Published diaries, letters and journals Books

Book SynopsisPolitics: The three vowels and five consonants which control our world.''But what has politics got to do with me?'' I hear you ask. Well, quite a lot really. Whether you like it or not, it affects every single thing in your life from the moment you wake up in the morning until you crawl into bed at night.But some of our political elite make it feel like a club which we have not been invited to join. The privileged few who want to keep it all for the privileged few. I hope this book can explain much, make you laugh out loud and make you realise that together our voices are powerful.Buckle up and come on a political rollercoaster with me - ''an old bird with an iPhone''. This is a book for people who don''t normally think about politics. We have a new government and have bid a loud goodbye to the Tories, but the issues that allowed the last government to mismanage and deceive us for so long lie deep. Amidst a landscape of economic turmoil and deepening societal fractures, we need to see a new age of accountability in our political system.With her characteristic outspokenness and irrepressible sense of humour, in Now What? On a Mission to Fix Broken Britain, Carol Vorderman exposes the intricate web of influence responsible for our nation''s unravelling and provides us with a toolkit for building a better and fairer Britain.Part diary, part manifesto, part journey down the rabbit hole of British politics, this is the story of how ''an old bird with an iPhone'' exposed the incompetence and lies of the establishment, and inspired countless others to find their voice and stand up for what they believe in.

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Book Synopsis'Ramadan isn't just about not eating for prolonged periods of time, it's about working on ourselves - our character and imaan - and setting goals, replacing bad habits and working on our spirituality. It's a time to focus on personal growth and to help others where we can.' - Dina Aziz____________________________________________________________The month of Ramadan is a time for reflection, self-improvement, personal growth, and of heightened devotion and worship, but the pressures and stresses of day-to-day life can sometimes make it feel hard to keep track of all your good intentions. From suhoor to iftar and beyond, The Ramadan Planner is here to help guide you through the month of Ramadan. Full of helpful checklists, reminders, journal prompts, and spaces to reflect - whether you're fasting or exempt - get ready to track your progress through the holiest month:Set and keep track of your goals for the month aheadCheck-in on your mood and mental healthFast mindfully and plan your suhoor and iftar mealsStay focused on your goals and good intentionsKeep track of your prayers for each dayMake a list of du'as and note down your good deedsCreate space to reflect on the highs and lowsPrepare for Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations Schedule your day to make the most of the month________________________________________________________What readers are saying about The Ramadan Planner:"So amazing that I wanted to share it with my family and friends""Incredible . . . I have been looking for something like this for a long time""The best! It's made Ramadan easier for me and many others""This has made a massive difference in how I'm using the days of Ramadan""So easy to follow . . . I don't know what I would have done without it""Using this planner is the most productive and closest to God I have been for any Ramadan"

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Book SynopsisForward Thinking is a unique journal that draws on fascinating and heart warming research into wellbeing, happiness and fulfilment to promote a positive view on life. Forward Thinking offers a year of weekly suggested mindful activities punctuated by motivational quotes to help people thrive and flourish, living the life they wish to lead and be in their element. An inspiring gift to show you care, or to care for yourself, Forward Thinking is designed to enhance and improve wellbeing, happiness and fulfilment in 6 key areas: 1. Health, Fitness & Wellbeing 2. Job Satisfaction 3. Community 4. Finances 5. Personal Activities 6. Relationships Many people believe they will be happy and feel fulfilled when they are rich, married, promoted, etc. However, all the external factors in our lives will only account for 10% of the variance of our happiness with some 50% determined by our genetics. The good news is that the remaining 40% of our happiness can be relatively easily influenced by our intentional activities, how we think and how we behave. Happiness and wellbeing is not about what happens to you, but how you choose to respond to what happens. Developed by Peter Coxon, a consultant psychologist who focuses on personal and leadership development, Forward Thinking helps you focus on the 40% and by increasing this it may, in turn, positively influence the 50%. In other words, it can help raise your self-awareness, your mindset and mindfulness. It can help you plan and review how your life is unfolding and help you make positive differences to your life that aid personal development. Forward Thinking is one of three hand-painted journals in the Mindful Collection. Discover This Is Me: A Mindful, Autobiographical Journal and Wonderful Days: A Mindful, Daily Positivity Journal.

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Book SynopsisContinuing our partnership with animation giant Studio Ghibli, this soft plush journal features the beloved black cat from Kiki's Delivery Service. In Spring 2019, the Studio will be celebrating Kiki’s 30th anniversary!

