Search results for ""orion""

A grown up Little Red Riding Hood meets werewolves and witches in an adult fantasy romance that''s perfect for fans of Danielle L. Jensen, Sarah J. Maas, and Laura Thalassa.To enter the woods as a human is death... But I am no mere human. They call me ''witch''.As one of the last surviving witches, Faelyn''s sole duty is to keep the protective barriers on the forests where the lykin roam. But when she encounters the elusive primordial spirit of the moon, everything changes.Taken to the magical land of Midscape, the Wolf King claims her as his bride - she''s essential to his ability to keep his crown. But Faelyn refuses a life of servitude, for both herself and the moon spirit Aurora, underneath the king''s cruel rule. As she hatches a dangerous plan for them to escape, help comes from an unlikely ally: Evander, the king''s blisteringly handsome knight. But her sworn protector has secrets of his own. Secrets that might change her life for

Read more less

''Fun, sassy, confident'' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''OK I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS!!'' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Completely original'' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Utter brilliance'' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Wickedly funny'' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Have not read anything like it'' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Phenomenal'' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Irresistible'' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Hannah''s love life? Dying. Career? Dead. New pen pal? Deadly.Hannah Wilson can''t text her ex again - it''s too sad. She can''t snap back at the new boss who took her promotion either - she''ll be fired. But what she can do is write a series of furious letter

Read more less

Beach Read meets The Proposal in this gorgeously escapist and wonderfully bookish romcom with the perfect mix of enemies-to-lovers and spice. ''Really fun read. Scarlett and Theo have SO much chemistry'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''A real page turner. Loved it'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Scarlett and Theo''s electric chemistry leaps off the pages'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Two writers. One pressing deadline. No time for romance... Scarlett and Theo have one bestselling novel to their names: the psychological thriller they wrote together years ago. None of the books they''ve written separately have sold anywhere near as well...Now at risk of being dropped by their respective publishers, their agent tells them that working together is th

Read more less

The Duke at Hazard is my dream historical romance: emotional and intimate, but also full of wit, humor, and a lovable cast of supporting characters. The setting feels so vivid and alive, and every single interaction between the two heroes is pitch perfect. I loved every word of this book'' Martha WatersThe Duke of Severn is one of the greatest men in Britain.He''s also short, quiet, and unimpressive. And now he''s been robbed, after indulging in one rash night with a strange man who stole the heirloom Severn ring from his finger. The Duke has to get it back, and he can''t let anyone know how he lost it. So when his cousin bets that he couldn''t survive without his privilege and title, the Duke grasps the opportunity to hunt down his ring-incognito.Life as an ordinary person is terrifying... until the anonymous Duke meets Daizell Charnage, a disgraced gentleman, and hires him to help. Racing across the country in search of the thief, the Duke and Da

Read more less

1952. With smog blanketing London, little Grace is in trouble. Her grandmother is dangerously ill but she doesn''t want Grace to tell anyone as she''s worried they will take her away. But with no money and their food supplies dwindling, what''s a little girl to do?Winnie Berry knows something is wrong when she catches Grace trying to steal some food. And she soon realises it won''t be long before Grace is alone in the world. The big-hearted owner of Battersea Tavern, Winnie has taken in more than her share of waifs and strays. But will this orphan child be more trouble than she''s worth?The fourth standalone saga in the beloved Battersea Tavern series, AN ORPHAN''S HOPE is impossible to put down. Pre-order now!

Read more less

''The ultimate escapist read!'' VERONICA HENRY on To Italy, with Love''Deliciously romantic'' ERICA JAMES on P.S. Come to Italy ''Knowing, compassionate and moving'' CATHERINE ROBERTSON The scenery is swoonsome'' STEVE BRAUNIAS on P.S. Come to Italy A dream wedding in Italy? It''s the chance of a lifetime! Skye has been with Tim forever and the last thing she''s thinking about is saying ''I do''. It''s Tim that enters the dream wedding competition - he''s longing to win an all-expenses-paid trip to romantic Montenello. An escape to a beautiful Italian hill town might be just what they need to find love again... Ana definitely isn''t interested in getting married - she doesn''t need a man to make her happy. But when she loses her job at a glossy food magazine, she jumps at the chance of a new life, renovating a crumbling Italian farmhouse. Her handsome (and

Read more less

'Captures the fierceness of female friendship' BETH O'LEARY | 'The essential book on sisterhood' NIKITA GILLShortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards 2023 Three women. One life-changing friendship. One chance to stop it all falling apart . . . Jenna, Kees and Malak have been friends for years: the three of them together against the world. But when one night changes everything, they're left adrift from one another as their lives take different paths.Encountering new milestones and heartbreaks without each other's support feels increasingly difficult--in the wake of heartbreaks, marriages, new careers and new beginnings, they need each other more than ever. Will they be able to forgive each other in time?These Impossible Things tells the story of three British Muslim women reconciling love, loss, womanhood, faith and how we navigate the bumps in life that can feel impossible to overcome.READERS LOVE THESE IMPOSSIBLE THINGS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Absolutely loved it and couldn't bear to put it down!'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This book has left me speechless'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A cross-cultural celebration of friendship, without being saccharine and clichéd'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I genuinely do not know what I will read next because I wonder what else might make me feel as seen and understood as these pages'

