Search results for ""penguin books""
Penguin Books Ltd One Day in December: The uplifting, feel-good, Sunday Times bestselling Christmas romance you need this festive season
This festive season get ready to be whisked off your feet by the Sunday Times bestseller that's stolen a million hearts around the world'The sweetest love story . . . you're going to LOVE it' Marian Keyes, Grown Ups'You'll fall head over heels for this book' Reese Witherspoon-----Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist. After all, life isn't a scene from the movies, is it? But then, through a misted-up bus window one freezing day, she sees a man she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.Laurie thinks she'll never see the boy from the bus again. But at a party later that year, her best friend Sarah introduces her to the new love of her life. Who is, of course, the boy from the bus.Determined to let him go, Laurie gets on with her life. But what if fate has other plans?Following Laurie, Sarah and Jack through ten years of love, heartbreak and friendship, One Day in December is an uplifting and immensely moving love story for fans of Jojo Moyes, Sarah Morgan and Coleen Hoover.-----WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT One Day in December'The perfect book to read this winter' Rebecca'I laughed, I cried, I shouted at the characters and I absolutely loved this story' Jennifer'This book NEEDS to be made into a film' Louise'I LOVE LOVE LOVED this book' Viccki'I can't wait to reread it over and over' Nikita'I just didn't want this book to end . . . I shall be singing its praises from the rooftops' Cassie
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Penguin Book of Modern Speeches
From Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama, discover the most significant speeches of the modern era!Whether it was Churchill rousing the British to take up arms or the dream of Martin Luther King, Fidel Castro inspiring the Cuban revolution or Barack Obama on Selma and the meaning of America, speeches have profoundly influenced the way we see ourselves and society.Gathered here are some of the most extraordinary and memorable speeches of the last century - from Lenin to Reagan, Thatcher to Malala. Some are well known, others less so, but all helped form the world we now inhabit.
£14.99
Penguin Books Ltd Life in the Garden
'Wonderful. A manifesto of horticultural delight' Literary Review 'Beautiful. Perfect for literary garden lovers' Good Housekeeping'Rich and unusual, a book to treasure. Few recent gardening books come anywhere close to its style, intelligence and depth' Observer'The two central activities in my life - alongside writing - have been reading and gardening.'Penelope Lively has always been a keen gardener. This book is partly a memoir of her own life in gardens: the large garden at home in Cairo where she spent most of her childhood, her grandmother's garden in a sloping Somerset field, then two successive Oxfordshire gardens of her own, and the smaller urban garden in the North London home she lives in today. It is also a wise, engaging and far-ranging exploration of gardens in literature, from Paradise Lost to Alice in Wonderland, and of writers and their gardens, from Virginia Woolf to Philip Larkin. 'Exquisite and original' Daily Telegraph 'A gentle survey of the garden's place in Western culture, which morphs into a personal meditation on time, memory and a life well lived' i 'Scholarly bedtime reading' The Times, Books of the Year
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd A Legacy of Spies
Penguin presents the unabridged, audiobook CD edition of A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré.Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, has retired to his family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London are to be scrutinised by a generation with no memory of the Cold War. Somebody must be made to pay for innocent blood once spilt in the name of the greater good. Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own story, John le Carré has given us a novel of superb and enduring quality.
£16.66
Penguin Books Ltd Ordinary Joe
'He's a great coach. He lives and breathes the game. There's nothing he doesn't know' Brian O'Driscoll'The best coach Irish rugby - arguably Irish sport - has ever had' Malachy Clerkin, Irish TimesIn the autumn of 2010, a little-known New Zealander called Joe Schmidt took over as head coach at Leinster. He had never been in charge of a professional team. After Leinster lost three of their first four games, a prominent Irish rugby pundit speculated that Schmidt had 'lost the dressing room'.Nine years on, Joe Schmidt has stepped down as Ireland coach having achieved success on a scale never before seen in Irish rugby. Two Heineken Cups in three seasons with Leinster. Three Six Nations championships in six seasons with Ireland, including the Grand Slam in 2018. And a host of firsts: the first Irish victory in South Africa; the first Irish defeat of the All Blacks, and then a second; and Ireland's first number 1 world ranking.Along the way, Schmidt became a byword for precision and focus in coaching, remarkable attention to detail and the highest of standards. But who is Joe Schmidt? In Ordinary Joe, Schmidt tells the story of his life and influences: the experiences and management ideas that made him the coach, and the man, that he is today. And his diaries of the 2018 Grand Slam and the 2019 Rugby World Cup provide a brilliantly intimate insight into the stresses and joys of coaching a national team in victory and defeat.From the small towns in New Zealand's North Island where he played barefoot rugby and jostled around the dinner table with seven siblings, to the training grounds and video rooms where he consistently kept his teams a step ahead of the opposition, Ordinary Joe reveals an ordinary man who has helped his teams to achieve extraordinary things.'Rugby obsessives and amateur coaches will revel in the insight that Schmidt offers into his training methods, tactics and preparation ... Full of insight, emotion and considered analysis' Irish Daily Mail'An insight into the fascinating personality of the man who has been the single most influential figure in Irish rugby over the last decade' Irish Times'He is clearly more than an ordinary coach, the winning of two Heinekens, beating New Zealand twice, the 2018 Grand Slam and reaching no.1 in the World Rankings are positive brushstrokes, marking Irish rugby for ever ... A rocky read about exceptional deeds, told in extraordinary fashion' Irish Daily Star'Undoubtedly the greatest coach in Irish rugby history' Daily Telegraph
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017
FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR OF THE GOD OF SMALL THINGSLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017NOMINATED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTIONLONGLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE 2018THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE and THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'At magic hour; when the sun has gone but the light has not, armies of flying foxes unhinge themselves from the Banyan trees in the old graveyard and drift across the city like smoke...'So begins The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy's incredible follow-up to The God of Small Things. We meet Anjum, who used to be Aftab, who runs a guest-house in an Old Delhi graveyard and gathers around her the lost, the broken and the cast out. We meet Tilo, an architect, who although she is loved by three men, lives in a 'country of her own skin' . When Tilo claims an abandoned baby as her own, her destiny and that of Anjum become entangled as a tale that sweeps across the years and a teeming continent takes flight...'A sprawling kaleidoscopic fable' Guardian, Books of the Year'Roy's second novel proves as remarkable as her first' Financial Times'A great tempest of a novel... which will leave you awed by the heat of its anger and the depth of its compassion' Washington Post
£10.30
Penguin Books Ltd The Red Pony
'A little masterpiece' New York TimesJody Tiflin is a ten-year-old boy, living on his father's ranch. One day his father brings home a small pony. He's Jody's, if the boy will learn to feed, clean, stable and care for him. But Jody learns, through the colt, and through his other adventures on the ranch, that with responsibility can come sacrifice and pain. Joy may swiftly turn to tragedy. And he also discover that the simplicities of childhood must eventually turn into the complications of adulthood.The Red Pony is Steinbeck's brilliant, and sometimes brutal, celebration of adolescence, with a stunning new cover by renowned artist Bijou Karman.
