Search results for ""The Book Guild Ltd""

Yorkshire boy Ellis is at a crossroads. Having finished school and been dumped by the girl he thought was the love of his life, he doesn't know what he wants to do next. When he accidentally walks into a volunteer position at a hub for adults with mental illness and learning difficulties, Ellis doesn't expect to stay long. But relationships here go deep, and soon Ellis finds himself caught up in a never-ending swirl of friendships, enmities, sexual awakenings, emotional journeys, and cool new music. Will he survive intact?

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One night, on a hill above the town of Combfoot Chase, a group of mysterious spies arrives and makes a plan to infiltrate the town. As the spies grow in confidence, they begin to meddle in the lives of the inhabitants. Life takes a sinister turn and the citizens find themselves trapped and increasingly alone in an unfamiliar culture that is fragile, fearful and fragmented. But what will happen when the watchers discover that they, in turn, are being watched? They start to turn on one another. Then one of the spies strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young actress, Ava, and together they begin to plot their escape… Rooted in concerns about surveillance capitalism and told in polyphonic, dark and witty episodes, the novel reveals a society under threat. Thought-provoking, frightening and funny in equal measure, The Shadowing of Combfoot Chase asks us to consider the consequences of privacies being eroded through hyper-surveillance, and challenges us not to take our freedoms for granted.

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In 14th Century Languedoc, after a century of persecution drove the Believers underground, a revival of the Cathar heresy gains a foothold in the mountain villages of the County of Foix. As it sweeps around the region, two men leave their homes and families and become embroiled in the forbidden faith. Based on Inquisition records archived for nearly 700 years in the Vatican, this is a fictionalised account of the epic, true story of these two men, Pierre Maury (Pedro, the shepherd) and Guillaume Belibaste (Guy), who was fated to become the last of the Cathar Holy Men (Perfects). As the Inquisition launch a brutal campaign against them, the men must again leave their loved ones and seek safety across the border in Aragon. As many Perfects are burned alive and friends and family are arrested, can Guy and Pedro stay safe? And can their faith and their friendship survive as the Inquisition become closer and ever more brutal?

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“William Hiccup,” said Bertrand, “you are evidently suffering from THE CLOVE-HITCH VIRUS!” “Well, I’ll be a popped-lipped wrong-hipped wobbity-wiggled-wobbled wonky-legged son-of-a-peg-legged clove-hitching post!” When Bertrand the beetle and Wally, a woodland wasp with a waspy mind, set off on a journey through the wood of Lower Tinklewigglebottom to Bertrand’s good friend Professor Clapperstein’s Research Institute, their voyage is abound with incidents and meetings of other insect acquaintances. A notable earwig scientist, inventor and discoverer, Professor Clapperstein has made a discovery from a human landfill site that will take the group on an adventure through time and space… But will the threat of the Clove-Hitch Virus Crisis follow them to this new world of aliens and medieval knights? As Bertrand the Beetle himself would say: “A Book as Bouncy, Bountiful and Brilliant as a King-Cut Kindled Candle.”

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“What a treat. An all-star cast with one thing in common: they worked with David Wood. And just for us he’s brought them to life again – and so vividly – in this irresistible memoir of his ‘brushes with Hollywood'." Gyles Brandreth In this memoir, actor and writer David Wood recalls his ‘brushes with Hollywood’, notably being kissed on the lips by Elizabeth Taylor as midnight struck on his 22nd birthday; playing Richard Burton’s servant on stage in Dr Faustus; being seduced by Shelley Winters in The Vamp, a television two-hander play; hanging upside down from a chandelier and being rescued by David Hemmings in the West End musical Jeeves; singing songs and being shot down in flames as a Royal Flying Corps officer in the film Aces High, in which he was reunited with Malcolm McDowell (his fellow rebel schoolboy in the film If….) and acted alongside Christopher Plummer and Simon Ward; sharing the screen at sea in an oil rig supply vessel with Roger Moore, Anthony Perkins and James Mason in North Sea Hijack; penning the daytime Emmy-nominated Back Home, starring Hayley Mills, thereby becoming a Disney-approved writer; and writing The Queen’s Handbag to celebrate the Queen’s 80th birthday, performed in Buckingham Palace Gardens and seen live by 8,000,000 BBC TV viewers. "I couldn’t put it down. It has all the charm and warmth and wit that is David Wood and his lifelong passion for the theatre is inspiring. I loved it." Hayley Mills