Read more less

She's accused of four murders. She's only guilty of three...When Ruby was a child growing up in Miami, she saw a boy from her school struggling against the ocean waves while his parents were preoccupied. Instead of helping him, Ruby dove under the water and held his ankle down until he drowned. She waited to feel guilty for it, but she never did. And, as Ruby will argue in her senior thesis while studying psychology at Yale, guilt is sort of like eating ice cream while on a diet - if you're already feeling bad, why not eat the whole carton? And so, the bodies start to stack up. Twenty-five years later, Ruby's in an interrogation room under suspicion of murder, being shown four photographs. Each is a person she once knew, now deceased. The line-up includes her husband Jason. She is responsible for three of the four deaths... but it might be the crime that she didn't commit that will finally ensnare her.From the Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer of The Bold Type, this darkly funny and compulsively page-turning novel is perfect for fans of Caroline Kepnes' You and Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister the Serial Killer.

Read more less

How the division of the Americas from the rest of the world affected human history.In 15,000 B.C. early humankind, who had evolved in Africa tens of thousands of years before and spread out to populate the Earth, arrived in Siberia, during the Ice Age. Because so much water was locked up at that time in the great ice sheets, several miles thick, the levels of the world's oceans were much lower than they are today, and early humans were able to walk across the Bering Strait, then a land bridge, without getting their feet wet and enter the Americas. Then, the Ice Age came to an end, the Bering Strait refilled with water and humans in the Americas were cut off from humans elsewhere in the world. This division - with two great populations on Earth, each oblivious of the other - continued until Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America just before 1500 A.D. This is the fascinating subject of THE GREAT DIVIDE, which compares and contrasts the development of humankind in the 'Old World' and the 'New' between 15,000 B.C. and 1500 A.D. This unprecedented comparison of early peoples means that, when these factors are taken together, they offer a uniquely revealing insight into what it means to be human.THE GREAT DIVIDE offers a masterly and totally original synthesis of archaeology, anthropology, geology, meteorology, cosmology and mythology, to give a new shape - and a new understanding - to human history.

Read more less

An epic novel of gangland intrigue from 'one of crime fiction's new stars' [Sunday Telegraph]When Catherine Ducane disappears in the heart of New Orleans, the local cops react rapidly - she is the daughter of the Governor of Louisiana after all. But the case gets very strange, very quickly. Her bodyguard turns up horribly mutilated in the trunk of a beautiful vintage car and when her kidnapper calls he doesn't want money: he wants time alone with Ray Hartmann, who works for a Washington-based organised crime task force.All Ray wants to do is get this over with quickly, and go home to try and repair his broken marriage. Instead he must listen to the mysterious kidnapper, an elderly Cuban named Ernesto Perez, who wants to tell him his life story. It's only when he realises that Ernesto has been a brutal hitman for the Mob since the 1950s that things start to come together. But by the time the pieces fall into place, it's already too late...

Read more less

The first trilogy of the WILD CARDS series comes to a shocking conclusion in this superhero epic edited by bestselling author of GAME OF THRONES George R. R. MartinAmidst the fun and festivities of Wild Card Day there is an evil mind lurking, who hopes that the celebrations will go off with more than a band. The streets of New York have erupted in celebration of Wild Card Day - the annual event held every September 15th to remember the dead and cherish the living. It is a day for fireworks, street fairs and parades, for political rallies and memorial banquets, for drinking and fighting in the alleys. With each passing year, the festivities become larger and more fevered. And this year - 1986, the fortieth anniversary - promises to be the biggest and best Wild Card Day ever. The media and tourists have discovered the celebration, and taverns and restaurants expect record-setting. But lurking in the background is a twisted genius who cares nothing for the fun and festivity. The Astronomer has only one concern: destruction ...Featuring plotlines and writing from George R. R. Martin, John J. Miller, Lewis Shiner, Melinda Snodgrass and more, this novel wraps up the opening WILD CARDS series, while also setting the stage for future adventures.

Read more less

ONE IN EVERY THREE PEOPLE LIVING IS ACTUALLY DEAD!It is a matter of historical record that during the latter part of World War II, England's top-secret Ministry of Serendipity enlisted the services of arch-magician Aleister Crowley to create a Homunculus. Why? Well that's a long story, spanning almost seven decades as it follows the life and career of Tyler, rock star, private eye - and notable for the fact that he almost saved Mankind. The cast of millions also includes ukulele maestro George Formby, Mick Jagger, Mama Cass, Elvis Presley and Lazlo Woodbine. And Tyler's brother, Andy, who impersonates animals (and who single-handedly brought about the Swinging Sixties). And a lady named Clara from Croydon, who unlocked the meta-phenomena of the Multiverse. And a corner shopkeeper from Brentford, who created a sitting room for God. And a great many living dead.Oh yes, and it also involves a monster in human form whose intention it is to turn the Earth into a Necrosphere, a planet totally devoid of life ...

