Search results for ""author jo baker""

'Impressive and satisfying . . . a novel that succeeds both in creating pages that turn themselves, and in continually feeding the reader's sense of wonder' Daily TelegraphIt is 1940 and twenty-year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother who never returned from France, she is working hard to keep her own little life ticking over: holding down a dull typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena, and dodging her difficult father. She has good reason to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. She knows what happens when she makes a nuisance of herself.On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds - a source of unexpected joy amidst the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation, and after yet another heartbreaking loss Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he is following her.She no longer knows who to trust. She can't even trust herself. She knows this; her family have told so her often enough. As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte's nerves become increasingly frayed, and soon her very freedom is under threat . . .Riveting and deeply moving, The Midnight News is a tour de force from Sunday Times bestselling author Jo Baker - a breathtaking story of friendship, love and war.'Intriguing and thrilling . . . it had me by the throat' EMMA DONOGHUE'A marvel of storytelling . . . your heart will be in your mouth as you read' FRANCIS SPUFFORD'Immersive and utterly enthralling' CATHY RENTZENBRINK'Riveting and moving . . . masterful' NINA STIBBE'I stayed up late reading and was glad' SARAH MOSS

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'Impressive and satisfying . . . a novel that succeeds both in creating pages that turn themselves, and in continually feeding the reader's sense of wonder' Daily TelegraphIt is 1940 and twenty-year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother who never returned from France, she is working hard to keep her own little life ticking over: holding down a dull typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena, and dodging her difficult father. She has good reason to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. She knows what happens when she makes a nuisance of herself.On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds - a source of unexpected joy amidst the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation, and after yet another heartbreaking loss Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he is following her.She no longer knows who to trust. She can't even trust herself. She knows this; her family have told so her often enough. As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte's nerves become increasingly frayed, and soon her very freedom is under threat . . .Riveting and deeply moving, The Midnight News is a tour de force from Sunday Times bestselling author Jo Baker - a breathtaking story of friendship, love and war.'Intriguing and thrilling . . . it had me by the throat' EMMA DONOGHUE'A marvel of storytelling . . . your heart will be in your mouth as you read' FRANCIS SPUFFORD'Immersive and utterly enthralling' CATHY RENTZENBRINK'Riveting and moving . . . masterful' NINA STIBBE'I stayed up late reading and was glad' SARAH MOSS

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Set against the rolling backdrop of a century of British history from WWI to the 'War on Terror', this is an intimate family portrait captured in snapshots. First there is William, the factory lad who loses his life in Gallipoli, then his son Billy, a champion cyclist who survives the D-Day Landings on a military bicycle, followed by his crippled son Will who becomes an Oxford academic in the 1960s, and finally his daughter Billie, an artist in contemporary London. Just as the names - William, Billy, Will, Billie - echo down through the family, so too the legacy of choices made, chances lost, and secrets kept. Rich in drama and sensuous in detail, The Picture Book is a beautifully crafted story about parents and children, about fate and repetition, and about the possibility of breaking free.

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BY THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LONGBOURNSHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2017SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE 2017 'Skilful . . . daring . . . extraordinary' The Guardian'A fascinating fictional account of Samuel Beckett's wartime years' IAN RANKIN'Beautifully written, empathetic and unflinching, it is very, very good' Daily Mail'Marvellous, spare, moving' FRANCIS SPUFFORD'Insightful . . . beautifully paced . . . authentic’ The Irish TimesParis, 1939: The pavement rumbles with the footfall of Nazi soldiers marching along the Champs Elysees. A young writer, recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark, smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon, he will put is own life and those of his loved ones in mortal danger by joining the Resistance...Spies, artists, deprivation, danger and passion: this is a story of life at the edges of human experience, and of how one man came to translate it all into art.Sunday Express Book of the MonthPraise for Jo Baker's LONGBOURN:'Intoxicating' Guardian'Engrossing' Sunday Times'Audacious' New York Times

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Pattern Cutting Techniques for Ladies' Jackets shares the trade secrets from the world of bespoke tailoring and haute couture, alongside procedures from the ready-to-wear industry. Written by a trained Savile Row tailor working in the fashion industry, it explains how to make a basic pattern for a jacket by flat pattern cutting or draping on the dress form. It introduces a broad range of techniques with clear detailed instructions, and emphasizes the importance of an individual and creative approach.

