British Life

The New York Times bestseller and International Phenomenon One of the Top Ten Books of 2015, Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times. "It's bloody marvelous." - Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author of H IS FOR HAWK "Captivating... A book about continuity and roots and a sense of...

Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn about her family and its secrets.

When you look back in history at royal romances, surprising as it may seem, few have happy ever after endings, and in many instances the idea of “Love and Marriage” being inextricably linked is not quite as common as you might at first think. In fairy stories handsome Kings and Princes regularly sweep fair maidens off their feet, transforming them into Princesses and Queens, and although a rarer occurrence, a Royal Princess can create a Prince out of the most unpromising of characters! From King Arthur through to Prince Charles and Diana, Royal Romances - The British Monarchy gives you ...

There are some who would argue that in the 21st Century a monarchy, of any description, is an outdated institution, but paradoxically, it only takes the merest hint of a Royal scandal or conspiracy for the world press to be in hot pursuit of the story. What’s more, any newspaper or magazine fortunate enough to get a Royal exclusive, even in our modern age, is guaranteed to increase circulation dramatically, suggesting that there is as much interest in the monarchy as there has ever been. So how did it all begin? Well, for the British, the answer to that question is quite simply when the ...

Jane Cleveland and Prudence Bates were close friends at Oxford University, but now live very different lives. Forty-one-year-old Jane lives in the country, is married to a vicar, has a daughter she adores, and lives a very proper life in a very proper English parish. Prudence, a year shy of 30, lives in London, has an office job, and is self-sufficient and fiercely independent - until Jane decides her friend should be married. Jane has the perfect husband in mind for her former pupil: a widower named Fabian Driver.

London, 1925. Travel writer Evelyn Cartwright is having a ball exploring London’s marvelous monuments, churches, and cultural exhibitions. But her time in the capital takes a dark turn when a curator at the British Museum is found bludgeoned to death with an ancient Egyptian statue. When an elderly gentleman—whom Evelyn is certain couldn’t have committed the crime—is arrested, she refuses to sit idly by. What she uncovers is a tangled web of museum rivalries, long-buried secrets, and dangerous ambitions. With the city’s underground world pulling her deeper into a labyrinth of ...

Sunday Times Bestseller ‘A paradigm-smashing chronicle of joyous entanglement’ Charles Foster Waterstones Non-Fiction Book of the Month (September) Are trees social beings? How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? In The Hidden Life of Trees Peter...

Anybody who visits London at the height of the summer will soon realize that the United Kingdom’s capital city attracts sightseers from every far-flung corner of the globe. And what’s on their list of attractions to see? Nine times out of ten it will be Buckingham Palace, often followed by the Tower of London, and since the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, her former residence, Kensington Palace. In an age when the monarchy, British or otherwise, is accused of being an outdated institution, the tourists still flock in their millions to follow in the footsteps of Royalty...

A yearning to be free... Katherine was just nineteen when she met Basil Duckworth. He was charismatic, worldly, and impossible to resist as he spoke of freedom, adventure, and a life lived beyond the ordinary. With no hesitation, young and somewhat naive Katherine left everything behind and ran off with Basil, believing she had found the man of her dreams. For a while, it felt like the right choice. As they travelled from place to place chasing Basil's musical career, there were nights filled with laughter, stolen kisses under starlit skies, and promises whispered like prayers. But slowly, ...

Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best-loved films of Classical Hollywood cinema, a story of despair and redemption in the aftermath of war that is one of the central movies of the 1940s, and a key text in America's understanding of itself. This is a film that remains relevant to our own anxieties and yearnings, to all the contradictions of ordinary life, while also enacting for us the quintessence of the classic Hollywood aesthetic.

What if you could live again and again, until you got it right? On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon...

You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the...

Five Foreigners. Two Brits. And One Island Of Delightfully Bonkers Traditions. A laugh-out-loud novel inspired by the very real eccentricities of British life. Joana and Brian thought showing off England to their foreign guests would be easy: rolling hills, a few sheep, maybe a castle. Instead, they’re herding five wide-eyed travellers straight into the wonderfully eccentric world of British life. How do you explain a country where people apologise to lampposts, pull faces through horse collars, and race in mud dressed as maids? Where bathroom light switches hide in hallways, compliments ...

The Most Wounded Warrior in British Military History Shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear. Survived two plane crashes. Tunneled out of a prisoner-of-war camp. Lost an eye and a hand, then pulled off his own mangled fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. His response to it all? "Frankly, I enjoyed the war." A True Story That Defies Belief Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, VC lived through what should have killed him a dozen times over. This meticulously researched biography unveils the astounding true story of Britain's most decorated and wounded ...

When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop? No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to re-live the moments that meant most. To see what kind of person you really were. For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On...

As the sun sets over the British Isles, casting long shadows across the haunted villages, the day's visitors begin to depart, their minds filled with whispers of ghostly encounters and tales of the supernatural. But as darkness descends and the villages settle into a quiet stillness, the spirits awaken once more, their presence felt in every shadow and every whisper of the wind. For centuries, these haunted villages have stood as silent witnesses to the passage of time, their ancient stones bearing witness to the joys and sorrows of generations past. And though the world may change around ...

""This novel will bend and twist your notion of what love is, while leaving you utterly bewitched."" — KIRKUS REVIEWS (Starred Review) ""Vivid and impressive...Fans of Addie LaRue will be enthralled."" — PUBLISHER'S WEEKY (Starred Review) An inventive and romantic speculative novel about two...

A twisty, gripping novel that wraps around a deeply moving love story, from an electric new voice in upmarket women’s fiction. SHE THOUGHT IT WAS FATE. I KNEW IT WASN'T.... Honor seems to have everything: she adores her bright and beautiful daughter, Chloe, and her charming, handsome husband...

From the Man Booker Prize-nominated author of Sleeping on Jupiter and “one of India’s greatest living authors” (O, The Oprah Magazine), a poignant and sweeping novel set in India during World War II and the present day about a son’s quest to uncover the truth about his mother. In my...

Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, soon to be a Hulu original series! “Wild satire . . . The feckless protagonist, Arthur Dent, is reminiscent of Vonnegut heroes.”—Chicago Tribune The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking...