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Paul J. Zak

Human beings can be so compassionate. They can also be shockingly cruel. What if there was a master control for human behaviour? Switch it on and people are loving and generous. Switch it off and they revert to violence and greed. Pioneering neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak has discovered just such a master switch: a molecule in the human brain. 
 
Zak’s colleagues call him Dr Love. They also call him the vampire economist. He and his research team have travelled from his laboratory in California to the jungles of Papua new Guinea via a summer garden in Devon, taking blood from people as they attend a wedding, make decisions with money, play football on the field, even jump from an aeroplane. Their experiments to measure a chemical in the bloodstream called oxytocin reveal the answers to those mysteries about why we make the decisions we do: why we are sometimes rational, at other times irrational; why men cheat more than women; how the moral molecule operates in the market place, and most importantly, once we understand the moral molecule, how we can consciously use it to make our lives better.

The Moral Molecule

the new science of what makes us good or evil

Carissa Véliz

An Economist BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 
 
As the data economy grows in power, Carissa Véliz exposes how our privacy is eroded by big tech and governments, why that matters and what we can do about it. 
 
The moment you check your phone in the morning you are giving away your data. Before you've even switched off your alarm, a whole host of organisations have been alerted to when you woke up, where you slept, and with whom. As you check the weather, scroll through your 'suggested friends' on Facebook, you continually compromise your privacy. 
 
Without your permission, or even your awareness, tech companies are harvesting your information, your location, your likes, your habits, and sharing it amongst themselves. They're not just selling your data. They're selling the power to influence you. Even when you've explicitly asked them not to. And it's not just you. It's all your contacts too. 
 
Digital technology is stealing our personal data and with it our power to make free choices. To reclaim that power and democracy, we must protect our privacy. 
 
What can we do? So much is at stake. Our phones, our TVs, even our washing machines are spies in our own homes. We need new regulation. We need to pressure policy-makers for red lines on the data economy. And we need to stop sharing and to adopt privacy-friendly alternatives to Google, Facebook and other online platforms. 
 
Short, terrifying, practical: Privacy is Power highlights the implications of our laid-back attitude to data and sets out how we can take back control. 
 
If you liked The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, you'll love Privacy is Power because it provides a philosophical perspective on the politics of privacy, and it offers a very practical outlook, both for policymakers and ordinary citizens.

Privacy is Power

Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data

Danielle Steel

In life and love, it's never too late for a second chance... 
 
As editor-in-chief of New York's leading fashion magazine, Fiona Monaghan was utterly content with her life, jetting back and forth between Manhattan and Europe-until the day John Anderson strolled into her office.A widower with two daughters, John was as conservative as Fiona was freewheeling, and was both amused and appalled by her world of high-strung designers, anorexic models, and Sir Winston, her snoring bulldog.But after Fiona impulsively invited John to the Paris couture shows, somewhere between the magic of the catwalk and the stroll along the Seine, she let him into her heart. 
Within weeks of their return to New York, John was making friends with Sir Winston - and Fiona was making room in her closets. 
A dazzling tale of modern misadventures, career-crossed relationships, the heady magic of instant attraction and the hope that comes when we dare to do it all over again...

Second Chance

A dazzling tale of misadventures and instant attraction from the No.1 bestselling author

Ben Fogle

For as long as he can remember, Ben Fogle has been surrounded by creatures great and small. As a young boy his best friends were Liberty and Lexington, the family dogs. Then there was Milly the puma-sized cat, Jaws the goldfish and three very ‘charismatic’ parrots, not to mention a whole host of weird and wonderful animals that came through the doors of his father’s veterinary practice. 
 
Then came Inca, Ben’s adorable black Labrador, who changed his life. Since first melting the nation’s heart on Castaway, the duo have been inseparable. With Inca’s help, Ben was soon charming worms and tickling trout on Countryfile, minding the big cats on Animal Park and fronting the BBC’s coverage of Crufts. 
 
Ben’s passion for wildlife has taken him all over the world, from the plains of Africa to the sea ice of Antarctica. He has played with penguins, been chased by bull elephant seals and tapirs, and helped operate on a cheetah. He has given mud packs to rhinos, bathed with elephants and risked life and limb diving with Nile crocodiles, all the while campaigning tirelessly for conservation, the environment and animal welfare. 
 
Hair-raising, heart-breaking and wildly entertaining, The Accidental Naturalist tells the extraordinary true stories of Ben’s amazing encounters with animals and how they changed his life.

