, strong book, beautifully balanced and crafted; there is a sense of rightness to it. A wise and lovely read.' Anne Enright 'First Quarter is a book rich in imagery through words, in recollection and in reflection … Tuomey’s writing has a poetic style that balances on echoes. As a writer, as well as a person, he reveals a sensitivity, alive to poetry and beauty. He also reveals an irreverent streak of wit and fun.’ Gemma Tipton, Irish Times‘There's a dry wit about his writing, suggesting a man not averse to comedies big and small, and this slim but eloquent little volume gives the reader an insight into the man behind the innovative design.’ Anne Cunningham, Meath Chronicle‘[A] spare, purposeful memoir … It is a pleasure to read John’s account of the intellectual excitement of his student years.’ Irish Examiner ‘Beautifully rendered, carefully pared-back … modest, witty and stylish.’ Sunday Independent‘A rich and beautifully crafted tapestry of Tuomey’s early years delivered with effortless wit and balance. It is a very personal exploration of self-identity by way of skilful and captivating storytelling.’ Tina-Marie O'Neill, Sunday Business Post‘It is beautifully written, in plain English … each lucid and often witty page holds and repays your interest and attention, and you find yourself at moments tracking back just for the pleasure of reading a passage again. … Read the Tuomey book, I’d advise. It’s wise, tender and – human.’ Hugh Pearman, RIBA Journal

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Book SynopsisVincent van Gogh's short, passionate life was driven by an almost unimaginable creative energy that eventually overwhelmed him. The outlines of his story - the early strivings in Holland and Paris, the revelatory impact of the move to Provence, the attacks of madness that led ineluctably to his suicide - are almost as familiar as the paintings. Yet it is more than possible that neither the paintings nor Van Gogh's story would have survived at all if it had not been for his remarkable sister-in-law, Jo van Gogh-Bonger. After Vincent's death and that of her husband, his brother Theo, Jo devoted her life to preserving and exhibiting the paintings, and editing the letters. It is in her short and unaccountably neglected biography that we can come closest to Vincent the man.Trade Review"The London publishing house Pallas Athene has come up with the very welcome and worthwhile project of assembling English translations of early biographies of artists in an easily accessible publication." - Historians of Netherlands Art Reviews

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Book SynopsisCharles Ricketts wrote this account of his close friendship with Oscar Wilde, partly as an imagined conversation with a fictitious French writer. Facsimile with afterword.

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Book SynopsisAs soon as they'd saved up for the three 'S's' - shoes, suitcase and a suit - they left rural Ireland. It might have been the London of the 1950s where 'No Blacks, No Irish No Dogs' was the welcome put out for immigrants, but for the big family that was Anna May Mangan's, it was still better than the poverty they'd hailed from; 'Don't waste today worrying because tomorrow will be even worse' was their motto. But Ireland came with them in the dance halls, holy water and gossip and there was always the warmth of the Irish crowd, in and out of one another's houses 'as if there was no front door'.Trade Review'Hilarious, tragic and hugely touching, Me and Mine will win over even the hardest of hearts ... A journey of love, laughter and loss ... A superb memoir' -- Sunday Express 'Captivating ... The joys and sorrows of a large working-class Irish emigrant family are amply and honestly covered ... Me and Mine is warm-hearted with many memorable characters' Guardian 'Mangan is a terrific writer ... it is so beautifully and delicately described that every word rings true ... very funny too' Irish Independent

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Book SynopsisPaul Mason’s father was a policeman. He was also a member of a sadistic paedophile ring. He would keep Paul locked up and naked in a tiny cupboard under the stairs of their home before sexually abusing him. This cycle of abuse continued for several years and also affected his brother. The cupboard became a horrific prison where fear and terror filled his every moment.The Cupboard Under the Stairs is a story of abuse at the mercy of adults whom Paul should have been able to trust. There followed a life almost destroyed by their actions. It is the harrowing story of one man’s fight for justice and an end to the horrific memories that still haunt him daily.