Read more less

The power struggle begins . . .The people of Weyland always believed the slavers raids, which destroyed families and homes like a natural disaster, were a misfortune that couldn't be averted or stopped. But it's not true. King Marcus struck a deal: his people in exchange for technology and a powerful alliance with the Vandian civilisation.And now everyone knows.Jacob and Carter Carnehan escaped the slavers - along with the true king of Weyland - and have returned home with both the truth, and a Vandian princess as their hostage. Their purpose was to avoid war . . . instead, the truth prompts a civil war at home - while an invasion force focused on reclaiming the captive princess starts to gather on their borders.Jacob and Carter will be separated once again - and this time they're fighting for something bigger than their lives.

Read more less

Blind dates can be bad, but Sarah Dearly's date is a true contender for worst ever. His neck nibbling didn't just leave a bruise; it turns her into a vampire - and the newest target for a pack of zealot vampire hunters.With her date now their latest victim, Sarah runs for her immortal life - straight into Thierry de Bennicoeur, a master vampire who is just a wee bit suicidal. Thierry can't resist a damsel in distress and agrees to teach Sarah how to live the vampire life if she'll help him end his own. But as it turns out, Sarah may be his best reason for living.

Read more less

Beyoncé is not simply a pop sensation. She is a cultural phenomenon empowering the oppressed and dispossessed, challenging white privilege and misogyny and exploding gender politics. But who is Beyoncé Knowles-Carter? And how did a small girl from Houston become the strong confident woman whose albums sell in their millions and whose songs have become anthems against racial and sexual discrimination and oppression? This biography sets out to reveal exactly that.

Read more less

The definitive collection of Conan stories, featuring the most distinctive and well known fantasy hero of all timeConan the Cimmerian: he rose from boy-thief and mercenary to become king of Aquilonia. Neither supernatural fiends nor demonic sorcery could oppose the barbarian warrior as he wielded his mighty sword and dispatched his enemies to a bloody doom on the battlefields of the legendary Hyborian Age.Collected together for the first time anywhere in the world, in chronological order, are all Robert E. Howard's definitive stories of Conan, exactly as he wrote them, as fresh, atmospheric and vibrant today as when they were first published in the pulp magazines more than sixty years ago.

Read more less

The warm, funny and entertaining memoir of much-loved TV personality and loveable posh boy, Jamie Laing.Funny, charming, and romantic to a fault, everyone loves Jamie Laing. The affectionate and exuberant blonde puppy dog has come a long way - and broken many hearts - since he first graced our screens in 2011 as the joker of the King's Road on Made in Chelsea. Ten years on, he became king of the ballroom making the final of Strictly Come Dancing. Now he's ready to spill the tea - and (McVitie's) biscuits - about life, love and everything in between.From his idyllic upbringing in the countryside to the grey walls of boarding school, Jamie has always had a knack for getting himself into trouble. He reveals how he won popularity at school teaching the rest of the boys the proper way to ... [PARENTAL ADVISORY]. He hilariously recounts blagging his way into a casino aged 17, and winning so much money his mother thought he was a drug dealer. Jamie has been equally lucky with ladies, but not always quite the romantic hero he had in mind - unless sitting lovelorn outside a girlfriend's halls begging to be taken back while fending off abuse from drunk students calling out 'Made in Chelsea twat' counts as heroism?Jamie also writes movingly about his struggles off camera, which left him crippled with anxiety and led to his eventual burnout. Throughout it all he opens up about the importance of friendship and how his two ride-or-dies, Georgie and Spencer, have always been there for him. They've enabled Jamie to thrive as a confectionery king and genuinely change lives with his Private Parts podcast, while not letting him forget that he took part in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer despite not knowing how to pronounce the word 'meringue'. Candid, entertaining, and almost always ridiculous, this is the real Jamie Laing.

Read more less

Think you know photography? Think again. Through a carefully curated selection of quotes and images, this book reveals what matters most to the masters of photography.With 50 iconic images and accompanying text by Henry Carroll, author of the internationally bestselling Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs series, you'll learn what photography actually means to the giants of the genres and how they developed their distinctive visual styles.

Read more less

Let legendary fashion and portrait photographer Albert Watson guide you through how he captures his amazing images. In a series of bite-sized lessons Watson unveils the stories behind his most-famous shots and gives you the inspiration, tips and ideas to take into your own photography - from how to work with lighting and lenses, to learning to embrace your creativity and advice on getting your foot in the industry door. Illustrated throughout with key images from Watson's incredible 50-year career at the forefront of photography.

Read more less

Learn about the history of the world, stickering this inventive new format as you learn! Sticky History of the World includes a large-format, eight-page sticker booklet and an intricately illustrated, eight-panel fold-out card carousel. Each of the panels of the carousel is based upon an era of the history of the world, from the Big Bang and the age of the dinosaurs, via the Romans and the Egyptians, right up to the modern age, and even into the future. Use the stickers to decorate the panels and to create your own incredible picture of the world!

