**The American debut by the bestselling author of *Longbourn—*a vivid, indelibly told novel that follows four generations of a family against the backdrop of a century of turmoil. • “Gripping.... Emotionally powerful…. You can’t walk away from her book.” —***The New York Times Book ReviewThe Undertow* traces the lives of the Hastings family, from the eve of the First World War to the present day: William, a young factory worker preparing to join the navy; his son B...

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 an...

'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. A...

• Pride and Prejudice was only half the story •If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. Bu...

The perfect gift for all Jane Austen fans!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 ne...

If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah thought, she would be more careful not to trudge through muddy fields.It is wash-day for the housemaids at Longbourn House, and Sarah's hands are chapped and bleeding. Domestic life below stairs, ruled tenderly and forcefully by Mrs Hill the housekeeper, is about to be disturbed by the arrival of a new footman smelling of the sea, and bearing secrets.For in Georgian England, there is a world the young...

JO BAKER was born and grew up in Lancaster, educated at Oxford and Belfast, and now teaches creative writing at Lancaster University. She is the author of two previous novels, both published by Heinemann. She is also a script writer, whose adaptation of Charlotte Bront?'s Shirley, has just won funding from the Irish Film Board.

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • “Fans of Austen...will take particular pleasure” (People) in this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice.While Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters fuss over balls and husbands, Sarah, their orphaned housemaid, is beginning to chafe against the boundaries of her class. When a new footman arrives at Longbourn under mysterious circumstances, the carefully choreographed world she ...

**From the bestselling author of Longbourn: a work of riveting psychological suspense that grapples with how to live as a woman in the world—or in the pages of a book—when the stakes are dangerously high.“Gripping…the perfect marriage of risky literary fiction and full-on thriller.” —Maria Semple, bestselling author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette**When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote English countryside, it's meant to be a fresh s...

'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. A...

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 - Will...

'The poems in The Journey to Here are wise and often whimsical; some are dark as obsidian, others crystal clear with the joy of life. Jo Baker is a born storyteller, a lover of language and a strong woman who's not afraid to confront and write about life's challenges. Baker combines rich details, sharp observations and a wild imagination with rhythm and rhyme in this memorable collection of poems.' - Jude Aquilina 'Joanne Baker's life changed dramatically after a car accident deprived her ...