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Book Synopsis‘A unique and thrilling insight into the brilliant mind of Anne Lister’ Sally Wainwright, creator of Gentleman JackFemale Fortune is the book which inspired Sally Wainwright to write Gentleman Jack, now a major drama series for the BBC and HBO.Lesbian landowner Anne Lister inherited Shibden Hall in 1826. She was an impressive scholar, fearless traveller and successful businesswoman, even developing her own coalmines. Her extraordinary diaries, running to 4-5 million words, were partly written in her own secret code and recorded her love affairs with startling candour. The diaries were included on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2011.Jill Liddington’s classic edition of the diaries tells the story of how Anne Lister wooed and seduced neighbouring heiress Ann Walker, who moved in to live with Anne and her family in 1834. Politically active, Anne Lister door-stepped her tenants at the 1835 Election to vote Tory. And socially very ambitious, she employed architects to redesign both the Hall and the estate.Yet Ann Walker had an inconvenient number of local relatives, suspicious of exactly how Anne Lister could pay for all her grand improvements. Tensions grew to a melodramatic crescendo when news reached Shibden of the pair being burnt in effigy.This 2022 edition includes a fascinating Afterword on the recent discovery of Ann Walker’s own diary. Female Fortune is essential reading for those who watched Gentleman Jack and want to know more about the extraordinary woman that was Anne Lister.Trade Review‘A unique and thrilling insight into the brilliant mind of Anne Lister.’ Sally Wainwright, creator of Gentleman Jack‘For many years Anne Lister has functioned as a fascinating anomaly, a fabulous nonesuch – the singular early 19th century lesbian who wrote openly about her love life. As important as that was to queer historians “Female Fortune: Land, Gender, and Authority” brilliantly illustrates that there was so much more to Lister’s story. The wonderful “Diaries” are here, but contextualized by the details of a full and rich life as a crafty businesswoman, foresighted developer, social diplomat and all around wheeler-dealer. Jill Liddington has done an extraordinary job editing Lister’s words and give us her full, and highly engaging, life in all of its complexity.’ Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States'Female Fortune is a pathbreaking social history and primary source reader on Anne Lister by one of her earliest chroniclers. Female Fortune brings the social, political, and economic world of 19th century Halifax to life while also providing a window into Lister's thoughts and feelings. This new edition has important updates on the BBC/HBO series Gentleman Jack as well as Lister's spouse Ann Walker. An indispensable book for everyone interested in one of the earliest "modern" lesbians.'Jen Manion, author of Female Husbands: A trans history -- .Table of ContentsAnne Lister’s Halifax 1833-36: Main Characters.PrefacesIntroductionNote on the TextTHE ANNE LISTER DIARIES & OTHER WRITINGSI. In Token of Our Union: Dec 1833 - Aug 1834II. Coal Mining Rivalry: Sept 1834 - Nov 1835III. The Blues & Yellows: Politics & Religion: Dec 1834 - May 1835IV. Dividing the Joint Property: Jun 1835 - Sept 1835V. The Yellow Carriage & the Railroad: Oct 1835 - Feb 1836VI. Poisoning the Well & Burning Devil’s Dung: March 1836VII. The Two Wills: April 1836 - May 1836EpilogueAfterwordsAppendix: Shibden Tenants.AbbreviationsReference NotesSelect ReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisNOW AN AWARD-WINNING FILM ON NETFLIX 'One of the great autobiographies written in the twentieth century' MICHAEL HOLROYD, SUNDAY TIMES'Irresistibly readable, commendably honest' FLEUR ADCOCK, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT'The Janet Frame of An Angel at My Table is a writer of exceptional sensitivity' LOS ANGELES TIMESAfter being misdiagnosed with schizophrenia as a young woman, Janet Frame spent several years in psychiatric institutions. She escaped undergoing a lobotomy when it was discovered that she had just won a national literary prize. She then went on to become New Zealand's most acclaimed writer. As she says more than once in this autobiography: 'My writing saved me.'This edition contains all three volumes of Frame's autobiography: To the Is-Land, An Angel at My Table and An Envoy from Mirror City.'One of the most beautiful and moving books I have ever read . . . A masterpiece . . . Janet's autobiography had an enormous effect on me. She struck a blow right to my heart' JANE CAMPION, GUARDIAN Trade ReviewOne of the great autobiographies written in the twentieth century . . . A journey from luminous childhood, through the dark experiences of supposed madness, to the renewal of her life through writing . . . a heroic story, and told with such engaging tone, humorous perspective and imaginative power * Sunday Times *One of the most beautiful and moving books I have ever read . . . A masterpiece . . . Janet's autobiography had an enormous effect on me. She struck a blow right to my heart * Guardian *Irresistibly readable, commendably honest, and, as a lesson in how courage and the will to survive defeated the effects of a ghastly mistake, inspiring * Times Literary Supplement *Janet Frame's luminous words are the more precious because they were snatched from the jaws of the disaster of her early life. It is one of the classics of autobiography. She knew that a writer must search her soul in order to say anything that is essentialThe Janet Frame of An Angel at My Table is a writer of exceptional sensitivity * Los Angeles Times *Janet Frame is the greatest New Zealand writer. She is utterly herself. Any one of her books could be published today and it would be ground-breaking -- Eleanor Catton

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Book SynopsisManderley Press is delighted to announce the publication of a brand-new edition of Helene Hanff's Letter from New York - another literary jewel from the author of 84, Charing Cross Road. To showcase this wonderful book, we commissioned the New York Times bestselling author Jean Hanff Korelitz (The Plot) to pen a new introduction - she is a cousin of Helene Hanff's, and was inspired to become a writer after meeting her as a teenager. The front cover was specially designed by New Yorker illustrator Bruce Eric Kaplan, also a fan of the author and a resident of New York City too. Over several years, Helene Hanff read aloud these stories of her life in New York for BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. This book is a collection of selected scripts from this series, composed with a British audience in mind, in which the author offers us a glimpse into her own everyday tales of the city. Written in her trademark whimsical and upbeat style, Helene Hanff transports us right to the heart of Manhattan in the 1980s, describing her favourite places, people and pets with gentle humour, and introducing the reader to the ups and downs of life in a high-rise apartment building in New York City ("the last small town in America"). We are introduced to Bentley, the Old English Sheepdog belonging to a neighbour who captured the author's heart; we take a stroll through the beautiful Shakespeare's Garden in Central Park; and we join the author to enjoy annual city parades down Fifth Avenue - especially the St Patrick's Day parade, when the whole of New York turned green. And we meet Helene's friends: Arlene, whose glamorous social life - and wardrobe - puts Hanff's tiny apartment and simple writer's life into perspective, and Nina, whose garden on the sixteenth-floor overflows with flowers and fruit trees. Finally, we accompany the author as she travels to London to celebrate the opening night of the dramatisation of her best-selling book 84, Charing Cross Road. What started out as a six-month trial in 1978 eventually turned into a six-year project, during which time Helene Hanff captivated radio audiences with her monthly broadcasts - each one a love letter to her beloved NYC. Long before the cast of Friends - and Sarah Jessica Parker's iconic evocation of life in the city - recreated a New York existence for us to experience vicariously, these 5-minute vignettes were the perfect way for native New Yorkers and international readers alike, to revel in the quotidian as well as the glamour of city life, and to discover the unexpected hidden gems - and treasured traditions - of New York City. Letter from New York is still a delight to read, 40 years after it was first written - a timeless and beguiling tale of everyday life in this great city, by one of the best-loved authors of the 20th-century.Trade Review'A witty account of the adventures of Hanff and friends ... Hanff's love of her adopted city is reflected in upbeat anecdotes describing New Yorkers at their best - as good neighbours and charming eccentrics." Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisFrom the beloved writer Nina Stibbe, a warm and funny story of a woman changing her life at 60.'A unique comic voice, endlessly funny' – David Nicholls, author of One Day'Painfully funny, but also deeply moving' – Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and BlissWhat does it mean to start again at sixty?Nina Stibbe is surprised to find herself asking this question as she leaves married life behind in Cornwall and heads back to London after twenty years away for what she calls ‘a year-long sabbatical’.She takes up lodgings at the house of writer Deborah Moggach, unprepared for how she, and the city, has changed and now wondering whether freedom is all it’s cracked up to be . . .As heard on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour'The true heir to Sue Townsend' – Caitlin Moran'An utter, UTTER treat! It was like spending time with my most cTrade ReviewVulnerable, sharp, funny, wise -- Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in ChemistryA unique comic voice, endlessly funny. Nina makes me laugh so much -- David NichollsNo one writes heartbreak more hilariously, or hilarity more heartbreakingly. No one does a better job of making the ordinary phenomenal -- Katherine Heiny, author of Early Morning RiserPainfully funny, but also deeply moving. I never wanted it to end -- Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and BlissAn absurdist chronicler of a world both baffling and extraordinary . . . [a] lovely, funny-sad book * Guardian *What an utter, UTTER treat! It was like spending time with my most clever, insightful, funny, FUNNY friend. I'm so sad it's over -- Marian Keyes[The] most reliably entertaining of comic writers . . . pure Victoria Wood . . . Stibbe might be sad and scared and have a bad back, but I’d rather read her sad than almost anyone else happy * The Spectator *So sharp and funny, blissfully gossipy, enviably well-observed — it’s like she has X-ray vision when it comes to human beings. I couldn’t stop reading it. I wish it were twice as long. I loved it -- India KnightI don’t think I’ve enjoyed a diary so much since I read Adrian Mole for the first time -- Daisy BuchananFunny, warm, enlightening. The reading equivalent of getting the giggles in the back row of a school assembly -- Santham Sanghera, author of EmpirelandI loved this book. Stibbe’s joyful midlife observations, her nods to the wonders and absurdities of the everyday, are so life-affirming. I started seeing pockets of humour in my own ordinary days - and actually felt bereft when I turned the last page -- Lucy Atkins, author of Magpie LaneStibbe turns out more perfect, sharp, unique sentences than anyone else -- Caitlin MoranOne of the most hilarious, insightful, addictive writers working today -- Jenny ColganLike spending an endless afternoon in the most sparkling company but without any pressure to sparkle back -- Frank Cottrell-BoyceNina Stibbe makes being funny look easy, but that's just because she's very, very good at it -- Clare ChambersOne of the great comic writers of our time * Irish Times *Stibbe is an unassuming comic genius * Independent *Breezy, sophisticated, hilarious, rude and aching with sweetness: Love, Nina might be the most charming book I've ever read -- Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