Read more less

Rembrandt is probably the most famous Dutch painter of the seventeenth century. His works are greatly loved today, but he was not always so well regarded. His life was one of a dramatic rise and fall, unfolding during the Golden Age of the newly formed Dutch Republic. Rembrandt's public acclaim and wealth as a painter came to him as a very young man. His images were vigorous, psychologically compelling but also often less than flattering. By his middle age taste had shifted to more idealized visions, and by the time of his death in 1669 Rembrandt was destitute. But whether the public was with or against him, Rembrandt continued to paint with the same passion, and arguably the art he produced in his final, destitute years is his most intimate, sensitive and open.

Read more less

The reign of Elizabeth I - a Golden Age? Try asking her subjects...Elizabethans did all they could to survive in an age of sin and bling, of beddings and beheadings, galleons and guns. Explorers set sail for new worlds, risking everything to bring back slaves, gold and the priceless potato. Elizabeth lined her coffers while her subjects lived in squalor with hunger, violence and misery as bedfellows. Shakespeare shone and yet the beggars, doxies and thieves scraped and cheated to survive in the shadows. These were dangerous days. If you survived the villains, and the diseases didn't get you, then the lawmen might. Pick the wrong religion and the scaffold or stake awaited you. The toothless, red-wigged queen sparkled in her jewelled dresses, but the Golden Age was only the surface of the coin. The rest was base metal.

Read more less

The sparkling debut novel of Maria Semple, author of the WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION-shortlisted WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE, including reading group notes.Violet Parry is living the quintessential life of luxury in the Hollywood Hills with David, her rock-and-roll manager husband, and her darling toddler, Dot. She has the perfect life - but she's deeply unhappy. David expects the world of Violet but gives little of himself in return. When she meets Teddy, a roguish small-time bass player, Violet comes alive, and soon she's risking everything for the chance to find herself again. Also in the picture are David's hilariously high-strung sister, Sally, on the prowl for a successful husband, and Jeremy, the sportscaster savant who falls into her trap.

Read more less

The Victorians risked more than just delays when boarding a steam train . . .Victorian inventors certainly didn't lack steam, but while they squabbled over who deserved the title of 'The Father of the Locomotive' and enjoyed their fame and fortune, safety on the rails was not their priority. Brakes were seen as a needless luxury and boilers had an inconvenient tendency to overheat and explode, and in turn, blow up anyone in reach.Often recognised as having revolutionised travel and industrial Britain, Victorian railways were perilous. Disease, accidents and disasters accounted for thousands of deaths and many more injuries. While history has focused on the triumph of engineers, the victims of the Victorian railways had names, lives and families and they deserve to be remembered . . .

Read more less

Decades tend to crest halfway through, and 1995 was the year of the Nineties: peak Britpop (Oasis v Blur), peak YBA (Tracey Emin's tent), peak New Lad (when Nick Hornby published High Fidelity, when James Brown's Loaded detonated the publishing industry, and when pubs were finally allowed to stay open on a Sunday). It was the year of The Bends, the year Danny Boyle started filming Trainspotting, the year Richey Edwards went missing, the year Alex Garland wrote The Beach, the year Blair changed Clause IV after a controversial vote at the Labour Conference. It was a period of huge cultural upheaval - in art, literature, publishing and drugs, and a period of almost unparalleled hedonism.  Faster Than a Cannonball is a cultural swipe of the decade from loungecore to the rise of New Labour, teasing all the relevant artistic strands through interviews with all the major protagonists and exhaustive re-eva

Read more less

'A stunningly good and surely definitive biography of one of the most fascinating British engineers ever to have lived' JAMES HOLLAND Barnes Wallis is remembered for contributions to aviation that spanned most of the 20th century, from airships at its start to reusable spacecraft near the end. In the years between he pioneered new kinds of aircraft structure, bombs to alter the way in which wars are fought, and aeroplanes that could change shape in flight. Later work extended to radio telescopy, prosthetic limbs, and plans for a fleet of high-speed cargo submarines to travel the world's oceans in silence.    For all his fame, little is known about the man himself. Dam Buster draws on family records to reveal someone thick with contradictions: a Victorian who in his imagination ranged far into the 21st century; a romantic for whom nostalgic pastoral and advanced technology went together; an unassuming man who kept a close

Read more less

Until I had my first child, and this is to my shame, I had little understanding of just how much mothers are hidden, their stories unspoken, even as they cross the street in plain sight. Like grief or falling in love, becoming a mother is an experience both ordinary and transformative. You are prepared for the sleeplessness and wonder, the noise and the chaos, the pram in the hall. But the extent to which this new life can turn your inner world upside-down - nothing prepares you for that.In this frank, funny and fearless memoir, Marianne Levy writes with heart-wrenching honesty about love and loss, rage and pain, fear and joy. She breaks the silence around the emotional turmoil that having a child can unleash and asks why motherhood is at once so venerated and so undervalued.This is the real story of being a parent in the modern world. It is a book that mothers will be glad to have read - and that everyone else should read, too.

