The short life of A.J.A. Symons (1900-41) was described by his biographer as an intricate and largely harmless confidence trick. His many interests included the collection of musical boxes and rare books as well as the study and practice of forgery; they left him time to edit an anthology of Edwardian verse and compose studies of H.M. Stanley and other notable figures. He is remembered for The Quest for Corvo, one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, and for co-founding the Wine and Food Society.

A. J. A. Symons

A. J. Liebling, born in Manhattan in 1904, joined the staff of the New Yorker in 1935 and contributed innumerable articles to the magazine throughout his lifetime, on subjects ranging from food to boxing and France to horse racing. As a war correspondent during the Second World War, he reported from France, England and Algeria, and participated in the Normandy landings. In later life he married the writer Jean Stafford, his third wife. He died in 1963.

A. J. Liebling

A. J. Rosen is an author of YA fantasy novels and is an ambassador for Wattpad, known as @agatharoza. Entwined is her first novel.

A. J. Rosen

A. K. Davidson

A. O. Scott has been a film critic at the New York Times since 2000. His writing has appeared in many other publications, including the New York Review of Books, Slate, the New Yorker and the Nation. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism in 2010, Scott is currently Distinguished Professor of Film Criticism at Wesleyan University. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. 
 
@aoscott

A. O. Scott

A.S. Byatt (1936-2023) was a novelist, short-story writer and critic of international renown. Her novels include Possession (winner of the Booker Prize 1990), the Frederica Quartet and The Children’s Book, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. She was appointed CBE in 1990 and DBE in 1999, and was awarded the Erasmus Prize 2016 for her ‘inspiring contribution to life writing’ and the Pak Kyongni Prize 2017. In 2018 she received the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award.

A. S. Byatt

A. T. Williams won the George Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2013 for his book A Very British Killing: The Death of Baha Mousa. He lives in Warwickshire.

A. T. Williams

A. W. Chase

Dubbed ‘The new queen of spy fiction’ by the Guardian newspaper, and ‘the real thing’ by the Washington Post, A.C. 'Ava' Glass is the CWA Dagger-shortlisted author of Alias Emma (The Chase), The Traitor and The Trap. The Traitor was a 2023 Richard and Judy Bookclub pick. Alias Emma was a Barnes and Noble book of the month. A former crime reporter and communications consultant, for five years Ava worked closely with spies. Her time in that world fascinated her, and the people she met back then inspire every book she writes.

A.C. Glass

A.E. Housman

Arthur Edward Waite was the designer and co-creator of the now famous Rider Waite Tarot deck. 
 
An American-born British poet and scholarly mystic, his strong interest in all esoteric matters - divination, magic, Kabbalism, alchemy and Freemasony - led to him penning a number of books. These include the Key to the Tarot, The Book of Ceremonial Magic and A New Encyclopedia of Freemasony.

A.E. Waite

A.E. Warren is the author of the Tomorrow's Ancestors series, which consists of Subject Twenty-One, The Hidden Base, The Fourth Species and The Final Rising. 
 
After spending eight years working as a lawyer, she began to write in the evenings and early mornings as a form of escapism from life in a very small cubicle with lots of files. She self-published her first novels in her spare time, which were picked up by Del Rey UK which is the science fiction/fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House. 
 
 She is an avid reader, occasional gamer and fair-weather runner. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter and hopefully, one day, a wise border terrier named Austen.

A.E. Warren

A.G.D. Maran

A.J. Ayer

A.J. Cronin

A K Benedict writes crime and speculative fiction in a room filled with clowns, mannequins and Doctor Who figures. Her first novel, The Beauty of Murder, was nominated for an eDunnit award and is in development for a major 8-part TV series by Company Pictures. Her second, Jonathan Dark or The Evidence of Ghosts, came out in February 2016. She's written Torchwood audio dramas for Big Finish and her short stories have featured in anthologies including Great British Horror and Best British Short Stories. She lives in St Leonards-on-Sea with her dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford.

A.K.Benedict

A. L. Kennedy has twice been selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists and has won a host of other awards – including the Costa Book of the Year for her novel Day. She lives in Essex.

