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A A Gill

Andrew Swanston read law at Cambridge, but was inspired to write by his lifelong interest in early modern history. His Thomas Hill novels – The King’s Spy, The King’s Exile and The King’s Return – are set against the backdrops of the English Civil War, Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early Restoration respectively. He is also the author of Waterloo: The Bravest Man and Beautiful Star and Other Stories. His first historical thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth I – Incendium (published in paperback as The Incendium Plot) – introduced readers to the academic, lawyer and intelligencer Dr Christopher Radcliff, whose adventures continue in Chaos. Andrew Swanston lives in Surrey.

A D Swanston

A E Langsford

A G Hopkins

A. J. BAIME is the New York Times best-selling author of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War and Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, and Men’s Journal. He lives in Granite Bay, California. Visit him at facebook.com/ajbaime and trumanbook.com.

A J Baime

A J Jacobs

A J P Taylor

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood: the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame.

A J Pollard

A J Rochester

A K Benjamin is a clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Let Me Not Be Mad: A Story of Unravelling Minds.

A K Benjamin

A. L. Berridge read English at Oxford, and taught for ten years before moving into television, where her production credits range from period drama and thrillers to long-running soaps. She has written two previous novels, Top Ten besteller Honour and the Sword and In the Name of the King. Into the Valley of Death is her third novel.

A L Berridge

Alison Gaylin's first job was as a reporter for a celebrity tabloid, which sparked a lifelong interest in writing about people committing despicable acts. More than a decade later, she wrote and published her Edgar-nominated first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES. 
 
She's since published nine more books, including the USA Today and international bestselling Brenna Spector suspense series, which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Thriller awards and won the Shamus award. 
 
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.

A L Gaylin

A Maxwell-Hyslop

A McArthur

A P Wavell

A.S. Webb is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Chaos, the first instalment of The Dark Pantheon Trilogy. She is inspired by stories rooted in history and mythology, that push the boundaries of imagination and urge us to reflect on what it means to be human.

A S Webb

A. A. Dhand is the author of six previous novels, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award. His DI Harry Virdee novels are currently being adapted for TV by the BBC. He was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired all his novels. For more information about A. A. Dhand and his books, follow him on X @aadhand, and on Instagram @aa_dhand.

A. A. Dhand

A. A. Gill

A. A. Milne

A. Anatoli

A. B. Poranek grew up sharing her time between Ontario, Canada and rural Poland, and eventually completed a veterinary degree at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. A lover of mythology and history, she enjoys exploring both in her writing. Her debut novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, an instant New York Times bestseller, is an ode to Poland's folktales, while A Treachery of Swans transports readers to a world inspired by 17th century France.

A. B. Poranek

A. Bradley

Professor A. C. Grayling is Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy, history, science and current affairs. For several years he wrote columns for the Guardian newspaper and The Times and was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

A. C. Grayling

A.D. Miller is the author of Snowdrops, The Earl of Petticoat Lane and The Faithful Couple. Snowdrops was a bestseller and was shortlisted for many prizes including the Man Booker and the CWA Gold Dagger. It was translated into 25 languages. As Moscow Correspondent of The Economist A.D. Miller has travelled across the former Soviet Union and covered the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; he is now the magazine’s Culture Editor based in London. 
 
admillerbooks.com

A. D. Miller

A. E. Ellis

A. E. W. Mason

A. Humphreys

A. Igoni Barrett was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 1979 and lives in Lagos. He is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. His short story collection, Love is Power, or Something Like That, was published in 2013. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of sub-Saharan African writers under 40. Blackass is his first novel.

A. Igoni Barrett

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Richard Powers

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019 
 SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018 
 THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
 A wondrous, exhilarating novel about nine strangers brought together by an unfolding natural catastrophe 
 
 An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another. An Air Force crewmember in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. 
 
 This is the story of these and five other strangers, each summoned in different ways by the natural world, who are brought together in a last stand to save it from catastrophe. 
 