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Book SynopsisDear Nanny (sketch design) is an award-winning journal filled with over 60 fun and inspiring questions carefully created to inspire any grandmother to tell her story - probably one of the most valuable gifts you will ever buy. Everyone has stories to share about their own amazing life and it is so important to find ways to capture and treasure them. Dear Nanny contains 60 carefully designed questions to ask her about her life. Ask her to complete it carefully, adding photos and memorabilia along the way. Find out how things have changed throughout her life, what things did she do as a child that are different from today. What were her own parents really like and what adventures has she had in her life. Discover what your own mum or dad was like when they were young! What about your own relationship with your grandmother, what are her favourite memories of the times you have spent together and is there any advice she would like to give you? When you get her completed journal returned to you, this will be one of the most emotional presents you have ever received. A great gift for Mother's Day, Grandparent's Day, her birthday, an anniversary, Christmas or just because you care ...

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Book SynopsisVladimir Nabokov (Author) Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), born in St Petersburg, exiled in Cambridge, Berlin, and Paris, became the greatest Russian writer of the first half of the twentieth century. Fleeing to the US with his family in 1940, he then became the greatest writer in English of the second half of the century, and even 'God's own novelist' (William Deresiewicz). He lived in Europe from 1959 onwards, and died in Montreux, Switzerland. All his major works - novels, stories, an autobiography, poems, plays, lectures, essays and reviews - are published in Penguin Modern Classics.Brian Boyd (External Editor, Translator) Brian Boyd, University Distinguished Professor of English, University of Auckland, has long been associated with the work of Vladimir Nabokov, as annotator, bibliographer, biographer, critic, editor, translator and more. His works have appeared in nineteen languages and won awards on four continents.

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Book SynopsisDecidedly absurd, and always entertaining, revel in the very best letters to The Times.From tinned prime ministers to hiccup remedies, this collection lets you in on more than a few inside jokes from one of Britain's longest-running correspondences.While the other pages of the newspaper chronicle the pressing issues of the day, the Letters page often muses on the things that really matter. Sir: The year in letters is a selection of the best of these letters, an elegant and erudite display of Times readers at their most whimsical and droll.The perfect gift for anyone with a shrewd sense of humour, this book features: An absurdly entertaining round up of the year's happenings More than 400 letters featured in The Times, curated by Letters editor Andrew Riley Original cartoons by Royston Robertson

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Book SynopsisA collection of previously unpublished letters from America's cult icon on the art of writing.Charles Bukowski was one of our most iconoclastic, raw and riveting writers, one whose stories, poems and novels have left an enduring mark on our culture. On Writing collects Bukowski's reflections and ruminations on the craft he dedicated his life to. Piercing, unsentimental and often hilarious, On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines but also with the author's trademark toughness, leavened with moments of grace, pathos and intimacy. In the previously unpublished letters to editors, friends and fellow writers collected here, Bukowski is brutally frank about the drudgery of work and uncompromising when it comes to the absurdities of life and of art.Trade ReviewA laureate of American low life * * Time * *The best poet in America -- Jean GenetHis was the hard-found music of the streets * * New York Times * *An American original * * Washington Post * *

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Book SynopsisA follow-up to the best-selling biography Chink', this selection from private letters and intimate war diary has the impact of a fresh no holds barred' autobiography. Dorman-Smith the man flesh and blood comes alive here on the page. Provocative, irreverent, caustic and witty, his disdain for Churchill and for the Establishment in general increases as his military career unravels. Egotistical? Yes. Arrogant? Certainly. His own worst enemy? Perhaps. But Dorman Smith's grasp of tactics and strategy was unsurpassed, as his exchanges with Basil Liddell-Hart demonstrate. Full of contradictions, he was externally reserved and inwardly super-sensitive. Growing up in style in Ireland and educated at public school in England, his religion was Catholic and he scorned any Anglo-Irish tag. His private life while rising up the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers proved colourful, while a brief dalliance with the IRA in the 1950s never endangered his vow of silence over the Enigma/Ultra secret.