A.L. Kennedy

A.M. Ellis is a speculative fiction author and lover of everything steeped in myth and mystery. Her stories often lean into diverse voices, not only in her identity as a Black woman, but in exploring neurodivergence and mental health. A proud introvert and nostalgic gamer, she lives in Maryland, USA, with her husband and three children.

A.M. Ellis

A.N. Wilson was born in 1950 and educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is an award-winning biographer and a celebrated novelist, winning prizes for much of his work. He lives in North London.

A.N. Wilson

A. T. Emerald lives with her husband and baby daughter in Nottinghamshire. She discovered her love of writing in 2020 and has not shut up about enemies to lovers ever since. She loves iced matcha, torrid love confessions with knives pressed to throats (fictional, of course) and does not accept bills for any therapy her books might incur.

A.T. Emerald

A.W. Priest

A.B.C. Merriman-Labor was a barrister, writer and munitions worker born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1877. His published works include A Series of Lectures on the Negro Race and The Story of the African Slave in a Nutshell. He also edited two editions of the Handbook of Sierra Leone. He arrived in the UK in 1904 to study law. In 1907, he organised a centenary commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade in Westminster Abbey. He later embarked on an 'entertainment-lecture' tour called Life and Scenes in Britain, travelling across thousands of miles of West, South West and Central Africa, which he expanded on to create Britons Through Negro Spectacles.

ABC Merriman-Labor

AJ Cronin

AJ Molloy

Aabria Iyengar is an American actress and author.

Aabria Iyengar

Aaliya Jaleel is a freelance illustrator, designer, and visual development artist, currently majoring in Animation at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is also the illustrator of Under My Hijab and Muslim Girls Rise. You can visit her online at www.aaliyamj.com.

Aaliya Jaleel

Aaron Allston

After more than fifteen years of experience as a clinical psychotherapist, Dr Aaron Balick has taken the amazing insights from psychology and psychotherapy out of the consultation room and made them accessible to the wider world. 
 
He has been an ‘agony uncle’ for many years for both CBBC and BBC Radio 1, as well as on television, including BBC Worldwide, BBC 3 and BBC Learning.

Aaron Balick

Aaron Carroll

Aaron Dignan is the founder of The Ready--a global organizational transformation and coaching practice--that helps companies large and small adopt new forms of self-organization and dynamic teaming. Clients include Johnson &amp; Johnson, Microsoft, Lloyds Bank, Citibank, Boeing, Mailchimp, Airbnb, Dropbox, and charity: water. 
 
He is also the founder of Murmur--a SaaS startup that helps teams scale culture through the magic of working agreements. The Murmur platform will allow every team on the planet to define and share their ways of working. 
 
Dignan is the author of Brave New Work (2019) and Game Frame (2011), co-host of the Brave New Work podcast, and a friend to misfit toys.

Aaron Dignan

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Lucy Dillon

'Real, heart-breaking - I loved it.' Katie Fforde 
'My heart is smashed and repaired for reading this wonderfully romantic and strong piece of fiction.' Milly Johnson 
___ 
 
What happens when 'I do' turns into 'I don't know'? 
 
Jeannie always wanted to fall in love, and now she's finally got the whirlwind romance she dreamed of. Dan's gorgeous, he's a successful young vet, and he flew her to New York and proposed on Brooklyn Bridge. Jeannie has to remind herself this is actually her life. It seems too perfect, too magical, to be real. Yet it is. 
 
But now she's on her way to the wedding she can't shake off the tight sensation crushing her chest. Is it just nerves . . . or is this all happening a bit too fast? 
 
Jeannie has one last chance to shout, 'Stop!' But just as she grabs it, a twist of fate throws everything she knows into the air like confetti. What Jeannie learns about Dan, about her own heart, and about the power of love itself, will change her world for ever . . . 
 