The Accidental Naturalist

Bridget Harrison

You're about to turn thirty, all your friends are getting engaged and pregnant - and your body-clock is ticking. Then you get an offer to move to New York. So you take a chance and break up with your boyfriend - only to land yourself in the singles capital of the world. 
 
When Bridget Harrison arrived in Manhattan to work for America's most famous tabloid, the New York Post, she was in at the deep end from day one. Dispatched by day to cover murders and muggings in the roughest corners of New York, by night she began to write a column about her search for love in a dating shark tank. So far so Sex and the City - until she realised the one man she was falling for also happened to be her boss (and unfortunately this wasn't fiction). 
 
 
THE HIGHS: 
Being sent out to cover your first breaking news story 
Having the chance to go on a new blind date every week 
Realizing you love your editor 
 
THE LOWS: 
Finding no-one you interview can understand your accent 
Going on a new blind date every week 
Realizing you love your editor

Tabloid Love

Robert Rankin

The Ministry of Serendipity at Mornington Crescent runs everything. And that is everything.When the Ministry learns of a spacecraft that crashed four thousand years ago into the Pacific Ocean it sends an élite team of paranormal investigators to recover it. A mad alien thaws out, there is hell and horror all around and thousands flee in terror. 
 
Porrig has inherited a planet, or it might be a bookshop, or it might be a gateway into another world. And Porrig is worried, because he has learned a terrible secret. But if he told people, would they listen? No. 
 
But perhaps they should, because a mad alien has thawed out, there is hell and horror all around and thousands are fleeing in terror. And there is every likelihood of there being a bloody big explosion at the end. Will Porrig manage to do anything about it at all?

Apocalypso

A. A. Dhand

Detective Harry Virdee should be at home with his wife, but he's been suspended from work just as the biggest case of the year lands on what would have been his desk. He can't keep himself away . . . 
 
Luther meets The Wire in this gritty crime series set in Bradford.

'A story as fresh as today’s newspaper headlines — and all the more potent for being so' Mail on Sunday 
 
Answering a routine call on the outskirts of the city, Detective Inspector Harry Virdee finds something he never thought he’d have to face – the cold body of his beloved niece. 
 
He’s immediately banned from working the case, but there’s no way Harry can walk away while the monster who killed his flesh and blood is still walking the streets. But before he can find the killer, he must tell his brother, Ron, the terrible news. 
 
Impulsive, dangerous and frighteningly well connected, Ron will act first and think later. Harry may have a murderer to find but if he isn't careful, he may also have a murder to prevent.

Girl Zero

Sarah Ban Breathnach

With the grace of her groundbreaking bestseller Simple Abundance, Sarah Ban Breathnach returns, offering a fresh start for women who have lost their financial and spiritual way in the world. 
 
'When money is plentiful, this is a man's world. When money is scarce, it is a woman's world.' This quote from Ladies' Home Journal, 1932, is the call to arms that begins...PEACE AND PLENTY 
 
This book is Sarah Ban Breathnach's answer to the world's - and her own personal fiscal crisis. Here, as she weaves together this compendium of advice, stories from her life, and excerpts from magazines, books and newspapers, particularly from the Great Depression, she inspires readers who are mired in economic problems. 
 
Focusing on her own journey, Sarah relates never-before-revealed details about how she fell from the financial top to the bottom. Readers will immediately feel how deeply she understands the plight of those trying to maintain a happy and comfortable home, while not even knowing if they will be able to make the mortgage payments to keep that home. 
 
For years, Sarah has been a reassuring guide, illuminating the beauty and meaning in the everyday. Now, in this enlightening book, she reaches out to those who are financially strapped, showing them how to pull themselves out of their psychological and monetary difficulties, as she provides support and cheer along the way.

Peace and Plenty

Finding your path to financial security

Richard Murphy

'A brief but crucially important book' 
Marcus Chown 
 
In The Joy of Tax, tax campaigner Richard Murphy challenges almost every idea you have about tax. For him, tax is fundamentally about the ideas that shape the sort of society we want to live in, not technicalities. His intention is to demonstrate that there is indeed a joy in tax, and by embracing it we can create a fairer society and change the world for the better. 
 
Tax has been a feature of human society for a very long time. Almost no one gives tax a good press even though, as Richard Murphy argues, it has been fundamental to the development of democracy the world over. Whilst we may not like tax very much, in contrast it is clear that we really do like the public services which governments provide. So much so, in fact, that for most of the last 300 years, people have been more than happy for governments to run deficits by spending more than they raise in taxation. 
 