£9.04
Penguin Books Ltd A Traitor in the Family
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE GOOD LIAR, SOON TO BE A MAJOR FILM 'Unbearably tense' Daily Telegraph 'While her husband prepared to murder a young man he had never met, Bridget O'Neill completed her packing for Christmas with her in-laws.'Francis O'Neill is a terrorist, trained to kill for his cause. Bridget is his wife, expected to be loyal and stand by her husband. She has learned not to hope for much more, until the day she glimpses, for the first time, the chance of a new life. A life without violence, without secrets, and without knocks on the door in the dead of night. A life without her husband.But what if freedom for Bridget means grave danger for Francis? In A Traitor in the Family, bestselling author, Nicholas Searle, tells a story of shocking, intimate betrayal. Can a treacherous act of the most personal kind ever be, in this darkly violent world, an act of mercy?'It reminded me strongly of John le Carre ... this is high praise' Daily Mail "The Good Liar was excellent ... this is even better' Sunday Express
£9.04
Penguin Books Ltd Hitler and Stalin: The Tyrants and the Second World War
'You have to read it' Volodymyr Zelensky'Laurence Rees brilliantly combines powerful eye-witness testimony, vivid narrative and compelling analysis in this superb account' Professor Sir Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler: Hubris and Hitler: Nemesis'In this fascinating study of two monsters, Rees is extraordinarily perceptive and original' Antony Beevor_____________________Two tyrants. Each responsible for the death of millions. This compelling book on Hitler and Stalin - the culmination of thirty years' work - examines the two leaders during the Second World War, when Germany and the Soviet Union fought the biggest and bloodiest war in history.Hitler's charismatic leadership may contrast with Stalin's regimented rule by fear; and his intransigence later in the war may contrast with Stalin's change in behaviour in response to events. But as bestselling historian Laurence Rees shows, at a macro level, both were prepared to create undreamt-of suffering - in Hitler's case, most infamously the Holocaust - in order to build the utopias they wanted.Using previously unpublished, startling eyewitness testimony from soldiers, civilians and those who knew both men personally, Laurence Rees - probably the only person alive who has met Germans who worked for Hitler and Russians who worked for Stalin - challenges long-held popular misconceptions about two of the most important figures in history. This is a master work from one of our finest historians._____________________'Coming from one of the world's experts on the Second World War, this is an important and original - and devastating - account of Hitler and Stalin as dictators. A must read' Professor Robert Service, author of Stalin: A Biography'Impressive . . . well paced and well informed with an eye for telling anecdotes and colourful character sketches . . . Rees' decision to add personal stories to his narrative adds an important layer to our understanding of both the dictators themselves and their victims' Robert Gerwarth, The Daily Telegraph
£12.99
Penguin Books Ltd English Humour for Beginners
'To write a book is hard; to write a funny book is harder; to write a funny book both wise and funny is the prerogative of Mr. Mikes' The Times_________________________If you want to succeed here you must be able to handle the English sense of humour.So proclaims George Mikes' timeless exploration of this curious phenomenon. Whether it's understatement, self-deprecation or plain cruelty, the three elements he identifies as essential to our sense of humour, being witty here is a way of life.Perfectly placed as an adopted Englishman himself, Mikes delivers his shrewd advice - helpfully divided into 'Theory' and 'Practice' - with a comic precision that does his chosen country proud. Drawing on a trove of examples from our rich comic canon, from Orwell ("Every joke is a tiny revolution") to Oscar Wilde, this is the essential handbook for natives and foreigners alike.Mrs Kennedy: "I don't think, Mr Churchill, that I have told you anything about my grandchildren."Winston Churchill: "For which, madam, I am infinitely grateful."
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Bible According to Spike Milligan
The Old Testament: but more mad, more merry, more... Milligan!"And God said, Let there be light; and there was light, but Eastern Electricity Board said He would have to wait until Thursday to be connected."There have been many interpretations of the Old Testament over the centuries but never one quite like this. Spike Milligan has rewritten, in his own inimitable style, many of the best-known stories of the Old Testament, featuring characters like King "my brain hurts" Solomon, the great oaf of a giant Goliath and the lesser-known crossword clue, Hushai the Archite.Believers and non-believers alike will enjoy this hilarious re-working, where the jokes, jests and jibes tumble over each other from Chapter One, Verse One until kingdom come.
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life
'Profoundly engaging in depth, with remarkable subtlety and rare, limpid beauty. A must-read' - Mary GaitskillA luminous memoir about reading, writing and how to find meaning in a lifeWritten over two years while the author battled depression, Dear Friend is a painful and yet richly affirming examination of what makes life worth living. Interweaving personal memoir with a wide-ranging celebration of writers and books, this is a journey of recovery through literature.From William Trevor and Katherine Mansfield to Kierkegaard and Larkin, Yiyun Li traces the themes of time and transformation, presence and absence. Drawing on personal experiences from her difficult childhood in China, she constructs a beautiful, interior exploration of selfhood and what is required to choose life.
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Gifts of Reading
From the bestselling author of UNDERLAND, THE OLD WAYS and THE LOST WORDS - an essay on the joy of reading, for anyone who has ever loved a bookEvery book is a kind of gift to its reader, and the act of giving books is charged with a special emotional resonance. It is a meeting of three minds (the giver, the author, the recipient), an exchange of intellectual and psychological currency, that leaves each participant enriched. Here Robert Macfarlane recounts the story of a book he was given as a young man, and how he managed eventually to return the favour, though never repay the debt.From one of the most lyrical writers of our time comes a perfectly formed gem, a lyrical celebration of the transcendent power and humanity of the given book.
£4.96
Penguin Books Ltd A Start in Life
'Dr Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.'Ruth Weiss, an academic, is beautiful, intelligent and lonely. Studying the heroines of Balzac in order to discover where her own childhood and adult life has gone awry, she seeks not salvation but enlightenment.Yet in revisiting her London upbringing, her friendships and doomed Parisian love affairs, she wonders if perhaps there might not be a chance for a new start in life . . .
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd How To Watch Football
How can one striker be better than three? Why do the best defenders never need to make a tackle? What's the secret of Tiki-taka?Welcome to Ruud Gullit's masterclass on how to 'read' a match.From his unrivalled perspective as player, manager and pundit, the Dutch football legend shows us everything to look for in a 90 minute match. From formations and tactical decisions to player qualities and pivotal moments, Ruud Gullit unveils the hidden patterns on the pitch.Packed with his acute insights, original observations and talking points, How to Watch Football will quite simply change the way you see the beautiful game.
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd Figures in a Landscape: People and Places
A rich feast of travel writing, literary essays and fascinating interviews from Sunday Times bestselling travel author Paul Theroux'Wonderful... Evidence of both the breadth of Theroux's interests and his skill in bringing them to life' Sunday Times Culture Drawing together a fascinating body of writing from over 14 years of work, Figures in a Landscape ranges from profiles of cultural icons (Oliver Sacks, Elizabeth Taylor, Robin Williams) to intimate personal remembrances; from thrilling adventures in Africa to literary writings from Theroux's rich and expansive personal reading. Collectively these pieces offer a fascinating portrait of the author himself, his extraordinary life, restless and ever-curious mind.'Theroux's work remains the standard by which other travel writing must be judged' Observer'The world's most perceptive travel writer' Daily Mail
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life: NOW A MAJOR APPLE TV MOTION PICTURE
From his years serving in British Intelligence during the Cold War, to a career as a writer that took him from war-torn Cambodia to Beirut on the cusp of the 1982 Israeli invasion, to Russia before and after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, John le Carré has always written from the heart of modern times.The Pigeon Tunnel gives us a glimpse of the writer's journey over more than six decades, and his own hunt for the human spark that has given so much life to his fictional characters.
£16.67
Penguin Books Ltd The Secret People
'The Sun Bird was beginning to travel fast, close to the edge of the whirlpool. They could look right down into the hollow of spinning water' While flying over Africa's New Sea, a water project in the heart of the Sahara desert, Mark Sunnet's rocket plane crashes and is sucked through a hole in the desert floor into a strange, cavernous new world.There, he and his partner Margaret encounter the survivors of an ancient race of underground dwellers whose whole existence is now threatened. Captured and forced to live with other prisoners taken from the surface, the pair know that they must escape before the waters above drown them all . . .The Secret People, published in 1935, is John Wyndham's first novel.'Perhaps the best writer of science fiction England has ever produced' Stephen King
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd It's Not Always Depression: A New Theory of Listening to Your Body, Discovering Core Emotions and Reconnecting with Your Authentic Self
American Book Fest Best Health Book (Mental Health & Psychology) Award Winner 2018Cutting-edge and accessible psychotherapy to put us back in touch with our emotions - and fast'I loved it ... I have drawn my own picture of the change triangle - both fascinating and useful' - Cathy RentzenbrinkWe were all taught that our thoughts affect our emotions, but in truth it is largely the other way around: we have to experience our emotions to truly understand our thoughts, and our full selves. This is why we should think not only about cognitive behavioural therapy or medication, but also about our emotions, when addressing psychological suffering. In It's Not Always Depression, pioneering psychotherapist Hilary Jacobs Hendel reveals the most effective techniques for putting us back in touch with the emotions we too often deny - methods which can be used by anyone, any time, anywhere. Drawing on stories from her own practice, she sheds light on the core emotions (such as joy, sadness and fear), defences (anything we do to avoid feeling) and inhibitory emotions (anxiety, shame and guilt), and how understanding their interaction can help us return to mental well-being.This is the basis of 'accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy:' it accelerates healing through having an emotional experience in the here and now. It allows you to reacquaint yourself with your feelings, to recover a more authentic self and to be more calm, curious and connected.Winner of Nautilus Silver for Personal Growth Books 2019
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd Swimming Lessons
The second novel from the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of Unsettled Ground explores the mysterious truths of a troubled marriage and the ripples it creates.'Gil Coleman looked down from the window and saw his dead wife standing on the pavement below.' Twelve years ago Flora's mother Ingrid disappeared, vanishing from a Dorset beach, presumed drowned. Everyone - especially her sister and father Gil - believes Ingrid is long dead. Everyone, except Flora. So when she hears that her father has had an accident, and is insisting that he saw his wife, Floral rushes home.But the answers she seeks are nowhere to be found - only further questions:Is Ingrid dead? Or did she leave? And do the letters hidden within Gil's books hold the answer to the truth behind his marriage, a truth hidden from everyone including his own children? 'Thrilling, transporting, delicately realised and held together by a sophisticated sense of suspense' Sunday Times'Assured, multi-layered, wellcrafted, compelling, excellent' Mail on Sunday'A beautifully told story of motherhood, marriage and infidelity' Good Housekeeping*A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick*