Don't miss Lucy's uplifting new novel, After the Rain, out now! 
___ 
 
Readers adore Unexpected Lessons in Love 
 
'An absolute delight . . . I enjoyed every moment.' &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; 
'I couldn't put it down. Lovely story about finding love and being honest with a little twist.' &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; 
'A story of family, friendship, loyalty, relationships and new beginnings. This book made me smile but also broke my heart.' &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088; &#11088;

Unexpected Lessons in Love

The heartwarming Sunday Times bestseller

Anne Youngson

**As read on BBC Radio Four** 
 
Uplifting, joyous, hopeful - a novel about late love and second chances, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and winner of the Paul Torday Memorial Prize 
 
'A moving tribute to friendship and love, to the courage of the ordinary, and to starting again' RACHEL JOYCE, author of Miss Benson's Beetle 
'Full of grace and humanity' Sunday Times 
________________________ 
 
This story begins with a letter 
From a housewife 
to the gentle curator 
Of an extraordinary museum 
Where lies peacefully 
An ancient exhibit 
That holds the key 
To Everything 
We are. 
 
Meet Me at the Museum tells of a connection made across oceans and against all the odds. Through intimate stories of joy, despair, and discovery, two people are drawn inexorably towards each other, until a shattering revelation pushes their friendship to the very edge. 
 
This deeply affecting debut novel by seventy-three year-old Anne Youngson won the Paul Torday Memorial Prize and was dramatized on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour 
 
******************************* 
'Tender, wise and moving, Meet Me at the Museum is a novel to cherish.' JOHN BOYNE 
 
'Insightful, emotionally acute and absorbing' DAILY EXPRESS 
 
'Beautiful and affecting' NINA STIBBE 
 
What readers are saying: 
'I loved this book. It was so different from anything else I have read'***** 
'I just loved this book and read it in one sitting. There were times when I felt like underlining the sentences that resonated with me'***** 
'I read this book one letter at a time, just to let the contents sink in. Tears came to my eyes'*****

Meet Me at the Museum

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2018

Laura Madeleine

In the dead of night, with blood on her hands, she made her escape. 
 
Accused of murder, Alejandra flees her home, escaping to the southern edge of Spain, where she faces a life of poverty and destitution. 
 
Seduced by the power of the rich and the anonymity that waits across the water in Tangier, Ale makes a bid for a new start. But it will come at a cost: a life of deception. Because Ale's new friends want to know what she is running from, they want to know who she is and whether they can trust her. 
 
Fifty years later, a young American writer wanders the streets of Tangier, searching for inspiration. When he stumbles across a trace of Ale's life, he finds himself tangled in a story of scandal, love and danger that has not yet reached its end.

An Echo of Scandal

Sophie Kinsella

Meet Rebecca Bloomwood. She's a financial journalist who spends all day writing articles on how to manage money wisely. Her own method of managing money is to hide her Visa bills under the bed and hope they'll disappear. 
Becky just can't stop shopping, whether it's stocking up on 3 for 2 offers, or buying an essential grey cardigan, or falling in lust with a pair of dreamy shoes. 
She knows she has to stop. Her bank manager is sending her sterner and sterner letters, her credit cards are being declined, her Mum and Dad have no idea . . . what is she going to do? 
Will Becky ever take control of her life, find love and regain the use of her credit card? 
The Shopaholic series begins with The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella.

Like mother, like daughter...! 
 
Shopaholic Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood)'s two-year-old is ... spirited. She knows what she wants, whether it's a grown-up Prada handbag or a toy pony (40% off, so a bargain, surely?) When yet another shopping trip turns to mayhem, Becky decides it's time to give Minnie her own pocket money. Is it a bad sign when Minnie goes instantly overdrawn? 
 
Minnie isn't the only one in financial crisis. As the Bank of London collapses, people are having to Cut Back. Everyone needs cheering up, so what better way to do it than to throw a fabulous surprise party? A thrifty party, of course. Except economising and keeping a secret have never been Becky's strong points ... 
 
Everybody loves Sophie Kinsella: 
"I almost cried with laughter" Daily Mail 
"Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page" Jenny Colgan 
"Properly mood-altering . . . funny, fast and farcical. I loved it" Jojo Moyes 
"A superb tale. Five stars!" Heat

Mini Shopaholic

(Shopaholic Book 6)

Becky's life is blooming! She's working at London's newest fashion store The Look, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a Shoe Room)... and she's pregnant! She couldn't be more overjoyed - especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. 
 
Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery...to the latest, coolest pram...to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be her husband Luke's glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky's perfect world starts to crumble. She's shopping for two...but are there three in her marriage? 
 
Everybody loves Sophie Kinsella: 
"I almost cried with laughter" Daily Mail 
"Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page" Jenny Colgan 
"Properly mood-altering . . . funny, fast and farcical. I loved it" Jojo Moyes 
"A superb tale. Five stars!" Heat

Shopaholic & Baby

(Shopaholic Book 5)

Becky thought being married to Luke Brandon would be one big Tiffany box of happiness. But to be honest, it's not quite as dreamy as she'd hoped. 
 
The trouble started on honeymoon, when she told Luke the tiniest little fib, about the teeniest little purchase. Now she's on a strict budget, she doesn't have a job - and worst of all her beloved Suze has a new best friend. Then she receives some incredible news. She has a long-lost sister! 
 
Becky has never been more excited. Finally, a real sister! They'll have so much in common! They can go shopping together... choose shoes together... have manicures together... 
 
Until she meets her - and gets the shock of her life. It can't be true. Surely Becky Bloomwood's long-lost sister can't... hate shopping? 
 
Everybody loves Sophie Kinsella: 
"I almost cried with laughter" Daily Mail 
"Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page" Jenny Colgan 
"Properly mood-altering . . . funny, fast and farcical. I loved it" Jojo Moyes 
"A superb tale. Five stars!" Heat

Shopaholic & Sister

(Shopaholic Book 4)

For once in Becky Bloomwood’s life, things are going smoothly. She’s got the dream job as a personal shopper (spending other people’s money – and getting paid for it). She’s got a fabulous Manhattan apartment with her boyfriend Luke. They’ve even opened a joint bank account (although they can’t quite agree on whether a Miu Miu skirt counts as a household expense). 
 
Then Luke proposes – and all of a sudden life gets hectic. Becky’s mum in rural Surrey wants one thing, Luke’s mother in New York wants the complete opposite. Becky knows she has to sit down and decide – but to be honest, it’s a lot more fun testing cake, trying on dresses and registering wedding presents. But time’s ticking by, plans are being made both sides of the Atlantic and soon she realizes she’s in trouble… 
 
Everybody loves Sophie Kinsella: 
"I almost cried with laughter" Daily Mail 
"Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page" Jenny Colgan 
"Properly mood-altering . . . funny, fast and farcical. I loved it" Jojo Moyes 
"A superb tale. Five stars!" Heat

Shopaholic Ties The Knot

(Shopaholic Book 3)

To Las Vegas . . . and beyond! 
 
Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is on a major rescue mission! Hollywood was full of surprises, and now she's on a road trip to Las Vegas to help her friends and family. 
 
She's determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has mysteriously disappeared, help her best friend Suze and even bond with Alicia Bitch Long-legs (maybe...). 
 
As Becky discovers just how much her friends and family need help, she comes up with her biggest, boldest, most brilliant plan yet! So can she save the day just when they need her most? 
 
Becky is setting out to make things right in this laugh-out-loud, feel-good conclusion to her American adventure that began with SHOPAHOLIC TO THE STARS.

Shopaholic to the Rescue

(Shopaholic Book 8)

Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) is in Hollywood! She's hanging out with celebs . . . or at least she will be, once her husband Luke introduces her to his new A-list client Sage Seymour. 
 
Becky sets her heart on a new career – she's going to be a stylist to the stars! And when a chance encounter thrusts her into the limelight, she grabs her opportunity. But in between choosing clutch bags and chasing celebrities, Becky loses touch with her family and her best friend . . . 
 
Caught up in the whirlwind of Tinseltown, has Becky gone too far this time? 
 