 2008 apparently changed all that. The issues of debt, deficits, cuts and austerity have dominated the political agenda ever since. Virtually every aspect of the government's finances and how to rearrange them in the forlorn hope of balancing the books has been discussed in great detail. Despite that, there has been almost no real discussion during this period about what tax is for and how it contributes to the creation of the society we aspire to.

The Joy of Tax

Adam Macqueen

William Hesketh Lever - soap-boiler, social reformer, MP, tribal chieftain, multi-millionaire and Lord of the Western Isles - was one of the most extraordinary men ever to leave his mark on Britain. 
 
Beliefs far ahead of their times - the welfare state, votes for women, workers' rights - jostled in his mind with ideas that were fantastically bonkers - the world's problems could be solved by moving populations from country to country, ballroom dancing could save the soul and the only healthy way to sleep was outdoors in the wind and the rain. 
 
Adam Macqueen traces Lever's footsteps from his humble Bolton boyhood to a business empire that straddled the world, visiting the homes and model towns from the Mersey to the Congo that still bear the mark - and often the name - of William Lever. 
 
It is a hilarious and touching journey that shines a spotlight on a world and a set of beliefs long gone, and asks several vital questions: where does philanthropy stop and social engineering begin? Is it right for an employer to dictate how his workers spend their weekends and hire private detectives to make sure they are doing it properly? Are the length of a lawn and the curve of a bannister of vital importance to the great scheme of things? And why would a multi-millionaire with half a dozen homes and property on four continents chose to sleep on the roof?

The King Of Sunlight

How William Lever Cleaned Up The World

Fiona Collins

A love story like no other! Perfect for fans of David Nicholls, Jojo Moyes and Richard Curtis films, You, Me and the Movies will leave you crying tears of joy and sadness. 
 
 
When Arden meets Mac she quickly falls for the handsome, charismatic film lecturer. Their love is the sort you see in movies: dramatic, exciting and all-consuming... and complicated. 
 
A love like theirs could never last. 
 
But years later, whilst visiting a friend in hospital, Arden sees the one face she could never forget. Badly injured, Mac can only make brief references to the classic films they once watched together. Which is all it takes for Arden to remember everything... 
 
Will Arden ever find a movie-worthy love again? 
________ 
 
What everyone is saying about You, Me and the Movies: 
'Moving and emotional' Eva Woods, bestselling author of How to be Happy 
 
'I LOVED THIS BOOK!! You, Me and The Movies is beautifully crafted, funny, uplifting and guaranteed to leave you smiling!!! This is one of those BIG WONDERFUL books that pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the very last page.' Lauren North, author of The Perfect Betrayal 
 
'It made me laugh, cry and want to watch lots more old movies' ***** 
'Nostalgic and lovely and just leaves you with a warm feeling' ***** 
'Pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the very last page' ***** 
'I can't begin to say how much I LOVED this book. It had me laughing, falling in love and ultimately crying.' ***** 
'I'm an absolute mess. This is a beautiful novel. Completely unexpected... I was captured by the now and then aspect of the story... I'm off now to re-watch The Way We Were.' *****

You, Me and the Movies

A heart-warming, uplifting story about second chances

Clifford Irving

'I was down to my last chip, but it never occurred to me not to put it on the line, bet it, and roll the dice one more time . . .' 
 
In 1972 Clifford Irving pulled a sensational hoax involving Howard Hughes, a prestigious New York publishing house and over a million dollars. It made global newspaper headlines and was heralded as the biggest media scam of all time. Its dramatic events have now been made into an international blockbuster film starring Richard Gere. 
 
In his bestselling book The Hoax Clifford Irving recreates his own audacious literary sting when he and fellow conspirator, Dick Suskind, convinced US publisher McGraw-Hill that Howard Hughes, the reclusive billionaire, had commissioned Irving to write his authorised autobiography. A frantic year ensued while Irving forged letters and passports, faked interviews, set up a Swiss bank account and travelled thousands of miles to maintain his story, all the while desperately trying to juggle a wife, a mistress and an editor. Gradually the cracks in the plot started to appear and the nightmare began as Irving and Suskind realised they were set on a crash course towards indictment, conviction and jail.

The Hoax

Margaret Humphreys

THE BOOK THAT EXPOSED THE HEARTBREAKING SCANDAL OF BRITAIN'S FORGOTTEN AND ABUSED CHILD MIGRANTS - now a film, Oranges and Sunshine, starring Emily Watson. 
In 1986 Margaret Humphreys, a Nottingham social worker, investigated a woman's claim that, aged four, she had been put on a boat to Australia by the British government. At first incredulous, Margaret discovered that this was just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Up to 150,000 children, some as young as three years old, had been deported from children's homes in Britain and shipped off to a 'new life' in distant parts of the Empire, right up until as recently as 1970. 
 
