For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever imagined. The woman in question is Hanna, & before long they embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves Michael both euphoric & confused. For Hanna is not all she seems.

Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realize that the person in the dock is Hanna. The woman he had loved is a criminal. Much about her behaviour during the trial does not make sense. But then suddenly, & terribly, it does
- Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime, she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret.


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Ray Mears shows how the success of a vital World War II mission depended on survival skills.

Sixty years ago, four men

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The first 7 episodes of the U.S. documentary TV series following the lives & lifestyles of a group of wealthy women in a Southern Californian gated community. Examining the reality behind shows such as Desperate Housewives, five women who live in one of ...

Who was the real Jane Austen? Overturning the traditional portrait of the author as conventional & genteel, bestseller Paula Byrne's landmark biography reveals the real woman behind the books. In this new biography, bestselling author Paula Byrne (author of Perdita, Mad World) explores the forces that shaped the interior life of Britain's most beloved novelist: her father's religious faith, her mother's aristocratic pedigree, her eldest brother's adoption, her other brothers' naval & military experiences, her relatives in the East & West Indies, her cousin who lived through the trauma of the French Revolution, the family's amateur theatricals, the female novelists she admired, her residence in Bath, her love of the seaside, her travels around England & her long struggle to become a published author. Byrne uses a highly innovative technique whereby each chapter begins from an object that conjures up a key moment or theme in Austen's life & work-a silhouette, a vellum notebook, a topaz cross, a laptop writing box, a royalty cheque, a bathing machine, & many more. The woman who emerges in this biography is far tougher, more socially & politically aware, & altogether more modern than the conventional picture of 'dear Aunt Jane' would allow. Published to coincide with the bicentenary of Pride & Prejudice, this lively & scholarly biography brings Austen dazzlingly into the twenty-first century. ...

Who was the real Jane Austen? Overturning the traditional portrait of the author as conventional & genteel, bestseller Paula Byrne's landmark biography reveals the real woman behind the books. Claire Tomalin's biography of Jane Austen was published in 1997 &, although it contained little new research, sold xxxxxxx. Paula Byrne
- an internationally renowned Jane Austen scholar & a best-selling biographer
- has uncovered a very different Jane Austen to the Jane of popular imagination. This Jane, revealed in the first biography written for a general readership but based on the most up-to-date scholarship
- is a woman deeply immersed in the culture around her, but also far ahead of her time in her independence & tough-mindedness. Throughout, this book gives the sense of Austen as an astute commentator on human nature in general & her own age in particular, & above all as a writer of independence & ambition. Each chapter is focussed on a key moment in Austen's life: eg. when her handicapped brother is removed from the family, when her exotic cousin Eliza arrives in the family circle, when her aunt was arrested for shoplifting, her time alone in London. The book also gives detailed attention to the novels themselves. After this book, no longer can Austen be viewed as someone who did not engage with the great political events of her time. How many lovers of her work are aware that the Prince Regent kept a debauched household down the road from her village, that she was related by marriage to other major literary figures of the time such as the libertine Gothic novelist William Beckford & her favourite poet George Crabbe. The book will also identify her long lost seaside love as well as argue that her assumed 'genteel' sense of humour could also be savage, highly subversive irony.


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In the world of the late-Victorian & Edwardian country house the mistress & her daughters had many social duties & responsibilities to carry out both in their home community & in London, where they spent the Season & where the girls officially entered Society by being presented at Court. Pamela Horn's book examines the lives of these real ' Downton Abbey' ladies from their childhood & marriage to their role as a ' Lady Bountiful'. It covers their leisure pursuits, sporting activities, country-house weekends, & much more besides, up to the life-transforming years of the First World War. ...