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd Agency: Sequel to The Peripheral, now a major new TV series with Amazon Prime
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL FROM WILLIAM GIBSON, THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NEUROMANCER-----San Francisco, 2017. Clinton's in the White House, Brexit never happened - and Verity Jane's got herself a new job.They call Verity 'the app-whisperer,' and she's just been hired to evaluate a pair-of-glasses-cum-digital-assistant called Eunice...Only Eunice has other ideas.Pretty soon, Verity realises that Eunice is smarter than anyone she's ever met. Which is just as well since suddenly some very bad people are after Verity.Meanwhile, in a post-apocalyptic London a century from now, PR fixer Wilf Netherton is tasked with interfering in the alternative past in which Verity and Eunice exist. It appears something nasty is about to happen there - and fixing it will require not only Eunice's unique human-AI skillset but also a little help from the future.A future that Verity fears may never be . . .-----'Dazzling, astoundingly inventive' The Times'Wild, richly satisfying' Guardian'Terrific' Spectator'Rattles along with great pace and suspense' Sunday Times'One of our greatest science-fiction writers' New York Times'A sensual, remarkably visual ride' Guardian'Among our most fascinating novelists' Daily Telegraph
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd Lying in Wait: The gripping and chilling Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller
Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller!'My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.'____________Lydia Fitzsimons lives in the perfect house with her adoring husband and beloved son. There is just one thing Lydia yearns for to make her perfect life complete, though the last thing she expects is that pursuing it will lead to murder. However, needs must - because nothing can stop this mother from getting what she wants...____________'What an extraordinary novel ... crackles and snaps like a bonfire on a winter's night; you shudder even as you draw closer to it. Spellbinding.' A J Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window'Gone Girl fans will love Liz Nugent's Lying in Wait ... it twists, it turns, its characters are utterly despicable and it is a compulsive triumph' Stylist'A stunningly talented writer' Sophie Hannah'Devastating ... exquisitely uncomfortable, utterly captivating' Publishers Weekly'The intricate plotting and jolting suspense hold you in a vice till the last page' Sunday Times'Clear your diary if you pick up this seductively sinister story. The twists come together in a superbly scary denouncement which delivers a final sting in the tail. Brilliantly macabre' Sunday Mirror'Brilliant plotting ratchets up the tension in this chilling tale of obsessive love, madness and motherhood' Woman & Home'The wit is sharp and the plot full of punishing twists' The Times Crime Club'An unputdownable psychological thriller with an ending that lingers long after turning the final page' Irish Times'Lydia is a Gothic villain for the ages ... a page-turner chock full of lies and betrayals' Kirkus Reviews'An excellent example of "Domestic Noir" ... excitement and curiosity mount until you realise you can't put the book down. Highly recommended' Literary Review'A tense, taut, almost gothic thriller where the tension tightens to near unbearable proportions ... impossible to stop reading. A brilliantly written, stand-out novel' Marian Keyes'Deliciously twisted ... truly chilling' Sarah Hilary'Liz Nugent's characters are as unforgettably monstrous as they are believable. A superbly crafted novel and an absorbing portrait of the purest kind of evil' Jane Casey'It spoils nothing to tell you now that Lydia and Andrew Fitzsimons have murdered a young prostitute. Read this dark, captivating psychological thriller to find out why' People Magazine'I thought it impossible to match the brilliant Unravelling Oliver, but this Liz has done. Not only is her style beautiful, but she keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from page one until the completely unexpected ending. I read Lying in Wait in one sitting. I just couldn't bear the suspense. I absolutely loved it' Amanda Redman'She writes compellingly, creates posh sociopaths like no-one else and doesn't flinch when the end demands what it demands. Lying In Wait is a story you genuinely should not miss' Rick O'Shea, RTÉ
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd On Palestine
Co-authored by two leading voices in the struggle to liberate Palestine, an indispensable book for understanding the situation in Gaza right nowWhat is the future of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement directed at Israel? Which is more viable, the binational or one state solution? Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé discuss the road ahead for Palestinians and how the international community can pressure Israel to end its human rights abuses against the people of Palestine in this urgent and timely book, a sequel to their acclaimed Gaza in Crisis.'Chomsky is a global phenomenon . . . he may be the most widely read American voice on foreign policy on the planet' The New York Times Book Review'Ilan Pappé is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian' John Pilger'This sober and unflinching analysis should be read and reckoned with by anyone concerned with practicable change in the long-suffering region' Publishers Weekly (on Gaza in Crisis)
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Trick to Time
'There's a trick to time. You can make it expand or you can make it contract. Make it shorter or make it longer . . .'Some moments you want to last forever. Some moments shape a life. For Mona, it's the joy of playing on a Wexford beach as a young girl, next to her family's cottage overlooking the Irish sea. The thrill of moving to Birmingham with a new job and a room of her own in a busy boarding-house. Meeting the love of her life; a whirlwind marriage; a sudden, tragic loss. But now, decades later, Mona is determined to find happiness before it's too late. She knows that every moment is precious. But can we ever let go of the past that shaped us?'Devastatingly emotional. De Waal's storytelling gives us the poetry and sorrow of life itself' Financial Times 'Weaving tragedy and joy, big themes and the minutiae of life, this is a love story to take on the classics' Emerald Street'An emotionally sure-handed novel exploring harrowing terrain with deft sensitivity' Sunday Times
£9.04
Penguin Books Ltd A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
The fourteenth century was a time of fabled crusades and chivalry, glittering cathedrals and grand castles. It was also a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.Here, Barbara Tuchman masterfully reveals the two contradictory images of the age, examining the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived: what childhood was like; what marriage meant; how money, taxes and war dominated the lives of serf, noble and clergy alike.Granting her subjects their loyalties, treacheries and guilty passions, Tuchman recreates the lives of proud cardinals, university scholars, grocers and clerks, saints and mystics, lawyers and mercenaries, and, above all, knights. The result is an astonishing reflection of medieval Europe, a historical tour de force.