Everybody loves Sophie Kinsella: 
"I almost cried with laughter" Daily Mail 
"Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page" Jenny Colgan 
"Properly mood-altering . . . funny, fast and farcical. I loved it" Jojo Moyes 
"A superb tale. Five stars!" Heat

Shopaholic to the Stars

(Shopaholic Book 7)

For Rebecca Bloomwood, life is peachy. She has a job on morning TV, her bank manager is actually being nice to her, and when it comes to spending money, her new motto is Buy Only What You Need - and she's really (sort of) sticking to it. The icing on the brioche is that she's been offered a chance to work in New York. 
 
New York! The Museum of Modern Art! The Guggenheim! The Metropolitan Opera House! And Becky does mean to go to them all. Honestly. It's just that it seems silly not to check out a few other famous places first. Like Saks. And Bloomingdales. And Barneys. And one of those fantastic sample sales where you can get a Prada dress for $10. Or was it $100? Is Becky too dazzled to care? 
 
Everybody loves Sophie Kinsella: 
"I almost cried with laughter" Daily Mail 
"Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page" Jenny Colgan 
"Properly mood-altering . . . funny, fast and farcical. I loved it" Jojo Moyes 
"A superb tale. Five stars!" Heat

Shopaholic Abroad

(Shopaholic Book 2)

Katie Khan

‘A will they, won’t they tale with a jaw-dropping twist at its heart’ Sunday Express 
 
Perfect for fans of Sliding Doors. 
 
Thea and Isaac have always been friends, despite his constant jokes, despite her stubborn belief in time travel . . . despite the distance between them. 
 
But when Isaac returns home from New York when their friend goes missing, suddenly things aren't as they were. Something is different. 
 
Thea and Isaac have always been friends. But maybe that wasn't how it was supposed to be. 
 
* 
 
'Stunning, mesmerising and intricately beautiful. This book is a diamond.' Carrie Hope Fletcher 
 
'A love story with a great twist that takes it beyond a classic 'will they, won't they?'' Stylist 
 
'Gripping, fascinating, funny, romantic, exciting, and hopeful with a great cast of women, The Light Between Us is a cracking good read.' Rowan Coleman

The Light Between Us

'Lucy Dillon's books never fail to make me happy' Jenny Colgan 
'Deeply moving' Sophie Kinsella 
 
Sometimes the cracks in your heart can be mended in unexpected ways . . . 
 
If Lorna's learned one thing, it's that courage is something you paint on like red lipstick, even when you're panicking inside. And right now, with the keys to the town's gallery in her hand, Lorna feels about as courageous as the anxious little dachshund trembling beside her. 
 
Sick of life in the big city, Lorna's come home to fulfil her dream of running a successful art gallery. Desperate for change, Lorna just wants a fresh start but can she find it in Longhampton? This is where her tight-knit family shattered into pieces. It's where her doubts about herself took root and where she first fell in love and had her heart broken. It's everything she was running away from. 
 
But life and love can surprise you and all Lorna has to do to let the light in is open her heart . . . 
 
An uplifting and inspiring novel about second chances and soon to be realised dreams. Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Veronica Henry and Lucy Diamond. 
____________________ 
 
AUTHORS AND READERS LOVE THIS BOOK: 
 
'Full of love, truth, art and dogs. I absolutely loved it.' Katie Fforde 
'Heart-gripping narrative' 
'A beautiful, insightful and tender story. I felt bereft for having finished it' Milly Johnson 
'Could not put it down' 
____________________ 
 
Lucy Dillon's latest heartwarming novel After the Rain is out now in paperback and ebook.

Where The Light Gets In

A heart-warming and uplifting romance from the Sunday Times bestseller

Alison Mercer

Meet Lucy, Tina and Natalie, twenty-something friends who are all negotiating the risky business of being grown-up. 
 
Lucy knows exactly what she wants: her marriage to be a success, her children to be perfect, and to be the ultimate home-maker. 
 
Tina knows what she wants too: her journalism career to take off and to see her name as a byline in a national newspaper... and the illicit affair she's started leaves her free enough to follow her dreams. 
 
Natalie just wants to be happy - happy with the boyfriend she's dated since college, happy with the job she's drifted into, happy with a life she thinks is enough – but is it really? 
 
Ten years later, all three women have the lives they thought they wanted. But somehow, reality isn't quite as neat and clean-cut as their dreams...