Read more less

'Nothing short of a joy' Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of Open WaterWhen Kwasi and his family move abruptly from one side of London to the other, he sets out to explore his new home. Escaping the watchful eyes of Ma and Da and his irrepressible Aunties, he discovers the local high street and a hidden river. Back at the yellow house, he spends hours drawing, distracting himself from thoughts of the new school that awaits.As the years pass, the high street remains a source of fascination for Kwasi. But behind the ever-changing shopfronts, it's a different story. Business is slow and times are getting tougher. Widower Rupert has been trying to hold on to the dreams he and his wife poured into their eclectic charity shop, The Chest of Small Wonders, but now he is close to giving up.One October night, Kwasi finds himself in trouble and takes refuge in the Chest, and an unexpected friendship begins. As he and Rupert unite to save the shop, they each find a sense of belonging. But old patterns are hard to change, and as tensions around them escalate, difficult choices lie ahead.Lyrical, witty, moving and timely, To Fill a Yellow House is a story of community, friendship and the power of creativity and connection. It is as vibrant and surprising as the city it is set in and marks the arrival of a bright and bold new talent.

Read more less

'Gillespie is rock and roll's Oliver Twist. A punk rock fairytale, razor sharp on class struggle, music, style, and a singular view of the world resulting in one of the world's great bands. Couldn't put down' Courtney LoveBorn into a working-class Glaswegian family in the summer of 1961, TENEMENT KID begins in the district of Springburn, soon to be evacuated in Edward Heath's brutal slum clearances. Leaving school at 16 and going to work as a printers' apprentice, Bobby's rock n roll epiphany arrives like a bolt of lightning shining from Phil Lynott's mirrored pickguard at his first gig at the Apollo in Glasgow. Filled with 'the holy spirit of rock n roll' his destiny is sealed with the arrival of the Sex Pistols and punk rock which to Bobby, represents an iconoclastic vision of class rebellion and would ultimately lead to him becoming an artist initially in the Jesus and Mary Chain then Primal Scream.Building like a breakbeat crescendo to the Summer of Love, Boys Own parties, and the fateful meeting with Andrew Weatherall in an East Sussex field, as the '80s bleed into the '90s and a new kind of electronic soul music starts to pulse through the nation's consciousness, TENEMENT KID closes with the release of Screamadelica, the album often credited with 'starting the '90s'. A book filled with the joy and wonder of a rock n roll apostle who would radically reshape the future sounds of fin de siècle British pop, Bobby Gillespie's memoir cuts a righteous path through a decade lost to Thatcherism and saved by acid house.

Read more less

When Thomas Harding discovered that his mother''s family had made money from plantations worked by enslaved people, what began as an interrogation into the choices of his ancestors soon became a quest to learn more about Britain''s role in slavery. It was a history that he knew surprisingly little about - the myth that we are often taught in schools is that Britain''s role in slavery was as the abolisher, but the reality is much more sinister.In WHITE DEBT, Harding vividly brings to life the story of the uprising by enslaved people that took place in the British colony of Demerara (now Guyana) in the Caribbean in 1823. It started on a small sugar plantation called ''Success'' and grew to become a key trigger in the abolition of slavery across the empire. We see the uprising through the eyes of four people: the enslaved man Jack Gladstone, the missionary John Smith, the colonist John Cheveley, and the politician and slaveholder John Gladstone, father of a future prime ministe

Read more less

'Magical and transporting'Maggie O'Farrell'A gorgeous account of outsiderness and survival... A quietly defiant and moving work' Sinéad Gleeson'An epic in miniature . . . I loved - and lived - every sentence' Benjamin MyersIn 1968, Vashti Bunyan gave up everything and everybody she knew in London to take to the road with a horse, wagon, dog, guitar and her then partner. They made the long journey up to the Outer Hebrides in an odyssey of discovery and heartbreak, full of the joy of freedom and the trudge of everyday reality, sleeping in the woods, fighting freezing winters and homelessness. Along the way, Vashti wrote the songs that would lead to the recording of her 1970's album Just Another Diamond Day, the lilting lyrics and guitar conveying innocent wonder at the world around her, whilst disguising a deeper turmoil under the surface. From an unconventional childhood in post-war London, to a fledgling career in mid-sixties pop, to the despair and failure to make any headway with her own songs, she rejected the music world altogether and left it all behind. After retreating to a musical wilderness for thirty years, the rediscovery of her recordings in 2000 brought Vashti a second chance to write, record and perform once more. One of the great hippie myths of the 1960s, Wayward, Just Another Life to Live, rewrites the narrative of a barefoot girl on the road to describe a life lived at full tilt from the first, revealing what it means to change course and her emotional struggle, learning to take back control of her own life.