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I was shaking with fear and with the cold, sitting in the wet grass as I waited for what would happen next. The car sped off down the road, its red eyes glaring at me in recrimination... I looked around. Everything was dark and unfamiliar. There was nothing else… Panic struck me. What would become of me now? When Perdu is abandoned as a kitten by his hateful owners, it’s the beginning of a new life fraught with danger. He finds help from those who seem to care for him. Perhaps he can trust humans after all... But when disaster strikes again, will he find the courage to save his home and family? And can his greatest enemy become his friend?

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The Fatal Oath is the third book in the Oath series. Each book stands alone with separate main themes. 1957. Blackleigh is an elite public school for boys in Yorkshire where prejudice and seething hatreds are never far below the surface. Violence erupts against any Junior who the Seniors deem unfit. Jonathan Simon is 16, in his third year, and is self-conscious about being Jewish and having a birthmark on his cheek. He knows that: 1) The school code of conduct mandates no snitching, 2) The student Prefects, not the faculty, have absolute power to discipline and 3) Mr. Paul Wood, the temporary Headmaster, is weak and ineffectual. Jonathan meets Bobby Stuart, an American transfer student, who is also worried about being accepted. Their friendship binds them together as they soon run afoul three ruthless and ambitious Seniors in the House; Gabriel, Murray and Hausman – also known by their fanatic followers as ‘The Black Armbands’. As the pressure mounts, ambitions grow, friendships become closer and scheming increases. As for Jonathan, the year is only beginning…

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All major cities in Africa have at least one international school and they are prominent in the lives of transient diplomats, other expatriates, and, increasingly, of the local middle classes. They throw up multiple challenges as different cultures interact, not always easily or willingly. The International School of Ndwalowe, in the imaginary African country of Awanza, is just emerging from bankruptcy. Charged with this responsibility, indeed daunted by it, is Peter Corby, British, in his first headship and in Africa for the first time. He must deal with recalcitrant teachers, unreasonable parents, intractable students, and a sometimes-frustrating Board of Directors in this affectionate tale often inspired by the author’s own experiences. "Superbly evoked are the entertaining characters found in many an international school worldwide, in the emotively described context of a fictional country in southern Africa. Peter Mackenzie draws on his broad and varied experiences in many countries, but especially in Africa which he clearly loves. The result is a lively page-turner full of insights and plenty of fun – a reader's delight.” Harry Deelman, International school veteran

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“That tree has a history. In the old days people called it the See-Saw Tree. One of its branches grew straight out, near to the ground. Children used to balance a plank over the branch and use it as a see-saw. The villagers loved that oak. And the See-Saw Tree was itself like a village. A living community of animals, birds and insects, going about their daily business. It still is. Just imagine how that community will feel should it be threatened. Just imagine what might happen if any of the Council’s plans went ahead and they cut down that oak tree, that special oak tree. Just imagine, just imagine …” So says young eco-activist Elizabeth Green in her passionate speech against the felling of an ancient oak tree to make way for a new supermarket and children’s play area. She imagines the situation from the point of view of the creatures who live on and around the tree, who, thanks to the corporate greed of human beings, are now in danger of losing their much-loved home. The daily lives of tree residents, Owl, Squirrel, Mistlethrush, Dunnock and Bat, along with visitors Jay and Cuckoo, and Rabbit, whose burrow is nearby, are thrown into turmoil by the arrival of the Big Ones, the chainsaw-wielding human agents of destruction. Can the creatures beat the impossible odds and save their home – the See-Saw Tree?