 ‘Really, just one of the best novels, period’ Ann Patchett 
 
 ‘The best book I’ve read in ten years’ Emma Thompson 
 
 ‘Dazzlingly written’ Robert Macfarlane 
 
© Richard Powers 2018 (P) Penguin Audio 2018

The Overstory

Diana Gabaldon

World War II nurse Claire Randall finds herself transported back to 1743 where she meets young Scottish soldier Jamie Fraser, and the two travel from Scotland to America taking part in some of the most momentous events of the time.

Read the first three books in the million-copy bestselling Outlander series that inspired the TV show. 
 
What if your future was the past? 
 
Book 1: Outlander 
1946, and Claire Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. It’s a second honeymoon, a chance to learn how war has changed them and to re-establish their loving marriage. 
 
But one afternoon, Claire walks through a circle of standing stones and vanishes into 1743, where the first person she meets is a British army officer - her husband’s six-times great-grandfather. 
 
Unfortunately, Black Jack Randall is not the man his descendant is, and while trying to escape him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Scottish outlaws, and finds herself a Sassenach - an outlander - in danger from both Jacobites and Redcoats. 
 
Marooned amid danger, passion and violence, her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives. 
 
Book 2: Dragonfly in Amber 
For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to the majesty of Scotland's mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones, about a love that transcends the boundaries of time, and about James Fraser, a warrior whose gallantry once drew the young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his. 
 
Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful daughter as Claire's spellbinding journey continues in the intrigue-ridden court of Charles Edward Stuart, in a race to thwart a doomed uprising, and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves. 
 
Book 3: Voyager 
Jamie Fraser is lying on the battlefield of Culloden, where he rises wounded, to face execution or imprisonment. Either prospect pales beside the pain of loss - his wife is gone. Forever. 
 
But sometimes forever is shorter than one thinks. In 1746, Claire Fraser made a perilous journey through time, leaving her young husband to die at Culloden, in order to protect their unborn child. In 1968, Claire has just been struck through the heart, discovering that Jamie Fraser didn’t die in battle. 
 
But where is Jamie now? With the help of her grown daughter, Claire sets out to find the man who was her life - and might be once again.

An Outlander Collection

Books 1-3

Robert Harris

This epic trilogy by Robert Harris includes his bestselling novels: Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator 
 
Imperium - Compellingly written in Tiro's voice, Imperium takes us inside the violent, treacherous world of Roman politics, to describe how one man - clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable - fought to reach the top. 
 
Lustrum - From the discovery of a child's mutilated body, through judicial execution and a scandalous trial, to the brutal unleashing of the Roman mob, Lustrum is a study in the timeless enticements and horrors of power. 
 
Dictator - Riveting and tumultuous, Dictator encompasses some of the most epic events in human history yet is also an intimate portrait of a brilliant, flawed, frequently fearful yet ultimately brave man – a hero for his time and for ours. 
 
This is an unforgettable collection from a master storyteller.

The Cicero Trilogy

David Pirie

Imprisoned in a dank cottage deep in the English countryside Arthur Doyle lies half-unconscious and at the mercy of his nemesis - Cream. Gathering all his dwindling strength he smashes a window and crawls to safety. With a sharp piece of broken glass he awaits his torturer's return, but the man has eluded him once more, leaving behind the rotting body of a local miser and thwarted in his attempt to obtain money for his 'deadly' cause.        Securing the help of the remarkable pioneering criminal investigator Dr Joseph Bell the two men return to the scene of the crime but find few clues. London reveals little more except the possibility that their archenemy has gone to the Suffolk coast under the name of Dr Mere. Full of legend the local community fear the 'Dunwich witch' has returned with her evil curse. A man has died in suspicious circumstances and it seems many are unwilling to talk about it. More hideous crimes are yet to come as Dr Bell and Doyle move closer and closer to confronting Cream: Bell to capture a notorious villain, Doyle to avenge himself for a crime which robbed him of his future happiness.        Dr Bell and Arthur Doyle are reunited once again in their quest to hunt down a criminal mastermind in a sinister tale of intrigue and violence, which reaches a terrifying and dramatic climax -

The Dark Water

Barry Unsworth

It is the late fourteenth century, a dangerous time beset by war and plague. Nicholas Barber, a young and wayward cleric, stumbles across a group of travelling players and compounds his sins by joining them. 
 