£12.99
Penguin Books Ltd Drop the Ball: Expect Less from Yourself and Flourish in Work & Life
An inspirational and insightful guide for those who want to get it all by doing less For women, a glass ceiling at work is not the only barrier to success - it's also the increasing number of obligations they face once they leave the office. Women have become accustomed to delegating, advocating and negotiating for themselves in the workplace, but when it comes to managing home life, they are still juggling too many balls. A simple solution is staring them in the face: use these skills to negotiate in their personal lives. In Drop The Ball, Tiffany Dufu urges the reader to embrace imperfection, to expect less of themselves and more from others - enabling them to flourish at work and develop deeper, more meaningful relationships at home.
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Forty Rules of Love
*The international bestseller from the author of the Booker-shortlisted novel, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World** One of the BBC's '100 Novels that Shaped the World'* "Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven't loved enough..." Ella Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children, and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfilled. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ella's life - an emptiness once filled by love.So when Ella reads a manuscript about the thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of life and love, her world is turned upside down. She embarks on a journey to meet the mysterious author of this work.It is a quest infused with Sufi mysticism and verse, taking Ella and us into an exotic world where faith and love are heartbreakingly explored. . .'Enlightening, enthralling. An affecting paean to faith and love' Metro'Colourfully woven and beguilingly intelligent' Daily Telegraph'The past and present fit together beautifully in a passionate defence of passion itself' The Times*** ELIF SHAFAK'S NEW NOVEL, THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY, IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW ***
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd Brooklyn
Colm Toibin's Brooklyn is a devastating story of love, loss and one woman's terrible choice between duty and personal freedom. The book that inspired the major motion picture starring Saoirse Ronan.It is Ireland in the early 1950s and for Eilis Lacey, as for so many young Irish girls, opportunities are scarce. So when her sister arranges for her to emigrate to New York, Eilis knows she must go, leaving behind her family and her home for the first time.Arriving in a crowded lodging house in Brooklyn, Eilis can only be reminded of what she has sacrificed. She is far from home - and homesick. And just as she takes tentative steps towards friendship, and perhaps something more, Eilis receives news which sends her back to Ireland. There she will be confronted by a terrible dilemma - a devastating choice between duty and one great love.***'With this elating and humane novel, Colm Tóibín has produced a masterwork' Sunday Times 'Unforgettable' Spectator'The most compelling and moving portrait of a young woman I have read in a long time' Zoë Heller Guardian, Books of the Year 'Magnificent' Sunday Telegraph'A work of such skill, understatement and sly jewelled merriment could haunt your life' Ali Smith TLS, Books of the YearWhen you are finished why not read the companion novel Nora Webster.
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled
**The number one bestseller, with over 150,000 copies sold, which kick-started a mindfulness revolution**'Ruby Wax has written a guide to mindfulness that's as hilarious as it is useful' Arianna Huffington'We are all frazzled, all of us...'Five hundred years ago no one died of stress: we invented this concept and now we let it rule us. In A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled, Ruby Wax shows us how to de-frazzle for good by making simple changes that give us time to breathe, reflect and live in the moment. It's an easy-to-understand introduction to mindfulness, weaved together with Ruby's trademark wit and humour.Let Ruby be your guide to a healthier, happier you. You've nothing to lose but your stress...'Whip-smart on the subject... she teaches the art of doing nothing in a way that doesn't send you to sleep' The Times
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Children Of Dynmouth
The Children Of Dynmouth - a classic prize-winning novel by William TrevorWilliam Trevor's The Children of Dynmouth (Winner of the Whitbread Award and shortlisted for the Booker Prize) was first published in 1976 and is a classic account of evil lurking in the most unlikely places. In it we follow awkward, lonely, curious teenager Timothy Gedge as he wanders around the bland seaside town of Dynmouth. Timothy takes a prurient interest in the lives of the adults there, who only realise the sinister purpose to which he seeks to put his knowledge too late.'A small masterpiece of understatement ... a work of rare compassion' Joyce Carol Oates, New York TimesIf you enjoyed The Story of Lucy Gault and Love and Summer, you will love this book. It will also be adored by readers of Colm Toibin and William Boyd. William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork. He has written eighteen novels and novellas, and hundreds of short stories, for which he has won a number of prizes including the Hawthornden Prize, the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award, the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and the David Cohen Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime's literary achievement. In 2002 he was knighted for his services to literature. His books in Penguin are: After Rain; A Bit on the Side; Bodily Secrets; Cheating at Canasta; The Children of Dynmouth; The Collected Stories (Volumes One and Two); Death in Summer; Felicia's Journey; Fools of Fortune; The Hill Bachelors; Love and Summer; The Mark-2 Wife; Selected Stories; The Story of Lucy Gault and Two Lives.