Many were told that their parents were dead, and parents were told that their children had been adopted. In fact, for many children it was to be a life of horrendous physical and sexual abuse far away from everything they knew. Margaret and her team reunited thousands of families before it was too late, brought authorities to account, and worldwide attention to an outrageous miscarriage of justice.

Empty Cradles (Oranges and Sunshine)

Neil Barrett

Nearly every week the headlines of national newspapers shout allegations about the latest credit card fraud, internet paedophile, or major corporations whose computers have been hacked. But what people may not realize is that the nature of computer crime is becoming even more sophisticated. In the same way that all of us use computers increasingly in our business and personal lives, so too are criminals using computers, not just to commit high-tech offences, but to plan, research and co-ordinate a wide variety of crimes. The role computers play in crime, and in particular the detection and prosecution of crime has never been as significant as it is today. 
 
In a gripping true-life detective story, ex-hacker and now one of the UK's leading crime experts Neil Barrett guides us into a world where the seemingly innocuous computer screen can provide a window into the mind of even the most hardened criminal. Through some of his own high profile cases, Barrett shows us the cutting edge of modern crime. It is a dimly-lit world where hackers pit their wits, man to man, with the police experts and where the digital detective is the latest and best weapon in the police arsenal.

Traces Of Guilt

Tom Bradby

'A gripping thriller' Sunday Times 
'Imaginative and unexpected' The Times 
'A cracking, uber-topical spy thriller' Financial Times 
'Enthralling and fast-moving... the stuff headlines are made of' Daily Mail 
_______________________________ 
 
The world is on the brink of crisis. 
The Cold War is playing out once more on the global stage. 
The Worlds' governments will do whatever it takes to stay at the top... 
 
To those who don't really know her, Kate Henderson's life must seem perfectly ordinary. But she is in fact a senior MI6 officer, who right now is nursing the political equivalent of a nuclear bomb. 
 
Kate's most recent mission has yielded the startling intelligence that the British Prime Minister has cancer - and that one of the leading candidates to replace him may be a Russian agent of influence. 
 
Up against the clock to uncover the Russian mole, Kate risks everything to get to the truth. But with her reputation to uphold, her family hanging by a thread and a leadership election looming, she is quickly running out of options, and out of time. 
 
Secret Service is a fresh-from-the-headlines thriller for fans of Homeland, Crisis and The Bodyguard. 
 
The next two thrilling instalments in the Kate Henderson series, DOUBLE AGENT and TRIPLE CROSS, are available now.

Secret Service

The Sunday Times top ten bestseller

Jack Sheffield

It's 1986 and Jack Sheffield returns to Ragley village school for his tenth rollercoaster year as headteacher. 
 
It's the year of Margaret Thatcher's third election victory, Dynasty and shoulder pads, Neighbours and a Transformer for Christmas. And at Ragley-on-the-Forest School, a year of surprises is in store. Ruby the Caretaker finds happiness at last, Vera the Secretary makes an important decision, a new teacher is appointed and a disaster threatens the school. 
 
Meanwhile Jack receives unexpected news, and is faced with the biggest decision of his career . . . 
 
Readers love Jack Sheffield: 
'Wry observation and heartwarming humour in equal measure' Alan Titchmarsh 
'Overflowing with amusing anecdotes' Daily Express 
'Amusing adventures at the North Yorkshire village school' Choice 
'Jack Sheffield's in a class of his own' York Press

Happiest Days

Mary Jane Staples

Boots Adams celebrates his 60th birthday in style with an old-fashioned Cockney knees-up, even if Gemma, James and the rest of the younger people insist that the music has to be rock and roll. The new generation of the family are growing up quickly - Philip and Phoebe are spending a lot of time together, and Maureen has ambitions to become a model, having her picture taken for the newspapers as she hopes for fame and fortune. Meanwhile, there are changes on the way. A local company wants to take over Adams Fashions, and Boots and Sammy have difficult decisions to make. Rosie and Matt are thinking about selling the farm, but worry about Joe and Hortense, their loyal workers. While Felicity has resigned herself to never regaining her sight, Polly sees a familiar face that she can't place - a mysterious stranger who is being sheltered in Walworth. Anneliese encounters someone she never wished to see again, and turns to Boots for help.

A Girl Next Door

An Adams Family Saga Novel

The beginning of a wonderful saga telling the story of a Cockney family in peace and war from multi-million copy seller Mary Jane Staples. Perfect for fans of Kitty Neale, Maggie Ford and Katie Flynn. 
 