Yet the town where they perform reveals another drama: a young woman is to be hanged for the murder of a twelve-year-old boy. What better way to increase their takings than to make a new play, to enact the murder of Thomas Wells? But as the actors rehearse, they discover that the truth about the boy's death has yet to be revealed...

Morality Play

Martyn Waites

The fully authorised chilling sequel to Susan Hill's bestselling ghost-story, The Woman in Black, released in 2012 as a film featuring Daniel Radcliffe. This is the book the follow-up film starring Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) and Phoebe Fox is based on. 
 
Autumn 1940, World War Two. Bombs are raining down, destroying the cities of Britain. 
 
The evacuations begin, and soon children are being taken to the country for safety. Teacher Eve Parkins is in charge of one such group. The children are scared and Eve does her best to calm them, but the truth is that she too is haunted by a personal tragedy she cannot put behind her. 
 
Their destination is Eel Marsh House. Desolate and forlorn, it is situated on a causeway and is sinking into the treacherous tidal marshes that surround it. 
 
Far from home and with no alternative, Eve and the children move in. 
 
But soon it becomes apparent that there is someone else in the house with them, someone Eve can't see but who is far more deadly than any number of German bombs ... 
 
 
The Woman in Black.

The Woman in Black: Angel of Death

David Nobbs

Henry Pratt is the epitomy of the great British underdog. Nothing is ever simple in his world, just when it seems things are going right, life throws him another unwanted curve-ball. Join Pratt as he traverses the highs and lows of everyday life in this comic masterpiece.

Hilarious storytelling from the creator of Reginald Perrin. 
 
It is 1957. The Suez Crisis has been and gone. Henry Pratt has completed his National Service and is putting his unsuccessful career as Thurmarsh's cub journalist behind him. Leaving Yorkshire, he's taking on a new role and a new challenge - working for the Cucumber Marketing Board in Leeds. 
 
Stumbling through the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties, Henry Pratt accumulates jobs, marriages and children on the way as he embarks on a touching, painful and hilarious switchback ride through a divided Britain.

Cucumber Man

(Henry Pratt)

Elizabeth Redfern

London, the summer of 1795: a season of revolutionary fervour, scientific discovery and vicious murders. The British government is in disarray, unable to stem the flood of secrets to Paris; betrayals that doom her war efforts to failure. In rural Kensington a group of French emigr-s are pursuing a scientific dream, the discovery of a planet they call Selene. The group has fallen under the spell of a beautiful and amoral woman - Auguste de Montpellier who is at once their muse and dark angel. Meanwhile a killer lurks in the back streets of the capital: the victims are all prostitutes and have been paid in French Louis d'Or, the currency of France's spies. Jonathan Absey is a Home Office clerk whose official task is to smash the French spy ring. Privately however, he has become obsessed with the murders. These interests intersect when he finds himself drawn into the Montpellier circle, yet his pursuit for truth remains obscured through coded letters, opium and conspiracy. Absey must uncover the mystery before the summer dies; an invasion fleet is being prepared to set sail across the channel and the lives of those on board now rest on his discoveries.

The Music Of The Spheres

Ben Kane

An exclusive straight to digital short story which also includes the first chapter of Ben Kane's Hannibal: Fields of Blood. 
 
WINTER 218 BC 
 
In Cisalpine Gaul, a Carthaginian patrol is moving stealthily through thick woodland. 
 