£9.67
Penguin Books Ltd Regeneration: The first novel in Pat Barker's Booker Prize-winning Regeneration trilogy
The devastating modern classic of contemporary war fiction from Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the GirlsRegeneration is the first novel in Pat Barker's Booker Prize-winning Regeneration trilogy - a powerfully moving portrait of the deep legacy of human trauma in the First World War'Brilliant, intense and subtle' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times'One of the strongest and most interesting novelists of her generation' Guardian 'Unforgettable' Sunday TelegraphCraiglockhart War Hospital, Scotland, 1917, and army psychiatrist William Rivers is treating shell-shocked soldiers. Under his care are the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, as well as mute Billy Prior, who is only able to communicate by means of pencil and paper. Rivers's job is to make the men in his charge healthy enough to fight. Yet the closer he gets to mending his patients' minds the harder becomes every decision to send them back to the horrors of the front. Pat Barker's Regeneration is the classic exploration of how the traumas of war brutalised a generation of young men.The Regeneration trilogy:RegenerationThe Eye in the DoorThe Ghost Road
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Penguin Books Ltd The Magician: Winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2022SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2022From one of our greatest living writers comes a sweeping novel of unrequited love and exile, war and family.The Magician tells the story of Thomas Mann, whose life was filled with great acclaim and contradiction. He would find himself on the wrong side of history in the First World War, cheerleading the German army, but have a clear vision of the future in the second, anticipating the horrors of Nazism.He would have six children and keep his homosexuality hidden; he was a man forever connected to his family and yet bore witness to the ravages of suicide. He would write some of the greatest works of European literature, and win the Nobel Prize, but would never return to the country that inspired his creativity.Through one life, Colm Tóibín tells the breathtaking story of the twentieth century.___________________________________'As with everything Colm Tóibín sets his masterful hand to, The Magician is a great imaginative achievement -- immensely readable, erudite, worldly and knowing, and fully realized' - Richard Ford'No living novelist dramatizes artistic creation as profoundly, as luminously, as Colm Tóibín . . . reading him is among the deepest pleasures our literature can offer' - Garth Greenwell'This is not just a whole life in a novel, it's a whole world' - Katharina Volckmer
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Penguin Books Ltd The Good Mother
'There is warmth and heart aplenty in this delicately told story' Daily MailMoving back in with her dad was not part of Kate's plan. Blindsided by her husband's affair and the break-up of their family, Kate must balance the needs of three very different children - solo.Seven-year-old Bobby is having meltdowns at school. Eighteen-year-old Luke vows that he'll never speak to his father again. And sweet middle-child Jess, always the peacemaker, is just trying to cheer everyone up as best she can.But when Jess is diagnosed with cancer, Kate's resilience is put to the ultimate test. She knows she has to put aside her own hurt and do what is best for her little girl. But maybe doing the right thing means doing the unthinkable?'A heart-warming and a heart-breaking story, beautifully written and sensitive ... compelling' Woman's Way'A fascinating exploration of difficult subjects ... Moriarty writes with compelling authority' Irish Times'OMG! I'm an emotional wreck after reading this novel, probably not helped by the fact that I pulled an all-nighter to finish it ... I just could not put it down' Eileen Dunne, RTÉ__________Praise for Sinéad Moriarty:'Heartfelt and deeply moving ... I couldn't put it down.' Susan Lewis'Intriguing and thought provoking ... a great read.' Katie Fforde'Gripping and thought-provoking - I was desperate to discover how it would pan out!' Paige Toon'We ate this fabulous story up - 4 stars' Heat magazine'Love, lies and longing - this has it all - 4 stars' Woman magazine'Intriguing - a dramatic twist in the tale will keep you engrossed.' Candis
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Penguin Books Ltd Invincible: Inside Arsenal's Unbeaten 2003-2004 Season
In 2003-04, Arsenal overcame every conceivable challenge to complete a 38-game league without a single loss. It was a feat unequalled in modern football. But for Arsene Wenger's 'Invincibles', a team including legends Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp, it was a challenge that went far beyond sport.Based on exclusive players interviews, this definitive book relives the pivotal games and moments, and allows the Invincibles to tell their own story. It takes readers inside the locker room, to reveal the teamwork, the psychology and the struggle behind one of the greatest teams in history.
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Penguin Books Ltd Drone Theory
Drone Theory is Gregoire Chamayou's poignant and sharply argued polemic against US drone warfare.In 2011 alone, the US deployed one drone strike every four days in Pakistan. Drone Theory is a rigorous polemic against the increasing use of robot warfare around the world. Drawing on philosophical debate, moral lessons from Greek mythology and transcripts of conversations between drone operators, Drone Theory re-evaluates the socio-political impact of drone warfare on the world - and its people. Chamayou takes us through Nevada, Pakistan and arresting philosophical terrain to reveal how drones are changing the landscape of war theory and to highlight the profound moral implications of our own silence in the face of drone warfare.Born in 1976, Grégoire Chamayou is a philosopher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris and the author of Les corps vils and Manhunts: A Philosophical History. Chamayou also lectures at Université de Paris Ouest, and has written for Le Monde Diplomatique among other publications. Janet Lloyd has translated over seventy books from French to English and has twice been awarded the Scott Moncrieff prize.
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Penguin Books Ltd Wild Tales
Wild Tales by Graham Nash - a classic rock memoir of the legendary Hollies front man and member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungIn this candid and riveting autobiography Graham Nash tells it all: the love, the sex, the jealousy, the drugs, and the magical music-making.This is one of the great rock and roll stories: growing up in poverty in postwar Manchester, where Nash founded the Hollies with schoolfriend Allan Clarke and the incredible success that followed, friendships with all the great British bands of the 60s including the Beatles, the Stones and the Kinks, decamping to America and becoming the lover of Joni Mitchell (for whom he wrote 'Our House') and achieving superstardom with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young.This book will be adored by Graham Nash fans and takes its rightful place in the pantheon of classic music memoirs alongside Book Dylan's Chronicles, Keith Richards' Life and Neil Young's Waging Heavy Peace.Graham Nash was born in Blackpool in 1942 and brought up in Salford. He was cofounder with his schoolfriend Allan Clarke of the Hollies - one of the most successful British pop groups of the 1960s for whom he was lead-singer and one of the principal songwriters. In 1968 he left the UK to live in California, where he became part of the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (later, after Neil Young joined, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). Unusually he has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for the Hollies and for CSNY, and in 2010 he received the OBE. He is noted for his political and charity work (he played Occupy Wall Street in 2011), is a serious photographer, and has homes in California and Hawaii.
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Penguin Books Ltd Spike Milligan: Man of Letters
Spike Milligan's letters contain some of the best material he ever wrote . . . Collected here for the first time are the funniest, rudest and most revealing of them - most of which have never been seen before - from one of the greatest comics of the twentieth century to some of its most famous politicians, actors, celebrities and rock stars (as well as a host of unlikely individuals on some surprising subjects):- rounded teabags ('what did you do with the corners?')- backless hospital gowns ('beyond my comprehension') - heartfelt apologies ('pardon me for being alive') and the imbalance of male and female ducks in London's parks. Here, then, is the real Spike Miligan: obsessive, rude, generous and relentlessly witty.'Milligan's zaniness shines through' Telegraph 'The godfather of alternative comedy' Eddie IzzardSpike Milligan was one of the greatest and most influential comedians of the twentieth century. Born in India in 1918, he served in the Royal Artillery during WWII in North Africa and Italy. At the end of the war, he forged a career as a jazz musician, sketch-show writer and performer, before joining forces with Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe to form the legendary Goon Show. Until his death in 2002, he had success as on stage and screen and as the author of over eighty books of fiction, memoir, poetry, plays, cartoons and children's stories.