PRAISE FOR THE ADAMS FAMILY SERIES! 
 
"Mary Jane Staples makes you care about her characters, which explains why her books have enjoyed so much popularity" -- Take a Break 
"Forget Eastenders, this it the London of old, when people knew each other's names and communities really pulled together." -- Woman's Realm 
"Mary Jane Staples completely capture the feel of the period and the essence of the people...has warmth, humour and charm. An ideal book for you holiday reading." Finesse 
"I get so engrossed in the stories I feel like one of the family." - ***** Reader review. 
"The story of the Adams family is just wonderful, I can't put this book down. You feel part of the family as you read all about them." -- ***** Reader review. 
 
********************************* 
 
ON THE EVE OF WAR, CAN SHE AND HER FAMILY PULL THROUGH? 
 
The Adams family were poor, cheerful and, above all, respectable. 
 
There was Mrs Adams, a widow having lost her husband in the Boer War; Boots, the bright one; Tommy, the quiet one; Sammy, a wheeler dealer in the making; and Lizzy. Lizzy was a real pearl - one of the prettiest girls in Walworth. 
 
When Lizzy falls in love it is 1914. War is coming and everyone is going to be affected. Will the Adams family - gutsy, tough and cheeky - pull through? 
 
Down Lambeth Way is the first in Mary Jane Staples's Adams Family series. Their story continues in Our Emily.

Down Lambeth Way

(The Adams Family: 1): A delightful and charming Cockney saga, guaranteed to lift your spirits

R D Wingfield

Crumpled, slapdash and foul-mouthed as ever, Detective Inspector Jack Frost struggles to cope with inadequate back-up and never enough time; the unsolved crimes pile up and the vicious killings go on. Frost must cut corners and take risks as he staggers from crisis to crisis, rapists to murderers, missing bodies to discovered body parts; will he be able to keep Denton safe?

‘A funny, frantic, utterly refreshing brew’ – Sunday Telegraph 
 
Detective Inspector Jack Frost, officially on duty, is nevertheless determined to sneak off to a colleague's leaving party. But first the corpse of a well-known local junkie is found blocking the drain of a Denton public lavatory - and then the daughter of a wealthy businessman is reported missing. 
 
And now a wave of crime threatens to submerge sleepy Denton. 
 
A robbery occurs at the town's notorious strip joint, the pampered son of a local MP is suspected of a hit-and-run offence and, to top it all, a multiple rapist is on the loose. But the manic Frost manages to assure his superior that all is under control. 
 
Now he has only to convince himself...

A Touch Of Frost

(DI Jack Frost Book 2)

Terry Pratchett

Stephen Briggs

A Discworld City Watch series tie-in mapbook with fold-out map. Go beyond the novels to discover more about the fantastically funny and gloriously inventive world of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. 
 
Lose yourself in the glorious technicolour of Ankh-Morpork, mapped in meticulous detail for the very first time. A beautiful gift edition, complete with fold-out map and pull-out information booklet, and a fantastic accompaniment to the novels. 
 
'Tells you the answers to all the questions you had about Ankh Morpork' -- ***** Reader review 
'The whole thing is really charming. Every time you look at it, something new is revealed' -- ***** Reader review 
'A fascinating look into the streets of Terry Pratchett's mind...' -- ***** Reader review 
************************************************************************************** 
'THERE'S A SAYING THAT ALL ROADS LEAD TO ANKH-MORPORK. AND IT'S WRONG. ALL ROADS LEAD AWAY FROM ANKH-MORPORK, BUT SOMETIMES PEOPLE JUST WALK ALONG THE WRONG WAY' from Moving Pictures 
 
Ankh-Morpork! City of One Thousand Surprises (according to the famous publication by the Guild of Merchants)! All human life is there! Although, if it walks down the wrong alley, often quite briefly! 
 
The city celebrated in the bestselling Discworld series by Sir Terry Pratchett has been meticulously mapped for the first time. It's all here - from Unseen University to the Shades, from major landmarks like the Patrician's Palace to little-known, er, nooks like Dwarf Bread Museum in Whirligig Alley. 
 
See the famous streets beaten by Sam Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, the cobbles along which so many heroes have walked - in some cases quite hurriedly! As leading Ankh-Morpork entrepreneur C.M.O.T. Dibbler would say, a nip at any price - and that's cutting our own throat. Well, close. 
 
A deluxe and stunning gift edition with pull-out booklet and fold-out map - the ultimate present for every Discworld fan who has ever dreamed of seeing the world of Sir Terry Pratchett come to life...

