'Sharp, unsentimental and ruefully funny. A fascinating portrait not only of Lively but of the times through which she has lived' Daily Telegraph'Clever and poignant . . . there is much to enjoy. This is Lively at her best' Sunday Express'The twentieth century shook the world: it sobers me to have been one of those to see it through'Ten years ago, Penelope Lively, then eighty, wrote this powerful and compelling 'view from old age', reporting back on what she found. ...

When Lucy’s childhood sweetheart stands her up on their wedding day, leaving her alone on a plane eloping to the tropical location of his choosing, their dream – now feeling like just her dream - of their bairn filled future disappears in a heartbeat (or the time it takes for her to listen to the rambling drunken voicemail he left calling off the wedding).In Naples, Elena is recently widowed and struggling to keep her husband’s family’s beloved and centuries old mozzarella factory ...

The Chalice men are used to ruling the world - until Geri Chalice usurps her brother in the sprawling family business.Geri is as ruthless as her father, and far more effective than her brother. Everyone assumes that she will go on forever, but on the eve of her seventieth birthday celebrations at a luxury retreat she announces that she is stepping down as CEO.The news sets off a frenzy of back-stabbing and plotting as Geri chooses her successor. But just how far is she prep...

Work - who does what tasks in society, and what they get in return - is at the heart of social justice. Even today, the gender system brings about a gendered division of labour that is both cause and consequence of men's greater status and power. These dynamics limit what we can do and be, unfairly tip the scales when it comes to what we get in return, create gendered distortions of competence and productivity, and irrational resistance to reforms that would make our workplaces more produc...

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA'Perhaps we shall not see each other again. I will write to you, though, and tell you, as best I can, the story of your family. A glass-blower, remember, breathes life into a vessel, giving it shape and form and sometimes beauty; but he can with that same breath, shatter and destroy it.'Faithful to her word, Sophie Duval reveals to her long-lost nephew the tragic story of a family of master craftsmen in eighteenth-century France. The worl...

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA.'The apathy of Sunday lay upon the streets. Houses were closed, withdrawn."They don't know," he thought, "those people inside, how one gesture of mine, now, at this minute, might alter their world. A knock on the door, and someone answers - a woman yawning, an old man in carpet slippers, a child sent by its parents in irritation; and according to what I will, what I decide, their whole future will be decided . . . Sudden murder. Theft. F...

INTRODUCED BY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER STEPHEN KINGA STUNNING COLLECTION OF DAPHNE DU MAURIER'S THIRTEEN DARKEST STORIES - INCLUDING 'THE BIRDS' AND 'DON'T LOOK NOW'Amid the reflections and twisting alleyways of Venice, a grieving couple are haunted by the past. On a sharp December day, the wind changes - and the birds begin to gather. A group of wartime scientists attempt to capture the power of death, an eye operation reveals a monstrous reality, and a woman returns home ...

Despite Catherine of Braganza's crucial place in British history, and that of its Empire, she has since been overshadowed by stories of the king's many mistresses and forgotten as Charles' boring, powerless wife. This could not be further from the truth.In an absorbing narrative, historian Sophie Shorland not only tells the full story of this long-overlooked figure and her difficult relationship with Charles II, but also reveals how Catherine changed the country in ways both large ...

1950s France. A British establishment figure. A shocking crime. A miscarriage of justice.The search for truth.In 1952, in a peaceful corner of Provence, a farmer's son stumbled upon a terrible scene. Three bodies: a husband and wife shot dead, their ten-year-old daughter savagely beaten to death. They were all British. So begins one of the most notorious murder cases in French history.Sir Jack Drummond was a senior advisor to the British government, a household name who was...

Outstanding .... This is superior crime fiction. Sunday Times.A gruesome discovery behind apartment walls. A desperate author's dark secret. A stalker who will kill to destroy everything…Jensen returns in her most sinister case yet. When human remains turn up behind an apartment wall in the middle of Copenhagen, DI Henrik Jungersen knows he is hunting for killer that has been hiding in plain sight. Jensen, who should be enjoying maternity leave is struggling with her own bombshell,...

A missing person… a headless corpse… Jensen is on the case.June, and as Copenhagen swelters under record temperatures, a headless corpse surfaces in the murky harbour, landing a new case on the desk of DI Henrik Jungersen, just as his holiday is about to start.Elsewhere in the city, Syrian refugee Aziz Almasi, driver to Esben Nørregaard MP has vanished. Fearing a link to shady contacts from his past, Nørregaard appeals to crime reporter Jensen to investigate.Could t...

A missing child ... a tainted witness ... Jensen's darkest case yet ...'Dark deeds and deep secrets abound in Heidi Amsinck's Copenhagen. A white-knuckle ride into hell.' – IAN RANKIN'Amsinck's Copenhagen-set crime series is reliably excellent.' – MAIL ON SUNDAY'Relentless tension pulses through every page of this meticulously plotted thriller.'– THOMAS ENGER‘Nordic noir at its finest…outstanding…This is superior crime fiction’ JOAN SMITH, SUNDAY TIMES, PICK...