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in Russian in 1910, this volume is made up of 382 letters of spiritual counsel by the late nineteenth century Optina Elder Hieroschemamonk Anatoly (Zertsalov) to nuns.

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Siri Hustvedt Friday 30 October 1936. I do not wish, for reasons I cannot now develop, to analyse that extraordinary summer. It will be more helpful & healthy for me to write scenes; to take up my pen & describe actual events: good practice too for my stumbling & doubting pen. Can I still 'write'? That is the question, you see. And now I will try to prove if the gift is dead, or dormant. The concluding volume of Virginia Woolf's diary covers the last five years of her life, ending four days before she committed suicide at the age of 59. These final years were overshadowed by the untimely death of her nephew Julian Bell in the Spanish Civil War, and her own intermittent mental fragility. As another World War began to seem inevitable, writing itself often felt like a battle. Nevertheless, this period saw the publication of her novel The Years, the polemical essay Three Guineas, the biography of her friend Roger Fry, and the writing of Between the Acts. This volume stands as a monument to Woolf's life and the enduring friendships of the Bloomsbury group. This Granta edition of Volume 5 contains the unexpurgated text for the first time.

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Book SynopsisWhen Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) began writing in 1660 he was a young clerk living in London, struggling to pay his rent. Over the next nine years as he kept his journal, he rose to be a powerful naval administrator. He became eyewitness to some of the most significant events in seventeenth-century English history, among them, the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 (he was in the ship that brought back Charles II from exile), the plague that ravaged the capital in 1665, and the Great Fire of 1666, described with poetry and horror. Pepys's diary gives vivid descriptions of spectacular events, but much of the richness of the diary lies in the details it provides about the minor dramas of daily life. While Pepys was keen to hear the King's views, he was also ready to talk with a soldier, a housekeeper, or a child rag-picker. He records with searing frankness his tumultuous personal and professional life: the pleasures and frustrations of his marriage, together with his infidelities, his ambitions, and his power schemes. All of this was set down in shorthand, to protect it from prying eyes. The result is a lively, often astonishing, diary and an unrivalled account of life in seventeenth-century London.

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Book SynopsisTHE FOURTH VOLUME OF MICHAEL PALIN''S BESTSELLING DIARIESA new millennium, and a new chapter for Michael Palin unfolds. With a Hemingway travel project testing his confidence, doubts creeping in about his abilities as a writer, the death of his great friend George Harrison and the last of his children leaving home, the dawn of the twenty-first century sees Michael at his most reflective yet. ?Over the next ten years, we watch through Michael''s eyes as the world reels from?the successive shocks of September 11, the 7/7 bombings and the global financial crash. With the warmth and gentle empathy that have endeared him to millions of fans over the decades, Michael documents the day-to-day detail of living in a world buffeted by such powerful winds of change.?Amidst this turbulence, one thing remains constant: Michael''s irrepressible curiosity and thirst for adventure. These diaries follow his life as he comes and goes through the filming of four blockbus

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2016 EDGAR, AGATHA, MACAVITY and H.R.F.KEATING crime writing awards, this real-life detective story investigates how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction.Detective stories of the Twenties and Thirties have long been stereotyped as cosily conventional. Nothing could be further from the truth.The Golden Age of Murder tells for the first time the extraordinary story of British detective fiction between the two World Wars. A gripping real-life detective story, it investigates how Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, Agatha Christie and their colleagues in the mysterious Detection Club transformed crime fiction. Their work cast new light on unsolved murders whilst hiding clues to their authors' darkest secrets, and their complex and sometimes bizarre private lives.Crime novelist and current Detection Club President Martin Edwards rewrites the history of crime fiction with unique authority, transforming our understanding of deteTrade Review‘Few, if any, books about crime fiction have provided so much information and insight so enthusiastically and, for the reader, so enjoyably’ THE TIMES ‘Illuminating and entertaining – provides a new way of looking at old favourites. I admire the way that Martin Edwards weaves the sometimes violent, sometimes unlawful, and always gripping true stories of these writers with the equally wild tales they tell in their books.’ LEN DEIGHTON, author of SS-GB ‘Forensically sharp and exhaustively informed… Crime fiction is driven by death. In this superbly compendious and entertaining book, Edwards ensures that dozens of authorial corpses are gloriously reborn.’ MARK LAWSON, GUARDIAN ‘Edwards knows his business. He understands how to parcel out the clues and red herrings so as to feed the reader enough information to keep a variety of possibilities open, while making sure to prepare for a satisfying solution.’ SEATTLE POST ‘You can learn far more about the social mores of the age in which a mystery is written than you can from more pretentious literature. I mean, if you want to know what it was like to live in England in the 1920s, the so-called Golden Age, you can get a much better steer from mysteries than you can from prize-winning novels.’ P. D. JAMES

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Book Synopsis''Little Matters they are to be sure, but highly important.''Letter-writing was something of an addiction for young women of Jane Austen''s time and social position, and Austen''s letters have a freedom and familiarity that only intimate writing can convey. Wiser than her critics, who were disappointed that her correspondence dwelt on gossip and the minutiae of everyday living, Austen understood the importance of ''Little Matters'', of the emotional and material details of individual lives shared with friends and family through the medium of the letter. Ironic, acerbic, always entertaining, Jane Austen''s letters are a fascinating record not only of her own day-to-day existence, but of the pleasures and frustrations experienced by women of her social class which are so central to her novels.Vivien Jones''s selection includes very nearly two-thirds of Austen''s surviving correspondence, and her lively introduction and notes set the novelist''s most private writings in their wider culturTrade Review...astute introduction * Karen Joy Fowler, The Independent *

