A bitingly comic exploration of an unforgettably dysfunctional family, from a writer who wields great "comic rhythm" ( The New Yorker). This ferociously funny family saga journeys into the mysteries of many kinds of love.England, 1983. A celebrated love story entertains the nation: Patrick, the sexy young playwright, scourge of an enthralled establishment, marries Sara, who has abandoned her two children to fulfill her destiny as Patrick's beautiful, devot...

“A terrific debut, full of energy and colour, as propulsive as a thriller.”—GuardianIn this unforgettable debut novel about the pain, joy, and occasional beauty of childhood, two girls are set on an unimaginable path. Spoiled but emotionally neglected Gemma, who seems to have everything, and semi-feral Pauline, who has less than nothing, are two very different ten-year-old girls growing up in a tough Yorkshire town in the 1970s. Pauline longs for the simple luxuries of Gem...

Rumer Godden's stunning classic novel of devotion, faith and madness'You have to be very strong to live close to God or a mountain, or you'll turn a little mad . . .'High in the Himalayas, the mountaintop palace shines like a jewel. Built for the General's harem, laughter and music once floated out over the gorge. Now it sits abandoned, windswept and haunting - until Sister Clodagh and her group of nuns arrive to turn 'the House of Women' into the ...

They were colour-supplement darlings of the 1980s: Patrick, the sexy, ferocious young playwright, scourge of an enthralled establishment, and Sara, who abandoned her two children to fulfil her destiny as Patrick's beautiful, devoted wife and muse.Thirty-five years later, Sara's death leaves Patrick alone in their crumbling house in Cornwall, with his whisky, his writer's block and his undimmed rage against the world. But bereavement is no respecter of life's estrangements, and Sara...

'Do You Know This Girl?'Harmony's teenage craving for drama is answered when a body is discovered by her aunt Mel on Evensand beach. But the naked, lifeless young woman turns out - problematically - to be alive. Unable to speak or remember where she came from, the woman is named Storm by her nurses.Surrounded by doctors, psychiatrists and policemen, Storm remains provocatively silent. Harmony is desperate to fill in the gaps in Storm's story, while the responsibili...

The complete script to the three part BBC television drama Life In Squares, (starring James Norton, Phoebe Fox, Eve Best and Lydia Leonard) exploring the tangled and complex loves of the Bloomsbury Group, includes an introduction by the screenwriter, Amanda Coe. Vanessa Bell, the heart of this set of writers, artists, philosophers and intellectuals, has an incredibly close and often difficult relationship with her sister, Virginia Woolf. When Vanessa falls in love, she must balanc...

INTRODUCED BY LAUREN GROFF'Rumer Godden's novels have a timeless shimmer' GUARDIAN'One hundred years after her birth, Rumer Godden's novels still pulse with life' MATTHEW DENNISON, TELEGRAPH'Her craftsmanship is always sure' NEW YORK TIMES'The motto was Pax but the word was set in a circle of thorns. Peace, but what a strange peace, made of unremitting toil and effort . . .'Bruised by tragedy, Philippa Talbot leave...

By the author of Black Narcissus and The River'One of our best and most captivating novelists' Philip Hensher'Her craftsmanship is always sure; her understanding of character is compassionate and profound; her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty' New York TimesIn a crumbling Calcutta mansion, with faded frescos and a jasmine-covered garden, the Lemarchant family live, clinging to the...

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BLACK NARCISSUS AND THE RIVER'One of our best and most captivating novelists' PHILIP HENSHER'[Godden has] a genius for storytelling' EVENING STANDARD'Her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty' NEW YORK TIMES'Descriptions of the Italian setting are gorgeous but the real strength is the childlike perspective' DA...

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR ROSIE THOMASBy the author of Black Narcissus and The River'One of our best and most captivating novelists' Philip Hensher'[Godden has] a genius for storytelling' Evening StandardBreakfast with the Nikolides was always to be the last hour of her childhoodFor Emily Pool, India is a magical place where she ha...

BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BLACK NARCISSUS AND THE RIVER'A haunting tale . . . the whole book burns with the beauty and poetry' EVENING STANDARD**'Powerful adult themes underlie the novel's glimmering surface' ROSIE THOMAS, GUARDIAN'One of our best and most captivating novelists' PHILIP HENSHER**Sophie Barrington Ward, without a husband, with two children and very little income, is faced...

**By the author of Black Narcissus and The River'[Godden's] distinctive, poised and unsentimental books have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal' ROSIE THOMAS, GUARDIAN'One of our best and most captivating novelists' PHILIP HENSHER'[Godden has] a genius for storytelling' EVENING STANDARD**'All horses can walk - some badly, some well, but to a few is given a gift of movement feline in its grace, a slouchi...