The Streets Of Ankh-Morpork

the principal city of Sir Terry Pratchett’s much-loved Discworld, mapped for the very first time

Rob Hart

'Engrossing ... Big Brother meets Big Business - that pretty much nails it' Stephen King 
'A gripping read, a literary blockbuster with brains. Horribly compelling' The Observer 
'A triumph' The Guardian 
___________________ 
In a world ravaged by bankruptcy and unemployment, Cloud is the only company left worth working for. But what will it cost you? 
 
Amidst the wreckage of America, Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront, but as a global saviour. Yet, beneath the sunny exterior, lurks something far more sinister. 
 
Paxton never thought he’d be working Security for the company that ruined his life, much less that he’d be moving into one of their sprawling live-work facilities. But compared to what’s left outside, perhaps Cloud isn’t so bad. Better still, through his work he meets Zinnia, who fills him with hope for their shared future. 
 
Except that Zinnia is not what she seems. And Paxton, with his all-access security credentials, might just be her meal ticket. 
 
As Paxton and Zinnia’s agendas place them on a collision course, they’re about to learn just how far the Cloud will go to make the world a better place. 
 
To beat the system, you have to be inside it. 
 
What people are saying about The Warehouse: 
'Literary blockbuster’ Observer 
‘A triumph’ Guardian 
‘Brilliantly imagined’ BBC Culture 
‘Inventive, addictive’ Paul Tremblay 
‘Thrilling’ Blake Crouch 
‘An Orwellian thriller’ Publisher’s Weekly 
‘Wildly imaginative yet terrifyingly real’ Riley Sager 
‘Taut, tense and masterful’ Chuck Wendig 
'One of the breakout books of the year' Barnes &amp; Noble 
'Holds up a dark mirror to our times' San Francisco Chronicle 
'A jet black satire of modern consumerism' Waterstones 
'A thriller of ideas ... taut action, incisive cultural commentary ... shades of Fahrenheit 451 and Jurassic Park.' USA Today

The Warehouse

A brilliantly imagined, thought-provoking and exciting Orwellian thriller

Alan Johnson

'The best memoir by a politician you will ever read' Philip Collins, The Times 
 
School on the Kings Road, Chelsea in the Swinging 60s, the rock-and-roll years, the race riots; this boy has seen it all. 
________ 
 
Alan Johnson's childhoodwas not so much difficult as unusual, particularly for a man who was destined to become Home Secretary. Not in respect of the poverty, which was shared with many of those living in Britain's post-war slums, but in its transition from being part of a two-parent family to having a single mother and then to no parents at all... 
 
This is essentially the story of two incredible women: Alan's mother, Lily, who battled against poor health, poverty, domestic violence and loneliness to try to ensure a better life for her children; and his sister, Linda, who had to assume an enormous amount of responsibility at a very young age and who fought to keep the family together and out of care when she herself was still only a child. 
 
This Boy is one man's story, but it is also the story of England and the West London slums which are hard to imagine in the capital today. No matter how harsh the details, Alan Johnson writes with a spirit of generous acceptance, of humour and openness which makes his book anything but a grim catalogue of miseries. 
________ 
PRAISE FOR THIS BOY: 
'Moving and unforgettable' Sunday Times 
'Poignant' Telegraph 
'Eloquent' Guardian 
'Wonderful' Spectator 
'Tribute to two strong women' Daily Mail

This Boy

Winner of the Parliamentary Book Award, best memoir by a Parliamentarian, 2016 
 
From the condemned slums of Southam Street in West London to the corridors of power in Westminster, Alan Johnson’s multi-award-winning autobiography charts an extraordinary journey, almost unimaginable in today’s Britain. This third volume tells of Alan’s early political skirmishes as a trades union leader, where his negotiating skills and charismatic style soon came to the notice of Tony Blair and other senior members of the Labour Party. 
As a result, Alan was chosen to stand in the constituency of Hull West and Hessle, and entered Parliament as an MP after the landslide election victory for Labour in May 1997. But this is no self-aggrandizing memoir of Westminster politicking and skulduggery. Supporting the struggle of his constituents, the Hull trawlermen and their families, for justice comes more naturally to Alan than do the byzantine complexities of Parliamentary procedure. But of course he does succeed there, and rises through various ministerial positions to the office of Home Secretary in 2009. 
In The Long and Winding Road, Alan’s characteristic honesty and authenticity shine through every word. His book takes you into a world which is at once familiar and strange: this is politics as you’ve never seen it before…

The Long and Winding Road

Mark Ravenhill

Following the National Theatre's success with plays based on novels by well-loved children's writers like Philip Pulman (His Dark Materials), Jamila Gavin (Coram Boy) and Michael Morpurgo (War Horse), the National now stages Mark Ravenhill's exhilarating adaptation of Terry Pratchett's witty and challenging adventure story in a major Christmas production for 2009. 
 