It’s led by Hanno, one of Hannibal’s young officers, and his second-in-command Mutt. 
 
Famished and cold, they are making for a town full of the grain that they desperately need. 
 
But the local Gauls cannot be trusted; and although defeated, the Romans still have patrols in the area. 
 
With peril on every side and a deadly ambush ahead, there is no certainty that either Hanno or Mutt will survive ...

Hannibal: The Patrol

(Short Story)

Don Haworth

A sequel to "Figures in a Bygone Landscape", which traced the author's childhood in the 1920s, this volume recaptures the world of the 1930s in Lancashire. Don Haworth recalls the Depression, school life, holidays in Blackpool, religion and politics in the pre-World War II years.

Bright Morning

Patricia Burns

Let much loved author Patricia Burns transport you to another time in this saga which brilliantly brings together characters from all walks of life whose lives centre around one much loved department store. Fans of Dilly Court, Rosie Goodwin and Josephine Cox will not be disappointed... 
 
READERS ARE LOVING PACKARDS! 
 
'I could hardly bear to put my kindle down until I had read the final chapter!' - Loving 
'One of the best books I have read for a long time'-- ***** Reader review 
'Another excellent read - couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review 
'Loved it' -- ***** Reader review 
******************************************************************************* 
A SWEEPING STORY OF SOCIETY, SOPHISTICATION, SEDUCTION, SUCCESSION...AND SHOPPING 
 
1908: Sir Thomas Packard is seeking a successor to take on the management of Packards - the Oxford Street department store he founded in the mid-nineteenth century. His only daughter and her feckless husband spend his fortune but despise its provenance so he looks to his grandchildren: 
 
EDWARD has all his grandfather's ruthlessness but none of his vision; 
PERRY is a good-time boy; 
AMELIE, intelligent and ambitious, is willing to take anyone on to gain control of the store. 
 
Alongside their story is that of Packards employees: 
DAISY CHAPMAN, thrilled to have found an escape from East End drudgery; skilled and promotable but forced to choose between love and her job; 
ISOBEL NORTON who has fled from her brother-in-law's advances to make a new life for herself; 
JOHNNY MILLER, loved by Isobel and in love with Daisy. 
 
Together, their stories combine to create a sweeping absorbing vision of a cross-section of society in the early years of the century. 
 
Find out what lies next in store for Packards in Goodbye Piccadilly: Packards at War...

Packards

a sweeping and sparkling story of society at the turn of the twentieth century

Marie Joseph

If you like Katie Flynn, Rosie Clarke and Catherine Cookson, you will love this captivating and heart -warming saga by bestselling and prizewinning author Marie Joseph. We meet Daisy Bell again (A Better World Than This) - in the aftermath of war, can she build a new life? 
 
'Marie Joseph is an amazing success story' -- Woman's Weekly 
'Marie Joseph has the same rare, magical gift as Catherine Cookson for turning everyday people with everyday lives into the stuff of fascination.' -- Kent Evening Post 
'She is a winner every time she writes' -- Manchester Evening News 
'Marie Joseph's descriptions and turn of phrase are a joy to read...' -- ***** Reader review 
'Loved this story, pure escapism' -- ***** Reader review 
'Compelling and very readable - recommended for an afternoon relaxing read.' -- ***** Reader 
********************************************************* 
IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY, CAN SHE BUILD A NEW LIFE? 
 
1947: The war is over, finally. 
 
Life at Daisy Penny's Blackpool boarding house, Shangri-La, is good - as good as it can be when you've got to feed your family and guests on rations and your husband is sickly. But still she carries on... 
 
However, when tragedy strikes, the indomitable Daisy makes the difficult decision to cut her ties, sell her boarding-house in Blackpool and start a new life in the country. 
 
Has she the strength to start afresh? 
 
Daisy's story started in A Better World Than This, which won the Romantic Novelists' Award.