Read more less

The Eighties were about big ideas writ large - new money, new style, gender fluidity, gay pride, attritional politics, the ''special relationship'', nuclear fear, AIDS, cocaine, ecstasy, tabloid royalty, the rise of urban pop, and ultimately geopolitical chaos. Using a big narrative approach, Dylan Jones'' history of the decade in pop frames the decade through some of its most important and popular hits, choosing records which either epitomised their time, or ushered in a new cultural shift. So we move seamlessly from Rapper''s Delight and the genre defining moment of hip hop into The Specials'' spectral, Ghost Town; from ABC and the apotheosis of New Pop (The Look of Love) to Madonna''s breakthrough moment with Like a Virgin, and so on. In the ''80s each year brought a new twist as technology shifted and genres snowballed, MTV reigned supreme and the story of pop became globalised. It was a decade of excess in all areas, especially ambition, but it was in the transcendent moments

Read more less

''A beautiful, deeply philosophical book about reading as a form of existential consolation'' Literary Review''Acute and tender . . . alive with discovery and desire'' Observer''A meditation, by turns glorious and aching, on what it means to be a woman and to try to be free'' Amia Srinivasan ''A gift to readers of all ages. Engaging . . . poignant . . . uplifting'' Washington Post''I adored this book . . . a generous, enlivening work, destined to be passed from friend to friend for a long time to come'' Megan HunterIn this intricate, intimate and dazzlingly original group biography, Joanna Biggs looks to eight revolutionary women writers who each sought freedom and intellectual fulfilment in their lifetimes and asks: why is it so important for women to read one another? By illuminating the motivations, desires and disappointments of Mary Wollstonecraft, George Eliot, Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Woolf

Read more less

The #2 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER from the author of MURDER BEFORE EVENSONG'Immensely moving and disarmingly witty' Nigella Lawson'Such a moving, tough, funny, raw, honest read' Matt Haig'Beautifully written, moving and gut-wrenching, but also at times very funny' Ian Rankin'Captures brilliantly, beautifully, bravely the comedy as well as the tragedy of bereavement' The Times'Will strike a chord with anyone who has grieved' IndependentWhen the Reverend Richard Coles's partner died suddenly, shortly before Christmas in 2019, what came next took Richard by surprise. Despite his years of experience assisting his parishioners in examining life's moral questions, Richard now found he needed guidance himself. Much about grief was unexpected: the volume of 'sadmin' that must be undertaken, how much harder it is travelling solo for work, the pain of typing a text message to your partner - then remembering they are gone. This deeply personal account of life after grief will resonate, unforgettably, long after the final page has been turned.

Read more less

As the Second World War moves beyond living memory and its last veterans leave us, we are in danger of losing our opportunity to understand the reality behind the conflict''s myths, machines and iconography. From filmmakers, writers, artists and ordinary people (including his own family members), Luke Turner assembles a broad cast of characters to bring this much-mythologised conflict to life.There are conscientious objectors, a bisexual Commando, a transgender RAF pilot and those who simply did what they could to survive and return home to a complicated peace. By exploring a wartime experience that embraces sex, lust and the body as much as tactics and weaponry, Turner argues that the only way we can really understand the Second World War is to get to grips with the complexity of the lives and identities of those who fought and endured it.

Read more less

'Moving and inspiring, courageous and true: real art. Just reading her is pleasure' Amy Liptrot, author of The OutrunWhat happens when you realise that you must change your life?When - after years of hiding in routine, shrinking from opportunity, and sleepwalking through your days - you know you want more.How do you remake your life without breaking it?The Cure for Sleep is the stunning memoir of a smalltown wife and mother who returns from sudden near-death determined to live her second life on a larger, braver scale - whatever it takes, or costs.

Read more less

'She was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal in leading the way' Sandi Toksvig'Some people thought her merely bohemian, but others were grateful to have so engaging a role-model' INDEPENDENTThe superb classic memoir from a dazzlingly eccentric and endlessly fascinating author - a woman very much ahead of her time.Nancy Spain was one of the most celebrated - and notorious - writers and broadcasters of the 40s, 50s and 60s. Hilarious, controversial and brilliant, she lived openly as a lesbian (sharing a household with her two lovers and their various children) and was frequently litigated against for her newspaper columns - Evelyn Waugh successfully sued her for libel... twice. She was also a fantastic crime novelist (and according to the Guardian, one of the 50 best female crime thriller writers of all time) writing with a unique style that marries the acid wit of Dorothy Parker with the intricacy of plotting worthy of Agatha Christie. WHY I AM NOT A MILLIONAIRE, has the same wit, style and fascinating detail - first published in 1956, with an introductory note from Noel Coward. After her death in a plane crash in 1964, Noel Coward commented: 'It is cruel that all that gaiety, intelligence and vitality should be snuffed out, when so many bores and horrors are left living.'