A parallel world, 1860. Two teenagers thrown together by a tsunami that has destroyed Mau's village and left Daphne shipwrecked on his South Pacific island, thousands of miles from home. One wears next to nothing, the other a long white dress; neither speaks the other's language; somehow they must learn to survive. As starving refugees gather, Daphne delivers a baby, milks a pig, brews beer and does battle with a mutineer. Mau fights cannibal Raiders, discovers the world is round and questions the reality of his tribe's fiercely patriarchal gods. Together they come of age, overseen by a foul-mouthed parrot, as they discard old doctrine to forge a new Nation.

Nation: The Play

The continuation of a wonderful saga telling the story of a Cockney family in peace and war from multi-million copy seller Mary Jane Staples. Perfect for fans of Donna Douglas, Kitty Neale and Maggie Ford. 
 
PRAISE FOR THE ADAMS FAMILY SERIES! 
"Mary Jane Staples makes you care about her characters, which explains why her books have enjoyed so much popularity" -- Take a Break 
"Forget Eastenders, this it the London of old, when people knew each other's names and communities really pulled together." -- Woman's Realm 
"Mary Jane Staples completely capture the feel of the period and the essence of the people...has warmth, humour and charm. An ideal book for you holiday reading." Finesse 
"I get so engrossed in the stories I feel like one of the family." - ***** Reader review. 
"Read this book and you want it to go on, you want to know more of the Adams Family, can't wait to read more." -- ***** Reader review. 
 
********************************* 
 
CAN SHE WIN OVER HER SWEETHEART'S FAMILY? 
 
Emily had always been a trial as a child - pushy and rough - and Boots had always avoided her. 
 
But now she's an elegant and stylish young lady and she and Boots are due to be married - and must face the challenge of his wartime injuries together. 
 
Can she draw on that steely toughness to rise to the challenge and do right by the love of her life and his family? 
 
Our Emily is the second in Mary Jane Staples's Adams Family series. Their story continues in The King of Camberwell. Have you read Down Lambeth Way, the first Adams Family book?

Our Emily

(The Adams Family: 2): An uplifting and funny Cockney saga that will warm the cockles of your heart

Paul O'Grady

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
A fascinating and hilarious glimpse into Paul's life at home in the country with his animals 
 
Paul O'Grady's Country Life for the first time gives a glimpse into the home life of one of Britain’s best loved stars, alongside the animals he adores. 
 
Sometimes rural idyll, sometimes hell on earth, Paul’s life in rural Kent has been shared over the years with some very vocal pigs, a mad cow, various rescued barn owls, the world’s most sadistic geese and Christine the psychotic sheep – among many other animal waifs and strays. And of course Paul tells the stories of the dogs in his life – including the tiny chihuahua/Jack Russell cross with Napoleonic ambitions, Eddie, Miss Olga, Bullseye, Louis, Boycie and, of course, Buster, the greatest canine star since Lassie. In addition, Paul shares some of his favourite recipes, explores country lore and superstitions, and extols the benefits of growing your own vegetables, herbs and fruit. 
 
This is a warts-and-all account of country living, as far removed from the bright lights of celebrity as you could ever imagine. The trials and tribulations Paul experienced on moving to deepest darkest Kent as a dyed-in-the-wool city dweller are every bit as hilarious and eventful as you would think. He had a lot of new skills to learn, and fast: everything from how to churn your own butter and how to birth a lamb to the best way to lure a cow out of your kitchen while naked from the waist down. 
 
Brilliantly funny and full of classic stories, Paul O’Grady’s Country Life is your armchair guide to the wonders and horrors of rural existence.

Paul O'Grady's Country Life

Heart-warming and hilarious tales from Paul

Frank Muir

For more than twenty-five years Frank Muir, in partnership with Denis Norden, produced some of the most sparkling and original comedy ever written for radio and television. On programmes such as My Word! and My Music his distinctive voice became familiar to millions as he displayed an astonishingly well-stocked mind and a genius for ad libbing and outrageous puns. Later, working at the BBC and then at London Weekend Television, he produced some of the best television comedy of the 1960s and 70s. He has written highly successful books for children, and two bestselling anthologies of humour. 
 