A World Apart

a moving and emotional Lancashire saga about one woman’s resolve to start afresh

Jean Plaidy

A wonderful blend of history and romance with drama 
 
Even Tamar's mother believed that the child had been forced on her by the Devil when, against her judgement, she was persuaded to attend a midsummer sabbat of witches. In a world of superstition and intolerance, the wild and beautiful Tamar seemed doomed to a violent death. Intelligent though untutored, she attracts the wanted attentions of two gentleman, one passionate, the other pious. But all thoughts of romance are suspended when the terrifying witch-pricker comes to town... 
 
Daughter of Satan is a moving and exciting novel of fanaticism and persecution, of witches and puritan, pirates and savages. From Old Plymouth to New Plymouth in search of a new life, came Tamar, the passionate pilgrim, the woman whom many believed to be the daughter of Satan.

Daughter of Satan

Journey through the reign of William the Conqueror and his sons as they fight to keep civil war at bay and their line on the throne.

The first book in the Norman Trilogy chronicles the life of William the Conquerer. 
 
This glorious novel chronicles the life of William the Conqueror, the bastard son of the Duke of Normandy, from childhood until his death in 1087. 
 
He is destined to succeed his father as the Duke of Normandy but questions about his legitimacy mean he consistently faces challenges from potential usurpers in the Duchy to retain the title. He marries Matilda, the equally intelligent and ambitious daughter of the King of Flanders, and together they have many children. 
 
In 1066, he crosses the channel from Normandy to England and seizes the crown from King Harold, Edward the Confessor’s popular successor. This is the roller coaster account of his efforts to become sovereign and the events in his life afterwards, including his turbulent relationships with various members of his family.

The Bastard King

(Norman Series)

Henry, the youngest of The Conquerer's sons assumes the mantle of The Lion of Justice. 
 
The death of The Conqueror left three sons to inherit his power and his wealth. Normandy for Robert, England for Rufus and for Henry, the youngest, five thousand pounds of silver. 
 
The three were natural rivals. The feckless Robert lost Norman dukedom in an orgy of impulsive extravagance. Red-haired Rufus scandalised the court with his perverse sexuality and contempt for the Church. 
 
And Henry-cleverest of all-awaited his chance to fulfil his father’s prophecy and assume the mantle of The Lion of Justice. 
 
 
‘Jean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticity of detail and depth of characterisation has become one of the country’s most widely read novelists.’ Sunday Times 
 
‘Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting.’ Observer 
 
‘Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama.’ New York Times 
 
‘Outstanding’ Vanity Fair

The Lion of Justice

This is the third and final book in The Norman Trilogy and tells the story of the last days of the reign of Henry I. 
 
His son and wife are dead, and Henry hastily remarries a woman more than thirty years his junior in the hope of producing a male heir and securing the succession. 
 
If he fails, the throne will pass to Matilda, and Henry fears that his nobles will not willingly serve a woman. But after his death this feckless daughter becomes the focus of a line of would-be kings and soon the country is plunged into a bitter civil war that only a child can undo. 
 
‘Jean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticity of detail and depth of characterisation has become one of the country’s most widely read novelists.’ Sunday Times 
 
‘Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting.’ Observer 
 
‘Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama.’ New York Times 
 
‘Outstanding’ Vanity Fair

The Passionate Enemies

A story of greed, duplicity, romance and intrigue, and a mystery said to have brought down the french monarchy. 
 
The world shook at the eruption of the French Revolution, a revolution, some say, precipitated by a single factor: the theft of the Diamond Necklace which, it seemed, had been commissioned for Marie Antoinette and helped to bring both her and King Louis XVI to the guillotine. 
 
But behind the scandal was a complex and daring conspiracy involving a Prince of the Royal House of France, the charming and deceitful countess Jeanne de Valois, and the infamous Comte de Cagliostro – all pawns in a secret, devious plot for wealth and supremacy in Europe. 
 