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Book Synopsis''I went & sat with W & walked backwards & forwards in the Orchard till dinner time - he read me his poem. I broiled Beefsteaks.''Dorothy Wordsworth''s journals are a unique record of her life with her brother William, at the time when he was at the height of his poetic powers. Invaluable for the insight they give into the daily life of the poet and his friendship with Coleridge, they are also remarkable for their spontaneity and immediacy, and for the vivid descriptions of people, places, and incidents that inspired some of Wordsworth''s best-loved poems. The Grasmere Journal was begun at Dove Cottage in May 1800 and kept for three years. Dorothy notes the walks and the weather, the friends, country neighbours and beggars on the roads; she sets down accounts of the garden, of Wordsworth''s marriage, their concern for Coleridge, the composition of poetry. The earlier Alfoxden Journal was written during 1797-8, when the Wordsworths lived near Coleridge in Somerset .Not intended for publication, but to ''give Wm Pleasure by it'', both journals have a quality recognized by Wordsworth when he wrote of Dorothy that ''she gave me eyes, she gave me ears''.This edition brings the reader closer to the hurried flow of Dorothy''s writing and includes rich explanatory notes about the places and people described in the journals. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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Book Synopsis'I planted a dog rose. Then I found a curious piece of driftwood and used this, and one of the necklaces of holey stones on the wall, to stake the rose. The garden had begun. I saw it as a therapy and a pharmacopoeia.' In 1986 artist and filmmaker, Derek Jarman, bought Prospect Cottage, a Victorian fisherman's hut on the desert sands of Dungeness. It was to be a home and refuge for Jarman throughout his HIV diagnosis, and it would provide the stage for one of his most enduring, if transitory projects - his garden. Conceived of as a 'pharmacopoeia' - an ever-evolving circle of stones, plants and flotsam sculptures all built and grown in spite of the bracing winds and arid shingle - it remains today a site of fascination and wonder.Pharmacopoeia brings together the best of Derek Jarman's writing on nature, gardening and Prospect Cottage. Told through journal entries, poems and fragments of prose, it paints a portrait of Jarman's personal and artistic reliance on the space Dungeness offered him, and shows the cycle of the years spent there in one moving collage.'[Derek] made of this wee house, his wooden tent pitched in the wilderness, an artwork - and out of its shingle skirts, an ingenious garden - now internationally recognised. But, first and foremost, the cottage was always a living thing, a practical toolbox for his work' Tilda Swinton, from her Foreword

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Book SynopsisThe diaries of A. C. Benson, poet and educationalist, illuminate a career at the heart of the Edwardian establishment, and a tortured private life. Introduction, footnotes, chronology.

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Book SynopsisSo Bright and Delicate: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne is a testament to the love that inspired the passion and creativity of one of the greatest English Romantic poets. This Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction by Jane Campion, Oscar-winning director of the film Bright Star.John Keats died aged just twenty-five, leaving behind some of the most exquisite and moving verse and love letters ever written, inspired by his great love for his neighbour, Fanny Brawne. Although they knew each other for just a few short years and spent a great deal of that time apart - separated by Keats''s worsening illness, which forced a move abroad - Keats wrote again and again about and to his love, right until his very last poem, called simply ''To Fanny''. She, in turn, would wear the ring he had given her until her death. So Bright and Delicate contains the love poems and correspondence composed by Keats in the heat of his passion, and is

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Book SynopsisThe lost tales of Animal-land', written and illustrated by C.S. Lewis and his brother Warnie, which they developed into the chronicles of the kingdom of Boxen, newly published to mark the centenary of the first story.Half a century before the publication of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis created another imaginary world. The tales of Animal-land' which eight-year-old Jack (as his family knew him) had shared with his brother Warnie developed into the chronicles of the kingdom of Boxen. In a succession of stories over the next few years, the young Lewis explored its history, geography and the colourful exploits of its inhabitants in vivid detail, writing the last of the papers, his Encyclopedia Boxoniana, in April 1928.This new landmark edition marks the centenary of the very first Boxen manuscript. Here are all the stories, some never before seen, sensitively edited and arranged to make the most of the fabulous and inventive fantasy while retaining all the vigour of a child's imagiTrade Review‘These works share with the Narnian stories a remarkable scale of invention, brilliant storytelling and characterisation.’ The Times ‘Allows free admission into an elaborate invented world … A shrewd, witty and lively read.’ British Book News

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Margo Jefferson Thursday 28 May 1931. On Whit Monday the sun blazed, making the grass semi-transparent. And space & leisure seemed to lie all about; & I said, not once in an exstasy, but frequently & soberly, This is happiness. Why should I feel now calmer, quieter than ever before? This volume of Virginia Woolf's diary has a slower pace: she is finishing The Waves and wrestling with the shape of her next novel (The Years). These years are marred by the death of many of the people in her circle, including her close friend Lytton Strachey. Woolf also reflects on the political situation in Britain, and the menacing rise of fascism abroad. The diary testifies to the sense of external threat, as well as the tension between her social and her writing life, but as she and Leonard embark on a series of foreign trips she also revels in the discovery of new places and the profound contentment of her marriage.

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Book SynopsisThe superb, bestselling diaries of Victor Klemperer, a Jew in Dresden who survived the war - hailed as one of the 20th century's most important chronicles.'Compulsive reading' LITERARY REVIEW 'Deeply engrossing' SPECTATORTrade ReviewKlemperer's diary deserves to rank alongside that of Anne Frank * SUNDAY TIMES *These diaries constitute one of the most vital historical and human documents of their age. Packed with vivid observation, profound reflection ... they find hope, dignity and even tart humour in the jaws of hell * INDEPENDENT *One of the greatest diarists - perhaps the greatest - in the German language * NEW YORK TIMES *Compulsive reading ... Klemperer's diary also offers a superb window on life in Soviet-occupied Germany in 1945-9 and the early years of the German Democratic Republic * LITERARY REVIEW *Klemperer's acute eye for the corruption of his contemporaries and his sharp ear for the corruption of language make these diaries an inexhaustible mine of information and insight for anybody interested in the German catastrophe ... In the hands of a master, the ephemeral is perennial * DAILY TELEGRAPH *The diary juxtaposes the profound and the mundane, rather like life itself. That is what makes it such a vivid and powerful account of a remarkable life * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY *Deeply engrossing ... he has the supreme gifts of honesty and scepticism ... He doesn't exaggerate, he doesn't fantasize ... one of the supreme chroniclers of the 20th century * SPECTATOR *No other testimony remotely as truthful exists of the locked-in half of Germany. The voice of Victor Klemperer is simply indispensable * EVENING STANDARD *Puts tears and blood into a political era that is otherwise difficult to dramatise and so to imagine * SCOTSMAN *The enhance Victor Klemperer's rare standing as a truth-teller * IRISH TIMES *The triumph of these diaries ... is precisely this: not for one moment does Klemperer lose his essential humanity. The diaries testify to the integrity of private space and truth to self ... This is the epic of a self-confessedly commonplace mortal with extraordinary qualities of intellect, wit and self-knowledge - recording his insights with unswerving fidelity to the truth * GUARDIAN *