Read more less

WHAT IF THE FAMILY YOU WANT......ISN'T THE FAMILY YOU NEED?'It was up to her now; everything was up to her;she needed only to make a choice and step towards it, out from the shadows and into the light.' At forty-three, Christina Lennox thought her future was settled: marriage to Ed, children, a house of their own. But this is not that future: her marriage has ended, fractured by the stress of five rounds of IVF and two miscarriages. Overwhelmed by grief and disappointment, Ed has relocated to San Francisco and Christina's dream of becoming a mother rests on persuading him to let her go ahead with one final round of IVF, using the last frozen embryo they have stored at the clinic.But when Ed drops a bombshell that threatens to undo everything Christina has strived for, she is forced, once again, to realign her plans.Is this the end of her dream, or an opportunity to consider a different - perhaps happier - version of her future?

Read more less

Parish churches have been at the heart of communities for more than a thousand years. But now, fewer than two in one hundred people regularly attend services in an Anglican church, and many have never been inside one. Since the idea of 'church' is its people, the buildings are becoming husks - staples of our landscapes, but without meaning or purpose. Some churches are finding vigorous community roles with which to carry on, but the institutional decline is widely seen as terminal.Yet for Richard Morris, post-war parsonages were the happy backdrop of his childhood. In Evensong he searches for what it was that drew his father and hundreds like him towards ordination as they came home from war in 1945. Along the way we meet all kinds of people - archbishops, chaplains, campaigners, bell-ringers, bureaucrats, archaeologists, gravediggers, architects, scroungers - and follow some of them to dark places.Part personal odyssey, part lyrical history, Evensong asks what churches stand for and what they can tell us; it explores why Anglicanism has often been fractious, and why it has become so diffuse. Spanning over two thousand years, it draws on new discoveries, reflects on the current state of the Church in England and ends amid the messy legacies of colonialism and empire.

Read more less

'Terrific. So funny' Zadie Smith 'Monstrously depressing but so comic and well observed that I didn't really mind .... It is great' Dolly Alderton'A dark comedy of female rage' Catherine Lacey 'Brilliant. For fans of Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation' Pandora Sykes 'Funny, shocking, clever, and hugely entertaining' Roddy Doyle 'A definitive work of milennial literature' Jia Tolentino 'The best thing I've read in years' Emma Jane Unsworth'Vicious ... hilariously spot on' Guardian In a windowless office, a woman explains something from her real, nonwork life - about the frustration and indignity of returning her online shopping - to her colleagues. One wears a topknot. Another checks her pedometer. Watching them all is Millie. Thirty-years-old and an eternal temp, she says almost nothing, almost all of the time. But then the possibility of a permanent job arises. Will it bring the new life Millie is envisioning - one involving a gym membership, a book club, and a lot less beer and TV - finally within reach? Or will it reveal just how hollow that vision has become? 'Made me laugh and cry enough times to feel completely reborn' The Paris Review 'A definite work of millennial literature. Wretchedly riveting, with the sick, obsessive pleasure of looking under a bandage at a wound' The New Yorker 'So darkly funny and acutely observed that it feels like a documentary' Andrew McMillan 'Anyone who has ever felt like their life is going nowhere - and to make it worse, going nowhere in an achingly slow manner - will recognize themselves' Nylon

Read more less

''No other thriller writer can make you break into a sweat and break your heart at the same time'' THE TIMESLeyli Maal is a beautiful Malian woman, mother of three, living in a tiny apartment on the outskirts of Marseille. Her quiet life as a well-integrated immigrant is suddenly shaken when her beautiful eldest daughter, Bamby, becomes the main suspect in two murders linked to a lethal illegal immigration racket.Is Bamby really involved? And why is everyone desperate to get their hands on Leyli''s mysterious red notebook?

Read more less

''The Iliad meets Friday Night Lights in this muscular, captivating debut''Oprah Magazine''A gorgeous debut that conjures one small town and the big emotions of its wealthiest family, the Briscoes, whose saga plays out over six days of pain, rage and love''People, Best of Summer''I read without breathing - OK, maybe I gasped - and I experienced the characters'' grief and regret as if they were my own''New York Times''The novel is based on Greek myths but you don''t need to know your Zeus from your Apollo to enjoy this saga full of deceit and drama''Good Housekeeping''Beautifully written and filled with atmosphere... a hugely accomplished debut''Prima''Secrets, lies and deceptions with Greek myth-like undertones... A literary family saga that spans one week and packs in everything from infidelity to a shooting''High

Read more less

New from award-winning author Matt Rendell, an examination of the phenomenal success of Alejandro Valverde and the moral decay at the heart of Spanish cycling.'A study of a dominant force, a true gentleman racer despite his shadowy past' Dan MartinAlejandro Valverde - the 'Green Bullet' - was an international symbol of Spanish cycling for a quarter of a century before his retirement in 2022. Hard-working and supremely talented, he won the Vuelta a España and stood on the podium of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. World champion in 2018, he was also the world's number-one-ranked rider four times. A man of indisputable charisma, he was also a convicted doping cheat.When the Spanish police investigation, Operación Puerto, uncovered a vast international blood doping ring, Valverde denied all involvement. The revelations unearthed by Operación Puerto threatened to force cycling off the road.Valverde's long career was a high wire walk between the venal interests that surround elite sport in Spain. In a nation beset by corruption, political incompetence and social division, Valverde's talent aided the public image of unscrupulous political and economic institutions.Even today, Valverde maintains his reticence. The Green Bullet breaks the silence.