Frank Muir recalls, in glorious detail, a happy 1920s childhood in the seaside town of Ramsgate, where he was born in his grandmother's pub in Broadstairs, and in London, where he attended an inexpensive but excellent school of a kind no longer to be found. He remembers his very first joke at the age of six, when he knew that his destiny was to make people laugh. He also knew from an early age that he wanted to write, but it took a childhood illness for him to discover that humour and writing could be combined. The death of his father forced him to leave school at the age of fourteen and work in a factory making carbon paper. Then, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the RAF as an air photographer and his memories of the war years, as might be imagined, are engagingly different from the usual kind. It was during those years, with their rich fund of comic material, that he began his career as scriptwriter and performer. At his demob in 1945 he moved naturally to London and the Windmill Theatre, that remarkable breeding ground of talent where new comedians like Jimmy Edwards and Alfred Marks vied with nude girls for the attention of the audience. In story after story he recalls the lost world of London in the 1940s and early 50s, when the laughter and creative ideas seemed to explode out of post-war shabbiness and austerity. Then came the BBC, the legendary partnership with Denis Norden, and half a century of fulfilling the boyhood ambition of that Kentish lad. 'All I ever wanted to do was to write and amuse people.'

Kentish Lad, A

Susan Sallis

If you like Maeve Binchy, Fiona Valpy and Rosamunde Pilcher, you'll absolutely love this beautifully emotive and compelling novel of love and loss from The Sunday Times bestselling author Susan Sallis. 
 
READERS ARE LOVING FIVE FARTHINGS! 
"Susan Sallis as always never disappoints." 
"Excellent read" 
 
*************************************************************************** 
 
WHEN A CHANCE DISCOVERY TEARS YOUR WORLD APART, CAN YOU MAKE A NEW START? 
 
Jess Tavener would have said that her life in a Somerset market town, with her husband Matt and their small daughter Lucy, was happy and settled. The recent death of her beloved father had cast the only shadow on their tranquil domesticity. 
 
But when she returns to work after her bereavement, she finds a sketch, drawn by Matt, of her father, which turns her world upside down and she begins to realize that her family and friends have secrets which, as they are gradually revealed, affect the foundations of all their lives. 
 
Can she work through the heartbreak and loss to reach out to a new, and different, kind of happiness?

Five Farthings

A wonderful, heart-warming and utterly involving novel set in the West Country from bestselling author Susan Sallis

From the pen of multi-million copy seller and Sunday Times bestselling author Susan Sallis comes beautifully written, enthralling and captivating novel that asks whether friendships really can endure through thick and thin. Readers of Rosamunde Pilcher, Maeve Binchy and Fiona Valpy will not be disappointed. 
 
'Sallis's West Country novel has the feel of Mary Wesley and character insight that is all her own' -- Daily Mail 
'Sallis brings out the innate warmth and sometimes unpredictability of the human psyche. This compelling tale will not disappoint' -- Lancashire Evening Post 
'Excellent read, very enjoyable' - ***** Reader review 
'Wonderful' - ***** Reader review 
'I love her books and the way that she takes you right into the story...You can tell I am a big fan!' - ***** Reader review 
'Brilliant, I couldn't put it down.' - ***** Reader review 
********************************************************************* 
FRIENDS SINCE CHILDHOOD, THEY THOUGHT NOTHING COULD COME BETWEEN THEM... 
 
1943: two schoolgirls, Rachel and Meriel, best friends, amuse themselves by tracking down imaginary German spies. It all seems a harmless way of whiling away the long school holidays, until their game turns into a frightening reality, the consequences of which affect their whole lives. 
 
Rachel becomes a reporter on the local paper while Meriel, a GI bride, goes to live in Florida. 
 
But the bonds which hold them together can never be broken, as the secrets and scandals which first surfaced in those far-off wartime days eventually come to light.

Rachel's Secret

an engrossing and heartwarming novel of friendship and the bonds which tie us together from bestselling author Susan Sallis

Karyn Bosnak

What would you do if you owed $20,000? Would you: 
 
a) Not tell your parents? 
b) Stop colouring your hair, having pedicures and buying Gucci? 
c) Start your own website that asks for money without apology? 
 
If you were Karyn Bosnak, you'd do all three... 
 
In New York for the first time, with the dream job and the smart flat, Karyn starts spending...and spending. But when it all goes horribly wrong, and her credit card balance mounts in a terrifying manner, Karyn knows that she has to take control. She starts her website www.savekaryn.com on which she fearlessly asks for donations to help pay off her debts. The website receives over 2 million hits and has replies from all over the world - some supportive, many abusive. But after four months, Karyn has become a new woman- debt-free, grateful and happy. This is the hilarious and touching true story of how she does it.

Save Karyn

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