‘Jean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticity of detail and depth of characterisation has become one of the country’s most widely read novelists.’ Sunday Times 
 
‘Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting.’ Observer 
 
‘Plaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama.’ New York Times 
 
‘Outstanding’ Vanity Fair

The Queen of Diamonds

Blending history with romance and drama, Jean Plaidy explores the Tudor dynasty and the political intrigue throughout their reign.

From the pen of international multi-million copy bestseller Jean Plaidy comes a beautifully evocative depiction of the story of Philip II of Spain and the Tudor Queen Mary. Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory. 
 
'Full-blooded, dramatic, exciting' -- Observer 
'Outstanding' -- Vanity Fair 
'It is hard to better Jean Plaidy when she is in form' -- Daily Mirror 
'I was gripped from the first page' -- ***** Reader review 
'A riveting read' -- ***** Reader review 
'Great story - could not put it' -- ***** Reader review 
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To restore the power of Spain and bring England back to the iron embrace of the Holy Church, the young Philip agrees to marry Mary Tudor. His golden hair and pale skin fill the middle-aged Queen with thoughts of hitherto forbidden pleasures. Yet Philip is merely playing the servant to his country... 
 
 Set against the glittering courts of sixteenth-century Europe, the Spain of the dreaded Inquisition and the tortured England of Bloody Mary, this powerful novel traces the story of Philip II - and of the woman who came to know this cold-blooded monster only as a devoted husband and a sensual lover.

The Spanish Bridegroom

(The Tudor Saga: 10): a fantastic blend of history and romance set against the glittering courts of sixteenth-century Europe from the Queen of British historical fiction

From one of the most distinguished English authors of historical fiction comes a series that explores the lives of eleven Georgian figures. Beginning with the beautiful Sophia Dorothea, darling of Celle, and ending with Victoria's rise to become Queen of England.

Plaidy has the abilty of making history accessible and a joy to read. 
 
Caroline’s long wait is up. George I is dead, and her husband is King. They immediately make the unfortunate discovery that most of the jewels and inheritance have been leaked away to mistresses of the old King. Catherine, with the assistance of Prime Minister Walpole, slowly begins to repair the damage done to England by previous sovereigns. 
 
She does her duty to the best of her ability, monitoring decisions made by her arrogant and insecure husband and stepping in where she feels it necessary. The book emphasises the importance of English Queens throughout history, as Caroline patiently dominates her husband and most of the court from behind the scenes. It is thanks to her that the House of Hanover survived, despite the unpopularity of its Kings.

Caroline the Queen

(Georgian Series)

The tenth book in the Georgian series is an entertaining work of historical fiction. 
 
Like his brothers, William, Duke of Clarence, has had his share of romance and intrigue. And when he falls in love with Dorothy Jordan, the notorious Irish comic of the Drury Lane Theatre, gossipmongers are ecstatic, for William is not the only one with a shady past. Dorothy's notorious offstage life combined with William's less than decorous behaviour will make great copy for the scandal sheets, while their affair lasts. 
 
But everyone is surprised when the casual dalliance develops into a twenty year marriage in all but name. William’s penchant for living beyond his means ensures that Dorothy can never leave the theatre as her income is a necessity for the couple. This becomes a contentious issue as she wants nothing more than to be a full time mother. 
 
Eventually, William leaves the family and seeks to meet his obligations to the state. Meanwhile, Dorothy, abandoned by her lover and ignored by the many children she had fought so hard to raise, must live out the remainder of her days alone in France.

Goddess of the Green Room

The last book in this magnificent Georgian saga. 
 
It was necessary for the Prince of Wales to marry, and his victim was the unconventional Caroline of Brunswick. Caroline, already plagued by scandals in her personal life, would rather have married a Major in her father's army but this was not to be. Arriving in England she finds her bridegroom's mistress waiting to undermine her position and to spy on her. The Prince is determined to hate her, and humiliates her at every possible occasion even after she has given him a daughter. 
 