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Penguin Books Ltd Here I Am
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom the bestselling author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Everything is Illuminated and We are the Weather - a rich and moving novel about modern family lives and the ties that bind'Towering and glorious: a tale of social, familial and marital breakdown and the End of the World. The funniest literary novel I have ever read' The Times'A rich, beautifully written, ambitious and grandly moving novel, which looks both at the world at large and at the deepest concerns of individual lives' Evening Standard 'Lays bare the interior of a marriage with such intelligence and deep feeling and pitiless clarity, it's impossible to read it and not re-examine your own family' Time'Astonishing. So sad and so funny and so wry' Scotland on Sunday Jacob and Julia Bloch are about to be tested . . .By Jacob's grandfather, who won't go quietly into a retirement home.By the family reunion, that everyone is dreading.By their son's heroic attempts to get expelled.And by the sexting affair that will rock their marriage.A typical modern American family, the Blochs cling together even as they are torn apart. Which is when catastrophe decides to strike . . . Confronting the enduring question of what it means to be human with inventiveness, playfulness and compassion, Here I Am is a great American family novel for our times, an unmissable read for fans of Jonathan Franzen and Michael Chabon, a masterpiece about how we live now.
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Penguin Books Ltd Expo 58
Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe - Spies, girls and an Englishman abroad. Trust no one.London, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk job and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task: to keep an eye on The Britannia, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century.As soon as he arrives, Thomas is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, a lovely Flemish hostess. But Thomas's new-found sense of freedom comes at a price: two British spies are following him.For fans of Jonathan Coe's classic comic bestsellers What a Carve Up! and The Rotters' Club, this hilarious new novel, which is set in the Mad Men period of the mid 50s, will also be loved by readers of Nick Hornby, William Boyd and Ian McEwan.'Clever and funny, enthralling and moving. Wonderful!' Daily Mail'Rich and splendidly comic' Independent
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Penguin Books Ltd The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY WINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHYWINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES' TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2016 The Return is at once a universal and an intensely personal tale. It is an exquisite meditation on how history and politics can bear down on an individual life. And yet Hisham Matar's memoir isn't just about the burden of the past, but the consolation of love, literature and art. It is the story of what it is to be human.Hisham Matar was nineteen when his father was kidnapped and taken to prison in Libya. He would never see him again. Twenty-two years later, the fall of Gaddafi meant he was finally able to return to his homeland. In this moving memoir, the author takes us on an illuminating journey, both physical and psychological; a journey to find his father and rediscover his country.'A beautifully-written memoir that skillfully balances a graceful guide through Libya's recent history with the author's dogged quest to find his father' Barack ObamaHisham Matar's new novel My Friends is available for pre-order now!
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Penguin Books Ltd Black Milk: On Motherhood and Writing
Black Milk is the affecting and beautifully written memoir on motherhood and writing by Turkey's bestselling female writer Elif Shafak, author of Honour, The Gaze and The Bastard of Istanbul which was long-listed for the Orange prize.Postpartum depression affects millions of new mothers every year, and- like most of its victims- Elif Shafak never expected to be one of them. But after the birth of her first child in 2006, the internationally bestselling Turkish author remembers how "for the first time my adult life . . . words wouldn't speak to me". As her despair finally eased, Shafak sought to resuscitate her writing life by chronicling her own experiences.In her intimate memoir, she reveals how she struggled to overcome her depression and how literature provided the salvation she so desperately needed.'An intimate, affecting memoir . . . Her passion for literature is contagious, and her struggle with postpartum depression and writer's block reinforces how carefully all of us must tread. Beautifully rendered, Shafak's Black Milk is an epic poem to women everywhere' Colleen Mondor
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Penguin Books Ltd Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS POPULAR NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014 A laugh-out-loud true story of the trials and tribulations of being a live-in nanny in 1980s London and inspired a major TV series starring Helena Bonham Carter.*****In 1982 Nina Stibbe, a 20-year-old from Leicester, moved to London to work as a nanny for a very particular family. It was a perfect match: Nina had no idea how to cook, look after children or who the weirdos were who called round. And the family, busy discussing such arcane subjects as how to swear in German or the merits (or otherwise) of turkey mince, were delighted by her lack of skills. Love, Nina is the collection of letters she wrote home gloriously describing her 'domestic' life, the unpredictable houseguests and the cat everyone loved to hate.***** 'I adored this book and could quote from it forever' Nick Hornby 'Funny and sharp: no book this year has made me laugh more' John Lanchester, Guardian 'The funniest book I've read in ages' Sunday Times 'An unassuming comic genius' Independent
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Penguin Books Ltd Funny Girl: Now The Major TV Series Funny Woman Starring Gemma Arterton
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER SOON TO BE A TV SERIES STARRING GEMMA ARTERTON AND RUPERT EVERETT'Simply unputdownable' Guardian'Hilarious' Daily Telegraph'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times _________________Make them laugh, and they're yours forever . . .Barbara Parker is Miss Blackpool of 1964, but she doesn't want to be a beauty queen. She wants to make people laugh.So she leaves her hometown behind, takes herself to London, and overnight she becomes the lead in a new BBC comedy, Sophie Straw: charming, gorgeous, destined to win the nation's hearts.Funny Girl is the story of a smash-hit TV show and the people behind the scenes. But when life starts imitating art, they all face a choice. How long can they keep going before it's time to change the channel? ______________'Warm, funny, touching . . . winningly perceptive about human relationships and changing social trends' Daily Telegraph'Like all Hornby's best work, it is both hugely enjoyable and deceptively artful' Spectator'A beguiling, thoroughly enjoyable read' Sunday Times'Hugely enjoyable' Sunday Mirror'Resolutely, winningly light-hearted' Observer'Hornby's sunniest novel' Metro
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Penguin Books Ltd Survivor on the River Kwai: The Incredible Story of Life on the Burma Railway
Survivor on the River Kwai is the heartbreaking story of one of the last survivors of the Burma Railway.February 1942. A young British soldier is caught up in the worst defeat in the history of the British Army, the fall of Singapore. Reg Twigg spends the next three years in hell, moving from jungle camp to jungle camp and building the Burma Railway for the all-conquering Japanese. Beaten, tortured, starving and forced to watch his comrades die, Reg fights for his survival, stealing from his captors, trapping animals and even making his own tobacco. That Reg survived is testimony to his own courage and determination, his will to beat the alien brutality of camp guards who had nothing but contempt for him and his fellow POWs. He was a risk taker whose survival strategies sometimes bordered on genius. As moving and harrowing as The Last Fighting Tommy, with the drama of David Lean's The Bridge Over the River Kwai and the heart of The Forgotten Highlander, Survivor on the River Kwai is Reg's story - his pain, his triumphs and even his forgiveness.Reg Twigg was born at Wigston (Leicester) barracks on 16 December 1913. He was called up to the Leicestershire Regiment in 1940 but instead of fighting Hitler he was sent to the Far East, stationed at Singapore. When captured by the Japanese, he decided he would do everything to survive.After his repatriation from the Far East, Reg returned to Leicester. With his family he returned to Thailand in 2006, and revisited the sites of the POW camps. Reg died in 2013, at the age of ninety-nine, two weeks before the publication of this book.