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Book SynopsisA look at 100 inspiring novels that have left a significant mark on the world of literature and popular culture.Before the novel, the world of books was dominated by scientific tomes, religious tracts and histories of the victorious in war. There had been stories and epic poems from ancient times Homer's Iliad and Odyssey recounted ancient Greece, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was a chivalric romance in Middle English, but it was not until the seventeenth century, when the European middle classes had money and leisure, that anything so frivolous as a novel could be sold for entertainment.Colin Salter traces the evolution of the novel from the earliest examples through to the postmodernist best-sellers of the 21st century. Rather than dwelling too long on the technical nuances of innovative writing style he has amassed 100 of the greatest novel writers and chosen their most significant work.For writers such as Herman Melville, James Joyce or Harper Lee the decision is not a diffi

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Book SynopsisA phenomenonally precicious schoolboy, Rimbaud was still a teenager when he became notorious as Europe''s most shocking and exhilarating poet. During his brief 5-year reign as the enfant terrible of French literature he produced an extraordinary body of poems that range from the exquisite to the obsene, while simultaneously living a life of dissolute excess with his lover and fellow poet, Verlaine. At the age of 21, he abandonned poetry and travelled across Europe before settling in Africa as an arms trader. This edition sets the two sides of Rimbaud side by side with a sparkling translation of his most exhilarating poetry and a generous selection of the letters from the harsh and colourful period of his life as a colonial trader.

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Book SynopsisThe story of Abelard and Heloise remains one of the world''s most celebrated and tragic love affairs. Through their letters, we follow the path of their romance from its reckless and ecstatic beginnings when Heloise became Abelard''s pupil, through the suffering of public scandal and enforced secret marriage, to their eventual separation.Table of ContentsThe Letters of Abelard and HeloiseAcknowledgmentsPreface to the Revised EditionChronologyIntroductionThe Letters of Abelard and Heloise in Today's ScholarshipFurther ReadingLetter 1. Historia calamitatum: Abelard to a Friend: The Story of His MisfortunesThe Personal LettersLetter 2. Heloise to AbelardLetter 3. Abelard to HeloiseLetter 4. Heloise to AbelardLetter 5. Abelard to HeloiseThe Letters of DirectionLetter 6. Heloise to AbelardLetter 7. Abelard to Heloise (summarized)Letter 8. Abelard to HeloiseAbelard's Confession of FaithLetters of Peter the Venerable and HeloisePeter the Venerable: Letter (98) to Pope Innocent IIPeter the Venerable: Letter (115) to HeloiseHeloise: Letter (167) to Peter the VenerablePeter the Venerable: Letter (168) to HeloiseTwo Hymns by AbelardSabbato ad VesperasIn Parasceve Domini: III. NocturnoAppendix: An Excerpt from the 'Lost Love Letter' of Heloise and AbelardMapsThe Kingdom of France in the time of AbelardParis in the time of AbelardNotesIndex

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Book Synopsis'Our origins are of the earth. And so there is in us a deeply seated response to the natural universe, which is part of our humanity.'Rachel Carson was one of the most important environmental thinkers and writers of the twentieth century. This collection brings together previously unpublished work, essays, field journals, speeches, articles and letters to create a biography of Carson's thought: a deeply personal picture of her evolution as an environmentalist and activist.Lost Woods reveals a profound insight into the fragility of the natural world and our impact on it, and the birth of Carson's lifelong campaign to bring international attention to the monumental challenges facing us. That we are finally becoming aware of the environmental emergency is thanks in no small part to her.Trade ReviewLyric, descriptive, informative and moving * * New York Times * *[Lost Woods] gives a new generation an opportunity to rediscover the legendary biologist and ecologist . . . These writings - essays, letters, magazine pieces, speeches - show us the evolution of a decent woman from scholar to warrior for all that's right * * Washington Post * *This wonderful new book allows us to discover and learn anew from the scientist who taught ecology to the world * * San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle * *Praise for the Sea trilogy: The timely reissue of a classic maritime trilogy shows that the "poet of the oceans" was far ahead of her time . . . What's striking is that Carson is a keen observer of the interconnectedness of things . . . Her sea series is not only fascinating for those with an interest in the prehistory of Silent Spring. There is much to marvel at in these pages * * Herald * *Rachel Carson was one of the reasons why I became so conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental issues . . . Her picture hangs on my office wall among those of political leaders, presidents and prime ministers. It has been there for years, and it belongs there. Carson has had as much or more an effect on me than any of them, and perhaps all of them together -- AL GOREThis combination of science and scintillating prose provides fascinating insights into the mysteries of the tides . . . a masterpiece of ecological writing * * Guardian * *Rereading her natural histories, what stands out is how beautiful the writing is. Carson combined a scientist's ability to see with a novelist's ability to imagine * * New Yorker * *[Carson] is the poet laureate of the sea, but also of that "web of life", in which everything is connected to everything else * * London Review of Books * *Praise for Silent Spring: Brilliantly written: clear, controlled and authoritative . . . one of the most effective books ever written . . . the impact is, in all senses, stunning * * Guardian * *Much of what Carson wrote to great controversy is now conventional wisdom. To read Silent Spring now is in part to understand how we got to where we are * * Wall Street Journal * *

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Book Synopsis**From the Sunday Times Bestselling Author**In twenty years behind the till in The Bookshop, Wigtown, Shaun Bythell has met pretty much every kind of customer there is - from the charming, erudite and deep-pocketed to the eccentric, flatulent and possibly larcenous.In Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops he distils the essence of his experience into a warm, witty and quirky taxonomy of the book-loving public. So, step inside to meet the crafty Antiquarian, the shy and retiring Erotica Browser and gormless yet strangely likeable shop assistant Student Hugo - along with much loved bookseller favourites like the passionate Sci-Fi Fan, the voracious Railway Collector and the ever-elusive Perfect Customer.