Meanwhile, her generous nature wins over the love of the people, leading her husband to resent her even more. Even her new family, with the exception of the half-mad king, offers her no support. Caroline becomes more independent and excessively extravagant as she tries to negotiate the traps laid out for her by a hostile court. Eventually she leaves, and much to the delight of social gossips continues to provide them with scandals and amusements long after the dust of her time at court has settled.

Indiscretions of the Queen

One of the county's most widely read novelists brings us scandalous Prince Charming - George, Prince of Wales ... 
 
George III, fighting madness and the loss of the American colonies, has a domestic crisis as well. The 17-year-old Prince of Wales, fighting the puritanical decorum of his parents' court, is about to begin his career of womanizing, gambling and consorting with the king's political enemies. 
 
At the Drury Lane Theatre, the prince is enchanted by popular actress Mary Robinson in the role of Perdita in A Winter's Tale. Although she is older, married and a mother, the Prince sets her up as his mistress. Mary has had many adventures, and is not averse to the attentions of the young price despite much opposition from those around them. 
 
Like most royal scandals however, the affair doesn’t last. George has no notion of fidelity and soon loses interest in her, but she won’t let him escape without a fight. The affair is used to advantage by the King's political opponents, while the Prince moves on to newer, more flamboyant dalliances, happily anticipating the unbridled indulgence his 21st birthday will permit.

Perdita's Prince

The story of Caroline of Ansbach, part of the fabulous Georgian series. 
 
When Caroline of Ansbach arrives in England, King George is old and sour, his mistress ugly and his wife imprisoned at his own hand for over twenty years. She has grown up watching her mother Eleanor’s loveless and dangerous marriage, and is determined to avoid a similar situation. So she marries the Prince of Wales, George Augustus, and they are popular among the people, leading the King to resent them. 
 
In what will become typical Hanoverian style, father and son loathe each other and exist in a state of constant competition for power. She quickly realizes that her husband is unintelligent and sees that she will be able to control him to some extent. Despite plenty of obstacles, including her father-in-law’s control of her children, she refuses to lose sight of her aims.

Queen in Waiting

Plaidy's fabulous Georgian series continues with the courtship of Maria Fitzherbert ... 
 
The day the Prince of Wales set eyes on Maria Fitzherbert on the towpath at Richmond, she was twice widowed and eminently appealing. The Prince was in love. The more she resisted him, the more determined he became. 
 
The courtship of Mrs Fitzherbert, set against the backgrounds of the Brighton Pavillion, the court at Windsor and Carlton House, was to bring betrayal, scandal and the downfall of one of the greatest politicians of the day. 
 
It is a story full of the elegance and arrantry of the close of the eighteenth century, peopled with characters like the wily Charles James Fox, the coy Fanny Burney, and old George III, slowly descending into madness, while the balladmongers sang...

Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill

Bringing history to life, Plaidy tells the story of a young, idealistic Prince of Wales... 
 
The Prince of Wales develops a deep affection for a beautiful quakeress, Hannah Lightfoot, who catches his eye as he is riding through the streets. A first meeting is arranged, leading to several more, and eventually they discreetly marry in a secluded house where they live as man and wife. She is prepared to betray her beliefs for him, just as he is willing to defy the desires of various courtiers for her. Eventually, his mother’s lover Lord Bute uncovers the affair and Hannah mysteriously disappears. 
 
The novel explores the lasting question, did the future George III contradict royal protocol and marry a commoner? Shortly after his affair with Hannah, he becomes King George III. After a potential engagement to Sarah Lennox falls through, he marries Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

The Prince and the Quakeress

The first volume in Plaidy's Georgian saga. 
 
True love never ran smoothly for the beautiful Sophia Dorothea, darling of Celle, who first lost her heart to Philip Königsmarck on her seventh birthday. 
 
At sixteen, a pawn in seventeenth-century German politics, she was forced into marriage with George Lewis, Crown Prince of Hanover and the future George I of England, who cared only for women and war. 
 