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Book Synopsis'It is said that failed politicians make the best diarists. In which case I am in with a chance.' Chris Mullin Chris Mullin has been a Labour MP for twenty years, and despite his refusal to toe the party line - on issues like 90 days detention, for example - he has held several prominent posts. To the apoplexy of the whips, he was for a time the only person appointed to government who voted against the Iraq War. He also chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee and was a member of the Parliamentary Committee, giving him direct access to the court of Tony Blair. Irreverent, wry and candid, Mullin's keen sense of the ridiculous allows him to give a far clearer insight into the workings of Government than other, more overtly successful politicians. He offers humorous and incisive takes on all aspects of political life: from the build-up to Iraq, to the scandalous sums of tax-payers' money spent on ministerial cars he didn't want to use. His critically acclaimed diary will entertain and amuse far beyond the political classes.Trade ReviewThe sharpest and most revealing political diaries since Alan Clark's. -- Simon Hoggart * Guardian *Chris Mullin's diaries deserve to become the central text for understanding the Blair years -- Peter Riddell * The Times *At the moment my favourite Labour MP is Chris Mullin, partly because I enormously enjoyed A View From The Foothills -- William Hague * Independent *

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Book SynopsisEarly one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read for a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her own collection again. A book which is left on a shelf for a decade is a dead thing, but it is also a chrysalis, packed with the potential to burst into new life. Wandering through her house that day, Hill's eyes were opened to how much of that life was stored in her home, neglected for years. Howards End is on the Landing charts the journey of one of the nation's most accomplished authors as she revisits the conversations, libraries and bookshelves of the past that have informed a lifetime of reading and writing.Trade ReviewA totally beguiling, utterly persuasive, argument for reimmersing yourself in literature's past... it reminds you of the overlooked treasures we miss in the chase for novelty. Hill's work is part memoir, part outpouring of affection for these she has loved and, en route, she provides us with a reading list the equal of any degree course -- Michael Gove * The Times *An impressionistic autobiography... offers fascinating sketches of literary and artistic figures she has known... an eloquent advocate [for] the virtues of wide-ranging, deeply felt and considered reading... to be cherished -- Michael Arditti * Daily Telegraph *Evoked with precision and grace... She is nicely opinionated throughout... She is whimsical and intimate, scattering rhetorical questions and colloquial half-sentences... beguiling -- Victoria Glendinning * Spectator *[A] vividly experienced journey... viewing books and their authors with a learned, gossipy warmth. She understands that the best books make great companions, and this one is no exception * Metro *The blend of book chat and personal memoir, though apparently serendipitous, is associative and intimate -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *A light-hearted memoir using books as anchors on which to fasten life experiences. Funny, educational and occasionally surprising * Catholic Herald *What a delightful book this is - and so old-fashioned in approach almost to be trendy... a timeless creation, a vademecum which will give endless pleasure not only to Hill's many admirers but also to anyone who values books... An engaging and buoyant book * Herald *Hill's style is vivid and measured and the book is both a passionate reminder of the importance of reading and a revealing glimpse of a writer's life -- Jessica Holland * Observer *Delightful... an idiosyncratic commingling of fiction, non-fiction and poetry...Hill has a voracious and varied appetite and her taste, with a few exceptions, is impeccable -- Leo Robson * New Statesman *A patchwork of literary musing, quotation and anecdote, the memoir's texture is wholesome and cosy; an indulgent quilt in which to nestle before the blazing hearth of literary tradition drawn by its author -- Caroline Howitt * Times Literary Supplement *Strikes a chord with my own eclectic dithering through a literary Monument Valley, and one of the charms of this volume is how Hill's opinions, always honest and courteously proffered, set up resonances with one's own reading... an enjoyable meander, a genial pillow book of light wit and broad reading (including an astonishing amount of re-reading) whose tone remains on the pleasantly whimsical side of erudition -- James Urquhart * Independent *Delightful... Charming... Her legion of fans will love it -- Ian Pindar * Guardian *The narrative unreels in what Dr Johnson would call 'loose sallies of the mind'... A distinguished woman of letters -- John Sutherland * Literary Review *Fans of Hill's work will be delighted by this leisurely ramble through the author's mind and reading pleasures. Hill writes eloquently about her literary influences and preferences, as well as her thoughts about the process of writing * Mslexia *Pure pleasure... Her voice on the page is younger than the date of birth on her passport, so one reads with disbelief her memories of writers she has known during her long writing life... I simply want to emulate Susan Hill's year... To take books from my shelves, to sit, to read. To feast on the books of my life * Country Living *One of the charms of this volume is how Hill's opinions, always refreshingly honest and courteously proffered, set up resonances with one's own reading. Howards End... is an enjoyable meander, a genial pillow book of light wit and broad reading whose tone remains on the pleasantly whimsical side of erudition -- James Urquhart * Financial Times *Vivid and measured and the book is a passionate reminder of the importance of reading and a revealing glimpse of a writer's life * Observer *