Colin Montgomerie was Europe's No.1 golfer for a record seven years in a row, with the reputation of being arguable the best player never to have won a Major. A key figure in the Ryder Cup, following the European team's win last September he also holds the enviable record of never having lost a Ryder Cup singles match. The Real Monty is about the hero of the 1997, 1999 & 2002 Ryder Cup matches, the tournament that inspires him more than any other. It is the story of a prodigious talent & complex personality who is still determined to add to his already impressive achievements. ...

Foreword from Delia Smith Eliza Acton is the forgotten hero of our culinary past. A debt of gratitude to her is what Delia Smith, Elizabeth David & Mrs Beeton have in common. She was the original & best: the first cook to write recipes in a clear, accessible format; one of the few Victorian ladies whose legacy has lasted well into the twenty-first century & whose recipes are still used in thousands of kitchens today. In this absorbing first biography, Sheila Hardy creates a vividly painted narrative of how a young woman produced the first cookery book for general use & changed history. She provides a rich background to Eliza's success, not only as the little-known mother of modern cookery, but as a poet & a campaigner for healthy eating. She encouraged us to eat curry, chorizo & gluten-free diets 150 years before they became fashionable. She knew Charles Dickens, & her family life was possibly an inspiration for several of his plots. She had a fascinating career, & this brilliantly researched book is a must for anyone interested in food & cookery, or simply as an insight into the life of a unique lady who was years ahead of her time. ...

The authorised biography of Brendan OCarroll, based on extensive interviews with the hugely popular star of BBCs Mrs Browns Boys. Whod have thought a potty-mouthed Dublin mammy with a cream cardigan & elasticated tan tights could storm British TV screens & leave a nation helpless with laughter? Brendan OCarroll performs to tens of thousands of people a night in packed-out stadiums across the country. In the last four years Mrs Browns Boys has become a number 1 ratings success & hes even making a movie. But Brendan has had to battle hard for success. The youngest of eleven children, his mother was Maureen OCarroll, a former nun who went on to become the first woman to be elected to the Irish parliament. Brendan adored his strong, widowed mother
- & she later became the inspiration for his indomitable character Agnes Brown. However, the family endured poverty reminiscent of Angelas Ashes & Brendan saw no option but to leave school at 12 to work. He married young & for decades struggled to make ends meet. Eventually, bankrupt & desperate, Brendan went to see a fortune teller who told him she could see his future achieving worldwide success as a comedian & actor. At first Brendan laughed at the notion, but then he thought of how much his friends loved his gags, & decided to give it a go... This is the magical story of how a loveable Irishman with a wig & a wit as caustic as battery acid surprised everyone
- most of all himself
- by becoming one of the best-loved comedians in the world. It is a story of hardship, heartbreak, & talent & will remind readers afresh that sometimes the facts can be even more extraordinary than the fiction.


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Who'd have thought a potty-mouthed Dublin mammy with a cream cardigan & elasticated tan tights could storm British TV screens & leave a nation helpless with laughter? Brendan O' Carroll performs to tens of thousands of people a night in packed-out stadiums across the country. In the last four years Mrs Brown's Boys has become a number 1 ratings success & he's even making a movie. But Brendan has had to battle hard for success. The youngest of eleven children, his mother was Maureen O' Carroll, a former nun who went on to become the first woman to be elected to the Irish parliament. Brendan adored his strong, widowed mother
- & she later became the inspiration for his indomitable character Agnes Brown. However, the family endured poverty reminiscent of Angela's Ashes & Brendan saw no option but to leave school at 12 to work. He married young & for decades struggled to make ends meet. Eventually, bankrupt & desperate, Brendan went to see a fortune teller who told him she could see his future achieving worldwide success as a comedian & actor. At first Brendan laughed at the notion, but then he thought of how much his friends loved his gags, & decided to give it a go... This is the magical story of how a loveable Irishman with a wig & a wit as caustic as battery acid surprised everyone
- most of all himself
- by becoming one of the best-loved comedians in the world. It is a story of hardship, heartbreak, & talent & will remind readers afresh that sometimes the facts can be even more extraordinary than the fiction.


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