Read more less

Alice Walker, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning modern classic, The Color Purple, returns with a poetry collection that is both playfully imaginative and intensely moving. In Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart, Alice Walker examines our troubled times, while also chronicling a life well-lived. From poems of painful self-inquiry, to celebrating the simple beauty of everyday life, Walker offers us a window into her magical, at times difficult, and liberating world of activism, love, hope and, above all, gratitude. Whether she's urging us to preserve an urban paradise or behold exploring the necessity of beauty to the spirit, Walker demonstrates that she remains a revolutionary poet and an inspiration to generations of fans.

Read more less

WINNER OF THE OCM BOCAS PRIZE FOR CARIBBEAN LITERATURESHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE, THE GREEN CARNATION PRIZE, and the HISTORICAL WRITERS AWARD'Miller's storytelling is superb' SUNDAY TIMESOne April day in Augustown, Jamaica. Ma Taffy, old and blind, sits in her usual spot on the veranda. No matter how the world tilts around her, come hurricane or riot, she knows everything that goes on in this small community. Which is why, when her six-year-old nephew returns home from school with his dreadlocks shorn, she realises that trouble won't be far behind. And so she tells him the story of Alexander Bedward, the flying preacherman. She remembers what happened to the Rastaman and his helper, Bongo Moody; she thinks of Soft-Paw, the leader of the Angola gang, and what lies beneath her house. For trouble is brewing once more among the ramshackle lanes of Augustown, and as Ma Taffy knows, each day contains much more than its own hours, or minutes, or seconds. In fact, each day contains all of history...

Read more less

'A real page-turner, one that kept me guessing, and pulling the rug out from under me' Novel Notions'A glorious reconfiguration of classic fantasy' David Wragg, author of The BlackhawksFrom the author of the critically-acclaimed Blackwing trilogy comes Ed McDonald's Daughter of Redwinter, the first of a brilliant fantasy series about how one choice can change a universe.Raine can see - and speak - to the dead, a gift that comes with a death sentence. All her life she has hidden, lied, and run to save her skin, and she's made some spectacularly bad choices along the way.But it is a rare act of kindness - rescuing an injured woman in the snow-that becomes the most dangerous decision Raine has ever made.Because the woman is fleeing from Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians who answer to no king, and who will stop at nothing to reclaim what she's stolen. A battle, a betrayal, and a horrific revelation force Raine to enter the citadel and live among the Draoihn. She soon finds that her secret ability could be the key to saving an entire nation.Though she might have to die to make it happen . . .Readers absolutely love Daughter of Redwinter:'This book builds along solidly, painting in a complex backdrop of culture, magic and characters . . . the final six chapters are a rocket ride' Robin Hobb, bestselling author of The Realm of the Elderlings series'The work of an author bursting with confidence, weaving a tale full of magic, mystery and intrigue' Mike Shackle, author of The Last War series'This book is a page-turner that kept me hooked the whole time and pulled the rug out from under me!' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'In the end I was left breathless with where this story ended up . . . McDonald has outdone himself with this suspenseful and captivating new book' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A girl who can see ghosts, betrayal, intrigue, magic . . . The worldbuilding in this book was fascinating' Netgalley reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This fantasy world was beautiful and deadly . . . [I] adored this and will be recommending it to everyone' Netgalley reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A stunningly good start to a new series' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A fascinating magic system, thoughtful prose, and a truly compelling main character make Daughter of Redwinter a really incredible read' M.J. Kuhn, author of Among Thieves'An amazingly unique magic system, realistically complex characters, and plot twists that literally had my mouth hanging open in shock. Also bisexual main character!' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Read more less

TRUTH. LIES. IT CAN BE HARD TO TELL THEM APART.When a bomb goes off at InTech HQ, everything changes for Tanta''s corporation. Order becomes disorder. Safety becomes danger. Calm becomes chaos.Tanta is tasked with getting to the bottom of the attack before violence and unrest overtake the city. But even though the evidence points towards rival corporation Thoughtfront, Tanta can''t shake the feeling that she''s missing something.There''s a dark secret at the heart of the case, one that will reveal more about her own corporation than Tanta would like. And the closer Tanta gets to the mystery, the more she comes to realise something terrible: Sometimes facing the truth can be the hardest thing of all.* * * * * * * * * *Readers can''t put down Louise Carey''s latest technothriller:''Totally riveting . . . so genuinely intense and so awe-inspiring that I was totally ab

Read more less

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh returns to a world devastated by change in her award-winning Psy-Changeling Trinity series, where two people defined by their aloneness hold the fate of the Psy in their hands . . .

Read more less