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Book SynopsisAuthor Jamie Blackett arrives home from the Army to take over a small family estate on the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway, and finds a rapidly changing countryside. In a humorous and occasionally moving tale, he describes the return of the native to grapple with the intricacies of farming, conservation and estate management, telling the story of founding a pack of foxhounds and a herd of pedigree beef cattle. Part childhood memoir, part biopic of rural life, readers are transported to a remote and beautiful part of Scotland and acquainted with its wildlife, its people and its customs. One minute he is unblocking his septic tank, and the next he is watching Glenn Close film a sex scene in his bedroom. The book follows in the tradition of countryside classics by John Lister-Kaye, James Herriot and James Rebanks. Set over the first two decades of the twenty-first century, through the Scottish independence referendum, Brexit and the hunting ban, the result is an enlightened review of the challenges threatening a vulnerable way of life and an emerging philosophy about the directions Scotland, farming and the countryside might take in the brave new world of Brexit.Trade ReviewApropos reading, may I recommend two recent discoveries. The second is Red Rag to a Bull, by Jamie Blackett. Also beautifully written, there is no better one-volume guide to rural matters. Every politician should read it, as should anyone who cares about the countryside. It is a pleasure from first page to last. -- Bruce Anderson * The Spectator *Jamie Blackett's new book is a bracing breath of Borders air. Not an angry caricature nor a blinkered polemic, Blackett has delivered something else entirely. And something rather valuable. Funny, well-considered and engagingly written, Blackett's book is one that encapsulates a moment in time. -- Alexandra Henton * The Field *This book is a reflection, by turns poetic and gritty, on two decades of life at what Jamie Blackett calls 'the silage-pit face'... He has to cope with the Scottish Government, unsafe trees and the implementation of the hunting ban. He's literally living the dream, given that dreams are generally odd, disconcerting and irrational, as well as, in recollection, at times very funny. -- Clive Aslet * Country Life *What a brilliant, enlightening and amusing book, about the real countryside. It should be read by politicians, bureaucrats, ramblers, wildlife-lovers, townies, blow-ins and bumpkins like me. What a read! -- Robin PageBlackett has written an entertaining and engaging book on a subject that will resonate strongly with those who live and work in rural Britain. An enjoyable book that does so much to educate. -- Paul de Zulueta * Guards Magazine *...Blackett provides a passionate plea that the livelihoods dependent on the Scottish countryside are as important as the growing generation of urbanites focused predominantly on the tech and service industries. An enlightening read for everyone from the true country bumpkins to the modern city slicker. * Scottish Field Magazine *This book should be compulsory reading for all those townies who long to live in the country after a week in a holiday cottage... Wildlife, hunting and much hilarity pack this volume, perhaps best described as James Herriot meets the Irish RM.In this wonderful, humorous book, beautifully observed and written book, Blackett tells us something of the tribulations of a farmer in these benighted times. -- James Stevens Curl * The Jackdaw *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Prologue Coming Home Summer Autumn Winter Spring Epilogue

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Book SynopsisIn the second volume of her memoirs, the prize-winning author Janice Galloway reveals how the child introduced in This is Not About Me evolved through her teenage years. When she started secondary school, Galloway was still sharing a bed with her mother and was more excited by Latin and school orchestra than by boys. But as she struggled with the physical and emotional changes of adolescence, almost everything she thought she knew began to change. Combining visceral descriptions of puberty, sex and school-room politics with the story of a family's secrets, Galloway casts her gaze on the morals and ambitions of one small town, in writing that is personal, defiant and eloquent.Trade ReviewAll Made Up is an excellent sequel; its verbal playfulness, folksiness and wry, hard-won humour are an antidote to the neurosis and cynicism that can often characterise autobiographical writing by the authors of fiction -- Victoria Beale * Independent on Sunday *Warm, vivid, true -- Erica Wagner * The Times *Galloway remains a brilliant writer, capturing mood and character, time and place, with seeming effortlessness -- Ian Rankin * Guardian *A fierce but forgiving tragi-comedy of manners, morality and memory recovered -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *Galloway is a mesmerising writer -- Catherine Deveney * Scotland on Sunday *Janice Galloway is as good as they come -- Jane Shilling * Daily Telegraph *Galloway conjures up the atmosphere [of Saltcoats] with a loving hatred ... Her style is vivid and fluent -- Adam Mars-Jones * Observer *A tour de force of artistic licence projecting the past through the lens of the artist's imagination ... The book is a testament to Galloway's talent ... The book is a wonderful curiosity shop of the mysteries of womanhood -- Tom Adair * Scotsman *Galloway's prose crackles as fiercely as her mother's brushed-nylon sheets... a writer able to conjure up the blistering emotional life of an ever-watchful child -- Emma Hagestadt * Radar *Superb -- Lesley McDowell * Sunday Herald *A brilliant writer, capturing mood and character, time and place, with seeming effortlessness -- Ian Rankin * Guardian *Janice Galloway is the queen of whatever she chooses to write . . . one of Scotland's best writers -- Damien Barr * Herald *