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Penguin Books Ltd Turner: The Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of J. M. W. Turner
The man behind the paintings: the extraordinary life of J. M. W Turner, one of Britain's most admired, misunderstood and celebrated artistsJ. M. W. Turner is Britain's most famous landscape painter. Yet beyond his artistic achievements, little is known of the man himself and the events of his life: the tragic committal of his mother to a lunatic asylum, the personal sacrifices he made to effect his stratospheric rise, and the bizarre double life he chose to lead in the last years of his life.A near mythical figure in his own lifetime, Franny Moyle tells the story of the man who was considered visionary at best and ludicrous at worst. A resolute adventurer, he found new ways of revealing Britain to the British, astounding his audience with his invention and intelligence. Set against the backdrop of the finest homes in Britain, the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, this is an astonishing portrait of one of the most important figures in Western art and a vivid evocation of Britain and Europe in flux.
£14.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft
The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft is the acclaimed bestselling biography by Claire TomalinWinner of the Whitbread First Book PrizeWitty, courageous and unconventional, Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the most controversial figures of her day. She published A Vindication of the Rights of Women; travelled to revolutionary France and lived through the Terror and the destruction of the incipient French feminist movement; produced an illegitimate daughter; and married William Godwin before dying in childbed at the age of thirty-eight. Often embattled and bitterly disappointed, she never gave up her radical ideas or her belief that courage and honesty would triumph over convention.'Tomalin is a most intelligent and sympathetic biographer, aware of her impetuous subject's many failings, yet with the perception to present her greatness fairly. She writes well and wittily' Daily Telegraph'A vivid evocation not only of what Mary went through but also of how women lived in the second part of the eighteenth century. Most of all, however, Tomalin makes Mary Wollstonecraft unforgettable' Evening StandardFrom the acclaimed author of Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self, Charles Dickens: A Life and The Invisible Woman, this celebrated biography is the definitive account of Mary Wollstonecraft's life.Claire Tomalin is the award-winning author of eight highly acclaimed biographies, including: The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft; Shelley and His World; Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life; The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens; Mrs Jordan's Profession; Jane Austen: A Life; Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self; Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man and, most recently, Charles Dickens: A Life. A former literary editor of the New Statesman and the Sunday Times, she is married to the playwright and novelist Michael Frayn.
£11.55
Penguin Books Ltd Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self
From the acclaimed author of Charles Dickens: A Life comes a celebrated biography that casts new light on the remarkable diaries of Samuel Pepys.Samuel Pepys achieved fame as a naval administrator, a friend and colleague of the powerful and learned, a figure of substance. But for nearly ten years he kept a diary which recorded, with unparalleled openness and sensitivity, exactly what it was like to be a young man in Restoration London.Within and beyond the narrative of his extraordinary career, Claire Tomalin explores Pepys' inner life - his relations with women, his fears and ambitions, his political shifts, his agonies and his delights.'A rich, thoughtful and deeply satisfying account' Evening Standard'Sex, drink, plague, fire, music, marital conflict, the fall of kings, corruption and courage in public life, wars, navies, public execution, incarceration in the Tower: Samuel Pepys's life is full of irresistible material' Guardian'In Claire Tomalin, Pepys has found the biographer he deserves. Her perceptive, level-headed book finally restores to the life of the diarist its weight and dignity' New Statesman
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Penguin Books Ltd Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life
Katherine Mansfield is the celebrated biography be bestselling author Claire Tomalin'One of the best biographies I have ever read: a perfect match of author and subject. It should become a classic' Alison LuriePursuing art and adventure across Europe, Katherine Mansfield lived and wrote with the Furies on her heels; but when she died aged only thirty-four she became one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Sexually ambiguous, craving love yet quarrelsome and capricious, she glittered in the brilliant circles of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, her beauty and recklessness inspiring admiration, jealousy, rage and devotion. Claire Tomalin's biography brings us nearer than we have ever been to this courageous, greatly gifted, haunted and haunting writer.'Generous, dispassionate, even-handed, setting out probably as plainly as anyone ever will Katherine's high hopes, the odds she faced and the impossible obstacles that ditched her in the end' Hilary Spurling, Daily Telegraph'Provides the finest and most subtly shaded portrait so far' John Gross, New York TimesFrom the acclaimed author of Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self, Charles Dickens: A Life and The Invisible Woman, this virtuoso biography is invaluable reading for lovers of Katherine Mansfield everywhere.Claire Tomalin is the award-winning author of eight highly acclaimed biographies, including: The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft; Shelley and His World; Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life; The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens; Mrs Jordan's Profession; Jane Austen: A Life; Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self; Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man and, most recently, Charles Dickens: A Life. A former literary editor of the New Statesman and the Sunday Times, she is married to the playwright and novelist Michael Frayn.
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