Stop the Clock

Trisha Ashley

This novel from the Sunday Times bestselling Trisha Ashley will more than satisfy romantic comedy fans. And it also contains recipes! 
 
When Carey Revell unexpectedly becomes the heir to Mossby, his family’s ancestral home, it’s rather a mixed blessing. The house is large but rundown and comes with a pair of resentful relatives who can’t be asked to leave. 
Still, newly dumped by his girlfriend and also from his job as a TV interior designer, Carey needs somewhere to lick his wounds. And Mossby would be perfect for a renovation show. He already knows someone who could restore the stained glass windows in the older part of the house… 
 
Angel Arrowsmith has spent the last ten years happily working and living with her artist mentor and partner. But suddenly bereaved, she finds herself heartbroken, without a home or a livelihood. Life will never be the same again – until old friend Carey Revell comes to the rescue. 
 
They move in to Mossby with high hopes. But the house has a secret at its heart: an old legend concerning one of the famous windows. Will all their dreams for happiness be shattered? Or can Carey and Angel find a way to make this house a home? 
 
Heart-warming, witty and quirkily original, Trisha Ashley's THE HOUSE OF HOPES AND DREAMS will delight both old fans and new readers alike.

The House of Hopes and Dreams

An uplifting, funny novel from the #1 bestselling author

The absorbing and delightful rom-com from the Sunday Times bestseller

Catherine Ryan Hyde

Fans of Jodi Picoult, Susan Lewis, Mitch Alborn and Alice Sebold will love this compelling, emotionally charged and unforgettable novel from international bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde. 
 
'A heroic, superbly crafted novel worth reading again and again and again' - The Denver Post 
'Ryan Hyde spins her tale so effortlessly that the reader closes the book with a quiet sense of elation' -- San Francisco Chronicle 
'I couldn't put it down' -- ****** Reader review 
'Pure emotion' -- ***** Reader review 
'This book held me spellbound to the end' -- ***** Reader review 
'Absolutely loved this book' -- ***** Reader review 
 
**************************************************************** 
THERE'S A SPLIT SECOND BETWEEN HAVING IT ALL, AND LOSING EVERYTHING. 
 
Hayden briefly has it all: a wife and daughter he adores and a baby on the way. But when his son dies at birth, a deep anger emerges, robbing Hayden of everything. 
 
Years on, Hayden is living in self-imposed exile. He's just lost his beloved dog and is now losing Laurel, the only woman he's loved since... 
 
But just as Hayden's rage rises again, a young figure from the past emerges, forcing him to re-visit his long-buried childhood...

The Hardest Part of Love

a powerful and thought-provoking novel from bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club author Catherine Ryan Hyde

A gripping mystery with a heart-breaking revelation, The Secrets Between Us is a sublimely satisfying story of lost love, betrayal and the dangers of war. 
 
Perfect for fans of Kate Morton's The Lake House and Dinah Jeffries' Before the Rains. 
 
High in the mountains in the South of France, eighteen-year-old Ceci Corvin is trying hard to carry on as normal. But in 1943, there is no such thing as normal; especially not for a young woman in love with the wrong person. Scandal, it would seem, can be more dangerous than war. 
 
Fifty years later, Annie is looking for her long-lost grandmother. Armed with nothing more than a sheaf of papers, she travels from England to Paris in pursuit of the truth. But as she traces her grandmother’s story, Annie uncovers something she wasn’t expecting, something that changes everything she knew about her family – and everything she thought she knew about herself… 
 
* 
 
Laura Madeleine's writing is... 
 
‘Sublimely satisfying’ Veronica Henry, author of The Forever House 
‘Mouth-watering and mysterious’ Leah Fleming, author of The Glovemaker's Daughter 
‘Delightful and delicious’ Nina George, author of The Little Paris Bookshop

The Secrets Between Us

Rachel Joyce

From the author of the world-wide bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: 
 
' A beautiful novel, a tonic for the soul and a complete joy to read.' Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep. 
 
1988. Frank owns a music shop. It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk - as long as it's vinyl he sells it. Day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need. 
 
Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann. 
 
Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to re-open and a past he will never leave behind ... 
 
'Hits all the right notes...a love story that's as much about the silences between words as what is said - the spaces between people that can be filled with mystery, confusion and misunderstanding as well as hope." Observer

The Music Shop

Judy Astley

Let bestselling author Judy Astley sweep you away with this insightful and uplifting gem of a novel about the important things in life. Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Milly Johnson and Trisha Ashley. 
 
"Astley writes with humour and insight about the stresses and strains of family life" - THE TIMES 
"A most absorbing and revealing read" - WOMAN'S WEEKLY 
"Judy Astley's books are always a joy to read." -- ***** Reader review 
"Judy Astley is a brilliant writer, you get lost in her books. They are all brilliant in my opinion." -- ***** Reader review 
 
********************************************************* 
 
HER LIFE SEEMS COMPLETE, BUT THERE'S ONE THING SHE HAS TO FIND... 
 
Funerals are strange things. Kitty hadn't really wanted to go to this one - a old school friend she hadn't seen for years - and she hadn't bargained for the way it made her think of the past. In particular, it made her think of the baby she had given birth to when she was eighteen and been forced to give away for adoption. She'd called her Madeleine, and she remembered her every day, wondered what she was like, if she was happy. 
 
Now, reminded of how cruelly short life can be, she has to see her - just to make sure she'd done the right thing. 
 
Life has turned out pretty well for Kitty: a secure marriage, two teenage children and a house within sound and sight of the Cornish surf... But the hole left by that first baby isn't getting any smaller, and she decides to make the first, tentative steps towards filling it - although she, and all her family, are quite unprepared for what this means...

The Right Thing

a wonderfully funny, warm and moving novel that will sweep you away

'A bold new talent' Matt Haig 
 
Ninety minutes. 
 
A few years from now, not too far in the future, two people meet. 
 
It is a classic story of boy meets girl. 
 
Except that it's not. 
 
When we find them, they have an hour and a half left. 
 
Unless they can save themselves, they won't survive. 
 
The clock is ticking. 
 
Bittersweet and life-affirming, Hold Back the Stars is the love story of the year. 
 
SOON TO BE A FILM STARRING JOHN BOYEGA AND LETITIA WRIGHT 
_________________ 
 
PRAISE FOR HOLD BACK THE STARS: 
'The most unique love story I've read in years' Rowan Coleman 
'Prepare to shed tears' Heat 
'Original, surprising and romantic' Woman &amp; Home 
‘Full of wonder and heart’ Emma Jane Unsworth 
'An incredibly imaginative debut' Sunday Mirror

Hold Back the Stars

Ravinder Singh

THE MULTI-MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER: a heartbreaking true story that has broken records in India and will make you believe in the power of love. 
 
++++ 
 
Not all love stories are meant to have a happy ending . . . 
 
I TOO HAD A LOVE STORY is the tender and heartfelt tale of Ravin and Khushi - two people who found each other on a dating website and fell in love . . . until life put their love to the ultimate test. 
 
Do love stories ever die? How would you react if a beautiful person came into your life, and then leaves it, forever? 
 
Romantic, emotional and sincere, this heartbreaking true story has already touched a million hearts. This is a must-read for anyone who believes in the magic of love.

I Too Had a Love Story

Readers of Carole Matthews, Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Milly Johnson will love this delightfully light-hearted, witty and sparkling romantic comedy. Perfect to settle down with! 
 
'Fast and fun' -- Woman &amp; Home 
'I loved it!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Gripping from beginning to end' -- ***** Reader review 
'A book best read in one sitting' -- ***** Reader review 
 
*********************************************************************************** 
IS IT EVER TOO LATE TO REKINDLE AN OLD FLAME? 
 
When Nell was a student, she and Patrick were a serious item. They were inseparable, and she really thought he was The One. 
 
But then Alex came along...the safer, more restful option, and thanks to her over-controlling mother she opted for him instead. 
 