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Book SynopsisJames Maskalyk set out for the contested border town of Abyei, Sudan, in 2007. The newest Médicins Sans Frontières' doctor in the field, he arrived with only his training, full of desire to understand this most desperate part of the world. He returned home six months later profoundly affected by the experience. Six Months in Sudan is an illuminating and affecting account of saving lives in one of the most harrowing and dangerous places on Earth.Trade ReviewGripping and humane . . . brave and intelligent. -- Ned Denny * * Daily Mail * *Honest and fluently written . . . An absorbing insight into international medicine. * * Financial Times * *Carefully crafted, often poetic, always deliberate . . . a visceral account. -- Mary Crockett * * The Scotsman * *A moving, sometimes beautifully written, account of a young doctor's time in the Sudanese town of Abeyi . . . The book is very well written and consequently easy to read, despite the subject matter. Thejuxtaposition of the blog entries and the text works particularly well . . . The book serves as a timely reminder that saving people's lives is worth doing, even in a recession. We are also saving ourselves. -- Padraig Carmody * * Irish Times * *Six Months is Sudan is a wrenchingly heartbreaking account of distant agonies almost too pointed to grasp. Learning about Maskalyk's work there is stirring, but the real miracle is this book paints a picture so precisely and vividly that it becomes impossible to look away. This is Maskalyk's accomplishment, and his gift to the Sudanese and to us. The shame of our indifference retreats before his exhortation: 'learn, and understand,' and perhaps a more bearable future becomes possible for all of us. -- Kevin PattersonThis journey is beautifully told in sharp beats, and lyrical notes. It is the voyage of a young doctor out into a hard world, and deep within his own heart. -- Vincent LamMaskalyk's soft prose is beautiful and invites with the right intimate details. He offers a rare window on the inner life of an aid worker, on what it means to be a humanitarian around the hard edges of war, and on the certain drive to go on. Why? Because in his words, `hope not only meets despair in equal measure, it drowns it.' -- James OrbinskiVisceral and immediate . . . As medical literature this book excels; as an insight into that exhilarating, life changing step into chaos his account can hardly be bettered. -- Jonathan Kaplan * * British Medical Journal * *Through a narrative both personal and provocative, Maskalyk succeeds in animating the quotidien struggles of life in Sudan in ways news reports never will - 'for those who think life is too short, come to Abyei.' -- Peter Geoghegan * * Sunday Business Post * *Searingly unwrapped the truth about serving as a medecin sans frontiers. I quote from it almost every week, for its profound truthfulness. -- Sheena McDonald * * Sunday Herald * *Heartbreaking scenes are recounted with searing honesty and without a trace of self-satisfaction or self-congratulation . . . although the situation was depressingly sad, and at times he despaired, it was also a privilege for him to be involved, he says. It is a privilege for us to read about that involvement. * * Irish Times * *

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Book SynopsisIt hardly seems credible today that a nineteenyear- old boy, just commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders, could lead a platoon of men into the carnage of the Battle of the Somme. Or that, as the machine gun bullets whistled past and shells exploded, he could maintain his own morale to lead a platoon, keeping its discipline and cohesion, in spite of desperate losses. Norman Collins, the author of this superb memoir, was this remarkable man.Using Norman's own words, Last Man Standing follows him from his childhood in Hartlepool to his subsequent service in France. The book also covers such shattering events as the German naval assault on Hartlepool in December 1914 when, as a seventeen-year-old, Norman was subjected to as big a bombardment as any occurring on the Western Front at that time. Norman's love for, and devotion to, the men under his command shine out in this book and his stories are gripping and deeply moving. They are illustrated by a rare collection of private photographs taken at or near the front by Norman himself, although the use of a camera was strictly proscribed by the Army. Most of the images have never been published before.Trade ReviewThis fantastic little WWI book is a must for any budding historians. Collins was underage when he joined the Seaforth Highlanders and was a 19-year-old officer when he led at the battle of the Somme. This book contains extracts from his diaries and a remarkable personal collection of photographs which lend this account a poignancy and immediacy which is often breathtaking. - Scottish Field This is a harrowing tale of battle, loss and the horrors of war. - Scotland Magazine

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