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When Rachel sets off alone for her mother's isolated country house, she promises herself that the business of packing up and selling will only take a couple of weeks, and then she'll be home again, and back to normal. But from the moment she steps through the front door, Rachel feels that the house contains more than she had expected: along with the memories of her mother, there is something else, a presence - not quite tangible - trying to make itself felt. As Rachel struggles to put her mother's affairs in order, she grows ever more convinced that the house holds a message for her. Can the ghosts of the past be forcing their way into the present, or is Rachel really beginning to lose her mind?

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''A tour de force'' IRISH TIMES''Riveting and moving'' NINA STIBBE''Gripping'' THE TIMES''It had me by the throat'' EMMA DONOGHUELONDON, 1940. As enemy planes fly over the city, twenty-year-old Charlotte Richmond is trying to make the best of things. She has a dull but steady job at the Ministry of Information, a friend to share gin and secrets with, and an attic room of her own. All she has to do is keep her head down. She knows where her father will send her if she makes a nuisance of herself again.But amid the chaos of the Blitz, Charlotte''s grip on reality starts slipping. Is someone following her in the blackouts, or is her mind playing tricks on her? In a city where nothing is safe, it''s hard to know who to trust - until she meets the boy who feeds the birds . . .''A late-night page-turner that will keep you guessing till the end'' JOANNA QUINN''Glorious'' RED''Exquisite'' DAILY

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THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERA RICHARD AND JUDY BOOKCLUB PICK'Utterly engrossing' GuardianIt is wash-day for the housemaids at Longbourn House, and Sarah's hands are chapped and raw. Domestic life below stairs, ruled with a tender heart and an iron will by Mrs Hill the housekeeper, is about to be disturbed by the arrival of a new footman, bearing secrets and the scent of the sea.What readers are saying:'A novel to be savoured''Highly recommended''Very enjoyable exploration of the background to Pride and Prejudice'

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---A GUARDIAN BEST SUMMER READ---'A very modern interrogation of violent fiction. Fiendishly readable' SARAH MOSS, GUARDIAN'Powerful and moving' ERIN KELLY, author of He Said/She Said______________When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it's meant to be a fresh start. But when one of her students starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognises herself as the main character in his book - and he has written her a horrific fate.Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late?At once a breathless battle-of-wits and a disarming exploration of sexual politics, The Body Lies is an essential book for our times.___________________'Outstanding' CLARE MACKINTOSH'A literary exploration of consent, entitlement and how narratives can be bent, misappropriated and wrested back. I loved it' SARAH VAUGHAN'A propulsive #MeToo thriller.' GUARDIAN'Gripping. The perfect marriage of risky literary fiction and full-on thriller' MARIA SEMPLE'Page-turning thriller and examination of how women's bodies are treated, in life and in fiction.' THE BOOKSELLER'A novelist with a gift for intimate and atmospheric storytelling' FINANCIAL TIMES'Baker's heroine is one of the most believable I've seen on the page in a long time...nuanced, non-linear, lifelike' TLS'Gripping and fast-paced' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

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I don’t recall if I saw my first gunman in my childhood nightmares or on my childhood streets. There were plenty in both and they looked very much like each other. So begins Reggie Chamberlain-King’s introduction to The Black Dreams, a thrilling and compelling collection of specially commissioned stories that explore the emotional geography of growing up and living in Northern Ireland. The fourteen stories gathered here criss-cross coast, border and city as they map a ‘strange’ territory of in-between states and unstable realities in which understanding is unreliable. Obsessions, death and rebirth, violence, sexuality, retribution and apocalypse are all part of the rich fabric of The Black Dreams. Bringing together some of Northern Ireland’s finest writers, along with some of the best new talents, The Black Dreams celebrates and extends the rich tradition of the weird, surreal and dream-like in Northern Irish writing. It is also a powerful act of imagining and storytelling – a vibrant, vivid and exhilarating exploration of a world we cannot, or choose not, to see. Contributors: Jo Baker, Jan Carson, Reggie Chamberlain-King, Aislínn Clarke, Emma Devlin, Moyra Donaldson, Michelle Gallen, Carlo Gébler, John Patrick Higgins, Ian McDonald, Gerard McKeown, Bernie McGill, Ian Sansom, Sam Thompson

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