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Book SynopsisDear Grandpa (sketch design) is an award-winning journal filled with over 60 fun and inspiring questions carefully created to inspire any grandfather to tell his story - probably one of the most valuable gifts you will ever buy. Everyone has stories to share about their own amazing life ... and it is so important to find ways to capture and treasure them. Dear Grandpa contains 60 carefully designed questions to ask him about his life. Ask him to complete it carefully, adding photos and memorabilia along the way. Find out how things have changed throughout his life, what things did he do as a child that are different from today. What were his own parents really like and what adventures has he had in her life. Discover what your own Mum or Dad was like when they were young! What about your own relationship with your grandfather, what are his favourite memories of the times you have spent together and is there any advice he would like to give you? When you get his completed journal returned to you, this will be one of the most emotional presents you have ever received. A great gift for Father's Day, Grandparent's Day, his birthday, an anniversary, Christmas or just because you care ...

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Book Synopsis''With one''s face in the wind you were almost burned with a shower of Firedrops''A selection from Pepys'' startlingly vivid and candid diary, including his famous account of the Great FireIntroducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin''s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.Samuel Pepys (1633-1703). The Diary of Samuel Pepys: A Selection is available in Penguin Classics

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Book SynopsisCook led three famous expeditions to the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779. In voyages that ranged from the Antarctic circle to the Arctic Sea, Cook charted Australia and the whole coast of New Zealand, and brought back detailed descriptions of the natural history of the Pacific. Accounts based on Cook''s journals were issued at the time, but it was not until this century that the original journals were published in Beaglehole''s definitive edition. The JOURNALS tells the story of these voyages as Cook wanted it to be told, radiating the ambition, courage and skill which enabled him to carry out an unrivalled series of expeditions in dangerous waters.Table of ContentsList of mapsGeneral IntroductionThe First Voyage, 1768-1771Voyage MapsIntroductionJournalThe Second Voyage, 1772-1775Voyage MapsIntroductionJournalThe Third Voyage, 1776-1780Voyage MapsIntroductionJournalPostscript: The Death of CookGlossaryIndex of PersonsIndex of PlacesLocation Maps

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Book SynopsisAs seen on ABC's The View • One of W magazine’s Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2023"We reserve this space for our humanity in all of its fond, ironic, elated, grief-stricken, confused glory . . . When you find yourself alone and downtrodden, when the news is too much, return to these pages. This one is for you." —from the introduction by Cole Brown and Natalie Johnson"There's something particularly special about Black Love. When you consider the history of our people, the strife and adversity we've overcome, love seems an almost illogically ambitious act of resistance." —from the foreword by John LegendFrom celebrated Black writers, creators, and thinkers—and with a foreword by John Legend—comes a collection of letters and original illustrations on the subject of Black love, a powerful and heartfelt celebration of Blackness in all its many forms.In this exquisite anthology of letters and illustrations, Cole Brown and Natalie Johnson bring together a constellation of influential Black figures to write to the people, places, and moments that mean the most to them. With a foreword from John Legend and contributions from Brontez Purnell, Morgan Jerkins, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Dr. Imani Perry, among many others, Black Love Letters is an ode to a phenomenal community: a testament to the fact that where there has been pain and suffering, there has also always been immeasurable, irrepressible joy and love.With letters from: Akili King • Reverend Al Sharpton • Alexandra Elle • Allisa Charles-Findley • Barbara Edelin • Belinda Walker • Ben Crump • Bill Whitaker • Bilquisu Abdullah • Brianna Holt • Brontez Purnell • Cole Brown • Danez Smith • Dick Parsons • Deborah Willis • Doug Jones • Douglas Kearney • Imani Perry • Jamila Woods • Jan Menafee • Jayne Allen • Jeh Charles Johnson • Jenna Wortham • Jonathan Capehart • John Legend • Joel Castón • Joy-Ann Reid • Justus Cornelius Pugh • Kwame Dawes • Lynae Vanee Bogues • Mahogany Browne • Malachi Elijah • Michael Eric Dyson • Morgan Jerkins • Nadia Owusu • Natalie Johnson • Raka Reynolds • Rhianna Jones • Chef Rōze Traore • Sojourner Brown • Tarana Burke • Tembe Denton-Hurst • Topaz Jones • Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts • VJ JenkinsTrade ReviewOne of W magazine’s Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2023“Achingly beautiful . . . Paired with Johnson’s dazzling illustrations, these letters are sure to play on your heartstrings in the best way.” —Oprah magazine“Moving . . . In times of seemingly ceaseless darkness, Black Love Letters is a celebration of the love that binds us.” —W magazine (Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2023)“This powerful collection of letters and original illustrations celebrates Black love that exists in spite of the pain and injustice our community has faced.” —The Root“A wide-ranging collection of testaments to what moves the heart.” —Kirkus Reviews"There are many books about love but precious few that are love. That's a more difficult challenge—concentrating love to words on a page, capturing love as it is, delivering it still intact. Cole, Natalie, and the many authors in Black Love Letters have done just that—distilled love to soothe your soul. I just know you'll love it like I do." —from the foreword by John Legend

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Book Synopsis"I don't regret for a single moment having lived for pleasure. I did it to the full, as one should do anything one does. I lived on honeycomb." Oscar Wilde Although it is over 120 years since his infamous trial for indecency, Oscar Wilde has never held greater fascination for us. This packed illustrated biography tells the life of Oscar Wilde through his own words – private letters, poems, plays, stories and legendary witticisms. It includes his relationships with key artists and writers of the time, including John Ruskin, Charles Ricketts, and Lillie Langtry. It is illustrated throughout with paintings, engravings, contemporary photographs, cartoons and caricatures of Wilde and his social circle. With illustrations and paintings by Aubrey Beardsley, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, James Whistler and Max Beerbohm, it is a beautiful evocation of the glittering fin de siecle word by its most fascinating wordsmith and aesthete. The book details Wilde's ruin after the trial and its outcome. The profundity of his writing from prison and exile form an epitaph, not only to his own life, but also for the era that carelessly delighted in it.

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Book SynopsisThe final volume of Jeffrey Archer’s prison diaries, A Prison Diary Volume III: Heaven, covers the period of his transfer from Wayland to his eventual release on parole in July 2003. It includes a shocking account of the traumatic time he spent in the notorious Lincoln jail and the events that led to his incarceration there – it also throws light on a system that is close to breaking point.Told with humour, compassion and honesty, it closes with a thought-provoking manifesto that should be applauded by the Establishment and prison population alike.Day 115Saturday 10th November 20016.38amIt’s all an act. I am hopelessly unhappy, dejected and broken. I smile when I am at my lowest, I laugh when I see no humour, I help others when I need help myself. I am alone. If I were to show any sign, even for a moment, of what I’m going through, I would have to read the details in some tabloid the following day. Everything I do is only a phone call away from a friendly journalist with an open cheque book. I don’t know where I have found the strength to maintain this facade and never break down in anyone’s presence.Trade ReviewThe finest thing that Jeffrey Archer has ever written * Independent on Sunday *Compelling reportage . . . Jeffrey Archer raises these diaries to the standards of a prison Pepys by being such an assiduous recorder of fellow inmates’ secrets -- Jonathan Aitken * Mail on Sunday *Surprisingly effective . . . A devastating critique written simply and directly * The Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA marvellous book, lovingly edited, beautifully produced. . . and brimming with literary insights, much laughter, a sprinkle of gossip and the poet's insuppressible joie de vivre, even in adversity. Buy it, read it, and keep it to hand on to your children.' John Banville, GuardianAn epistolary cornucopia. . . contains an abundance of insight and illumination, literary gossip and appraisal, playfulness and cogency, all bound up with a steadfast attention to the feelings and expectations of each correspondent.' Patricia Craig, TLS Books of the YearEvery now and again I need to get down here, to get into the Diogenes tub, as it were, or the Colmcille beehive hut, or the Mossbawn scullery. At any rate, a hedge surrounds me, the blackbird calls, the soul settles for an hour or two . . .For all his public eminence, Seamus Heaney seems never to have lost the compelling need to write personal letters. In this ample but discriminating selection from fifty years of his correspondence, we are given access as never before to the life and poetic development of a literary titan from his early days in Belfast, through his controversial decision to settle in the Republic, to the gradual broadening of horizons that culminated in the award of a Nobel Prize and the years of international acclaim that kept him heroically busy until his death.Editor Christopher Reid draws from both public and private archives to reveal this story in the poet's own words. Generous, funny, exuberant, confiding, irreverent, empathetic and deeply thoughtful, the letters encompass decades-long relationships with friends and colleagues, as well as showing an unstinted responsiveness to passing acquaintances. Moreover, Heaney's joyous mastery of language is as evident here as it is in any of his writing for a literary readership.Listening to Heaney's voice, we find ourselves in the same room as a man whose presence, when he lived, enriched the world immeasurably, and whose legacy continues to deepen our sense of what truly matters.

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Book SynopsisCairo, 1963: Enayat al-Zayyat's suicide becomes a byword for talent tragically cut down, even as Love and Silence, her only novel, languishes unpublished. Four years after al-Zayyat's death, the novel will be brought out, adapted for film and radio, praised, and then, cursorily, forgotten. For the next three decades it's as if al-Zayyat never existed. Yet when poet Iman Mersal stumbles across Love and Silence in the nineties, she is immediately hooked. Who was Enayat? Did the thought of her novel's rejection really lead to her suicide? Where did this startling voice come from? And why did Love and Silence disappear from literary history? To answer these questions, Mersal traces Enayat's life, interviews family members and friends, reconstructs the afterlife of Enayat in the media, and tracks down the flats, schools, archaeological institutes, and sanatoriums among which Enayat divided her days. Touching on everything from dubious antidepressants to domestic abuse and divorce law, from rubbish-strewn squats in the City of the Dead to the glamour of golden-age Egyptian cinema, this wide-ranging, unclassifiable masterpiece gives us a remarkable portrait of a woman artist striving to live on her own terms. Blending research with imagination, and adding a great deal of empathy, the award-winning Egyptian poet Iman Mersal has created an unclassifiable masterpiece.Trade Review'A brooding, atmospheric read charged with a singular magical beauty. Iman Mersal conjures up the zeitgeist of artistic Cairo after the July revolution and reveals a merciless and inflexible world behind the genteel, cultivated image.' Leila Aboulela ---- 'With the deft sensibilities of an archaeologist, the narrator of Traces of Enayat sifts through layers of history and heritage, traversing the shifting geographies of cities and memories in search of the writer Enayat Al Zayyat, the mystery at the center of this transporting book. The reader is drawn in the wake of Iman Mersal's inspired, circuitous, and relentless journey, heeding the call of the "weeping heard on the other side of a wall."' Fowzia Karimi ---- Praise for Iman Mersal ---- 'Undeceived, ironic, daring, Mersal's poems are animated by a singular sensibility. They deal candidly with real life - migration, dying parents, emotional entanglements - and discover general truths among the fine particulars.' Nick Laird ---- 'Long recognized throughout the Arab world and in Europe, Mersal is one of the strongest confessional (or postconfessional) poets we now have, in any language: her poems are fueled by a mordant wit, sensual vibrancy, and feminist brio.' Maureen N. McLane ---- 'Mersal's poems are many things - sensuous, cerebral, intimate, angry and disorientating. They provide food for thought and elicit laughter in the dark . . . [The Threshold is] a perfect entry point for readers new to her work.' Malcolm Forbes, The National

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Book SynopsisA highly entertaining and moving journal chronicling J. R. Ackerley''s time in IndiaIn the 1920s, the young J. R. Ackerley spent several months in India as the Private Secretary to the Maharajah of Chhokrapur. Knowing almost nothing of India, he discovers Hindu culture, festivals and language, and reveals the fascinating attitudes of the Palace staff on women, marriage. the caste system and death. At the heart of Hindoo Holiday is the wonderfully unpredictable figure of his Highness the Maharajah Sahib who, ultimately, just wants ''someone to love him''.

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