Clara von Platen, the uncrowned ruler of Hanover, jealous, ruthless and sexually insatiable, is spurned by Königsmarck when he re-appears in the life of Sophia Dorothea. In revenge, she plans his ruin-and that of the sad princess he so recklessly loves…

The Princess of Celle

Plaidy brings the Regent period alive in this fabulous Georgian series ... 
 
The marriage of The Prince of Wales to Caroline of Brunswick was strewn with private skirmish and public scandal, yet it did bear a daughter - Princess Charlotte, heiress presumptive to the English throne. The Regent is still elegant, though moving swiftly into corpulent middle age as his wife Caroline remains determined to shock almost to the point of lunacy. Old George III rambles on into the mists of his madness and stern Queen Charlotte sits at the centre of her web of domestic spies. 
 
Beneath them all sparkles Charlotte, much loved by her mother but kept distant by her father and grandmother. Ever bewildered by her bizarre collection of royal relatives, Charlotte grows up to be honest, forthright and always certain of her destiny, though an unfortunate twist of fate means it is never to occur.

The Regent's Daughter

The fifth book in the Georgian series. 
 
George III was certain that the shadowy charm of Hannah, the vital beauty of Sarah, would cease to torment him once he was married to Charlotte. But Charlotte was unexciting, and he could not help his heart beating faster every time he saw a beautiful woman. 
 
Surrounded by the great and the notorious, the King was beset by political anxieties, humiliated by the loss of the American colonies, and distressed at the scandals in the royal family. 
 
The King’s sister was tried for treason and adultery, but the greatest scandal of all was created by his eldest son-the handsome, willful, pleasure-seeking Prince of Wales…

The Third George

With King George III under lock and key suffering from perceived insanity and the Prince Regent in ill health, all eyes are on the Regent’s pregnant daughter. Unfortunately, the unthinkable happens and both Charlotte and her baby die in childbirth, leaving the age old problem of succession. For though King George III has many children, all are middle-aged and none have legitimate heirs to secure the Hanoverian dynasty. 
 
The death of Charlotte causes a sudden enthusiasm for marriage among the sons of George III, as they compete to have children and secure their line of succession. William marries Adelaide of Saxe-Coburg Meiningen while Edward marries Victoria Mary Louisa of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg. Another son, Ernest, is already married and he too hopes to be the one to provide necessary children. King George dies, to be replaced by an ailing George IV, and Edward and Victoria succeed in having a daughter, also named Victoria. She waits patiently to become Queen, avoiding the plots, intrigue and danger that threaten to prevent her reaching maturity.

Victoria in the Wings

Incredibly detailed, exciting and vibrant is Plaidy's thrilling Queen of England series which depicts the lives of each queen beginning with Queen Henrietta Maria.

One of the country's most widely read novelists - the first volume in the Queens of England series. 
 
Despite the dangers of practicing her faith in the staunchly Protestant England, pretty Queen Henrietta Maria refuses to cast aside her Catholicism, so she finds little favour among the people. She is impetuous and loving, fond of fashionable clothes and gossip, and Charles, a family man of principle and integrity, is entirely devoted to her. 
 
But their happy if controversial marriage is soon under threat when Henrietta is renounced as a puppet of Rome and charged with leading Protestant England back to Rome. 
 
Soon her enemies swarm and the spies in her household prove too much. Only her loyalty and love for Charles can hope to keep him from the road to regicide.

Myself, My Enemy

(Queen of England Series)

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. Discover the 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami.

1Q84

365 Days of Art

A BBC Christmas

A Black Book Thriller

A Box Full of Murders

A Cal Leandros Novel

A Christmas Mystery

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

A Commissario Brunetti Mystery

A DC Smith / Kings Lake Investigation Series

A Daisy Story

Chronicling the lives of over three hundred characters, unrivalled for its scope and humour, this is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

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