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In ancient times, epilepsy was a condition felt to be sacred. Early myths and mystique surrounding it led to persecution, demonisation, incarceration and social rejection. Only by the nineteenth century does epilepsy become accepted as a physical condition, and not a manifestation of madness or the result of a dangerous contagion. Why epilepsy became and continues to be so stigmatised can be best understood by observing the manner in which, over centuries, it has been presented in the arts and media. This book reviews how it has been portrayed in literature, paintings, in the cinema and on television, in music and the theatre, in newsprint and on social media. Here Sacred Lives takes a look at the lives of writers, painters, musicians and actors with epilepsy and analyses how they managed their condition and its impact on their art. Addressing the evidence on how others in society see those with epilepsy and why negative perceptions and misconceptions can result in stigmatisation, loss of opportunity and social isolation, this book concludes with a personal account on living with epilepsy as a parent, from diagnosis in childhood through to the pitfalls of adult life. It provides guidance, based on experience, to help other families and those with epilepsy on their journey.

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Two women, separated by two generations and continents, both trapped in their grief and unable to move forwards. Upon inheriting Stazzana, a crumbling farmhouse in the wilderness of northern Tuscany, Emma flies out to Italy in the hopes that unravelling the truth of the past will heal her present. Local retired farmer Luciano befriends them and finds a new lease of life introducing them to the traditions and wildlife of the mountains, but he has his own secret to harbour, his own need for redemption. His sister, Giuliana, left Italy in 1945, and has spent her life running from the past. The past that Emma now seeks. Can the truth of what happened at Stazzana set them both free?

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Immerse yourself in the world of theatre, through letters to colleagues living and dead, some famous, some forgotten, and some yet undiscovered. Max Stafford-Clark, former artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre and founder of the award-winning company Out Of Joint, touches on the highs and lows of a fascinating fifty-four-year career in a series of letters, both professional and personal. Informative, witty and touching, the book is part-opinion, part-memoir and part-autobiography, rich with anecdote and instruction for theatre lovers and students alike. Stafford-Clark ruminates on the troubled lives of great actors, the problems of re-inventing classics, his personal heroes, and his own fall from grace.

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Two forcibly segregated, separate sex, and rurally isolated schools are inhabited by malevolent masters, petrified pupils, more-kindly matrons, and a handful of true heroes – including The Ice Cream Terrorist. This titanic tale of redemption shows how pupils and staff – blighted by dysfunctional, post-war, orphanage schools in Britain – escape and reform the brutal system. Join their journey through school suffering, then on a road trip to a coastal idyll full of kindness, safety, and real-life skills, and eventually different lives. Free from oppression with more enlightened care, they create progressive futures. Mike Leaver’s epic saga spans two decades, England and Wales, and many major themes of 20th century life – such as homelessness, rebelliousness, lesbian love, and loyalty. Mike is really experienced at escaping from State boarding school, and so aspects of his personal life feature – and are sometimes exaggerated – in the travails and adventures of his larger-than-life, fictional pupils!

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When the body of Timothy Wall, a Private Detective, is found in his office, the querulous Inspector Carmichael discovers some surprising revelations and curious contradictions about the dead man. Loved by many and seemingly despised by others in equal measure, Timothy Wall’s whole world seems to be strewn with paradoxes. This fast-moving whodunnit, based in the North West of England, sees McFadyen’s detective team tackle one of their most taxing cases yet. Who killed Timothy Wall? Will one of his numerous lovers or ex-partners provide the answer to the conundrum? And what about Tim’s involvement with the brothers Baybutt, the local bookmakers. Do they know more than they are telling? As Carmichael and his team seek answers to these questions it becomes crystal clear that all was not quite how it seemed in the life of Timothy Wall. This, the nineth book in the Carmichael series, is full of twists, turns and red herrings that will keep the reader guessing right up to the bitter end.

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A story of love, conflict, and corruption spanning half a century. After experiencing a passionate summer of love, two young people part after making a Covenant which haunts them for a lifetime until they are drawn back to where it all began. Their epic life journeys are glittering, yet corrupting - contrasting and clashing with the ideals nurtured during the iconic revolutionary era of "love and peace". With dizzying careers, their lives brush with the rich and powerful, including some of the most influential people in the world. Both seek to make a difference, but is success worth the price? Idealism battles pragmatism in an era of political and historical turmoil including some of the greatest tragedies and scandals to rock the late 20th and early 21st Centuries. One day, 50 years after they first met, a crazy, spontaneous moment changes everything.

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Anne is a headstrong young girl growing up in the frontier colony of Carolina in the early eighteenth century. With the death of her mother, and others she holds dear, Anne discovers that life is uncertain, so best live it to the full. She rejects the confines of conventional society and runs away to sea, finding herself in The Bahamas, which has become a nest for pirates plaguing the West Indies. Increasingly dissatisfied with her life, Anne meets a charismatic former pirate, John 'Calico Jack' Rackham, and persuades him to take up pirating again, and she won't be left onshore. The Golden Age of Piracy is a period when frontiers were being explored and boundaries pushed. Wayward Voyage creates a vivid and gritty picture of colonial life in the Americas and at sea. "Anna is a natural storyteller and a gifted writer with colourful language that makes the reader so absorbed that they feel they are part of the adventure." The Bahamas Historical Society "Holmes’s depiction of the rough lingo and harsh conditions on tall ships at sea and dimly lit establishments ashore demonstrates both historical fidelity and rich imagination." A Woman’s Write

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Robin Hood's Bay to St Bees: 200 miles across Northern England The Coast to Coast Walk: A Personal Travelogue is based on the route described in The Coast-to-Coast Walk by Alfred Wainwright. Inspired to follow in Wainwright’s footsteps, Trevor K Bell laced up his boots in the early 90s and set off along the same pathways. The result is a historical, and partly anecdotal, account of the route from Robin Hood’s Bay, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, to St Bees in Cumbria, which evokes a sense of nostalgia for an England which is fast disappearing. Going well beyond the usual trail guide, the author covers such topics as, the history, people and villages along the way; the flora and fauna, folklore and fells, waterfalls and witches. He examines the industrial, mining, and ecclesiastical history as he puts one foot in front of the other, describing his encounters with a light, and often humorous, touch.

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Shortlisted for the Historical Association Young Quills Award 2021. London, 1666. After the sudden death of her father, thirteen-year-old Lizzie Hopper and her mother must take over The White Pheonix– the family bookshop in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral. But England is at war with France and dire prophecies abound. As rumours of invasion and plague spread, Lizzie battles prejudice, blackmail and mob violence to protect the bookshop she loves. When the Great Fire of London breaks out, Lizzie must rescue more than just the bookshop. Can she now save the friend she wasn’t supposed to have? Can The White Pheonix rise from the ashes?

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A nature-loving cat and her conservationist mum team up to save endangered species! Boo the tabby cat is born on a Lincolnshire farm and seems destined for a simple life. Everything changes when she’s put up for adoption and is taken in by Ellie Caldwell, an adventurous Cambridge graduate student who loves animals and is studying to become a wildlife conservationist. Between lectures, Ellie heads to the countryside for camping trips, her Instagram-anointed ‘adventure cat’ in tow. On rocky trails, Boo discovers that, like Ellie, she has a passion for the natural world, and because she’s able to communicate with all animals, she can relate their challenges back to Ellie. But there’s a serious problem: whenever Boo tries to tell Ellie something, all Ellie hears is "Meow." Can they work out a communication system, and in doing so, save endangered animals from harm while encouraging public support of nature and wildlife?

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This is the first full biography of Sydney Wooderson, Britain's most popular sportsman during the 1930s and 1940s. A more unlikely sports hero is hard to imagine - he was small, shy and ran in thick glasses and baggy shorts. The public loved seeing him beat bigger and more muscular `Johnny Foreigners', symbolising Britain's bulldog spirit. At the 1936 `Hitler Olympics' Sydney secretly photographed the Fuhrer, a snap recently uncovered in a dusty attic and published here! Against all odds he broke world records and won titles galore, and for years was the world's fastest miler. He was widely expected to be first under four minutes, only for war to intervene. Despite his fame, Sydney took the daily train to his London office job, happy to be anonymous in dark suit, hat and briefcase. Bad eyesight meant his war service was restricted to the home front, doing his bit running for war charities before falling seriously ill. He bounced back to become the European 5,000 metres champion and English national cross-country champion. Sir Roger Bannister was among many to name him their No.1 inspirational figure. During his glory days Sydney was best-known sportsman in the land, but his shyness and dislike of publicity saw him become a forgotten hero. The book covers every race from his school days to retirement, describes his life in austerity Britain.

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