Now nothing is going right. Alex has left her to live in New York with a younger, blonder woman. Escaping to the Caribbean for a recuperative holiday, she is mugged at Gatwick and her bag is stolen. It's crisis time - and she makes two decisions: 
 
First - she will take lessons in self-defence. 
 
Second - she will try and find Patrick again. 
 
Is she trying to put the past behind her - or setting out to ruin her future?

Laying The Ghost

bestselling author Judy Astley hits the funny bone again in this upbeat and laugh-out-loud rom-com about second chances

Rafel Nadal Farreras

A huge international bestseller, this heartbreaking tale of a tiny Italian village during two World Wars will stay with you forever. 
 
Among the olive groves and vineyards of southern Italy, a boy and a girl are born, moments apart. Far away in the trenches of World War I, their fathers have just died. Now all the men in Vitantonio’s family have been wiped out – all twenty-one. All except him. 
 
Growing up together, war seems far away for the two children. But Vitantonio’s mother will do anything to protect her son from the curse of death that seems to hang over the family – and so she tells a lie. It is a lie that will bind Vitantonio and Giovanna, the girl who shares his birthday, together over the years. But as the clouds of another war begin to gather on the horizon, it may ultimately drive them apart...

The Last Son's Secret

Anne Fine

Lovers, colleagues, family - Tilly has always been brilliant at pushing people in and out of her life exactly as it suits her. Then along comes Geoffrey, gentle, compassionate, generous to a fault, with his miserable little children and his manipulative ex-wife. 
 
Tilly's own expertise in the arts of deception and avoidance should be enough to make sure she's always one step ahead of Geoffrey's disastrous, crumbling family. But time and again she finds herself staying, brought down by their cowardly backsliding and their barefaced lies. 
 
How has she managed to stay so long in a relationship she knows perfectly well has to be doomed? More importantly, how can Tilly plan her permanent escape?

Raking The Ashes

The bestselling ebook sensation. 
 
'Atmospheric, engaging and sublimely satisfying' Veronica Henry 
 
How far must you run to leave the past behind you? 
 
It is 1919 and the end of the war has not brought peace for Emeline Vane. Lost in grief, she is suddenly alone at the heart of a depleted family. She can no longer cope. And as everything seems to be slipping beyond her control, in a moment of desperation, she boards a train and runs away. 
 
Fifty years later, a young solicitor on his first case finds Emeline’s diary. What Bill Perch finds in the tattered pages of neat script goes against everything he has been told. He begins to trace an anguished story of love and betrayal that will send him on a journey to discover the truth. 
 
I closed my eyes as I tried to pick apart every flavour, because nothing had ever tasted so good before. It was love and it could not be hidden. 
 
What really happened to Emeline all those years ago? 
 
Includes a sumptuous recipe inspired by the author's research for the book.

Where The Wild Cherries Grow

A timeless love story full of drama and intrigue

Sara Crowe

Life isn’t an exact science. Things can be troublesome. Like pregnant step-mothers, the ins-and-outs of French existentialism . . . having an unexceptional name. 
 
In 1988, seventeen-year-old Sue Bowl has a diary, big dreams and £4.73. What she wants most of all is to make it as a writer, as well as stop her decadent aunt Coral spending money she doesn't have. 
 
Living in their crumbling ancestral home should provide plenty of inspiration, but between falling in love, hunting for missing heirlooms and internship applications, things keep getting in the way. 
 
So when a young literary professor moves in and catches Sue's eye, life begins to take an unexpected turn . . . 
 
From the author of Campari for Breakfast, a witty and enchanting novel about what happens after you think you’ve grown up and fallen in love, perfect for fans of I Capture the Castle, Love, Nina and Where’d You Go Bernadette.

Martini Henry

Domnica Radulescu

It is 1977 and seventeen-year-old Mona Manoliu has fallen in love with Mihai, a mysterious boy who lives in the romantic mountain city where she spends her summers. She can think of nothing and no one else. 
 
But life under Ceausescu's Romania is difficult. Hunger, paranoia and fear infect everyone. One day Mona sees Mihai wearing the black leather jacket favoured by the secret police. Is it possible he is one of them? As food shortages worsen and more of her loved ones disappear, Mona comes to understand that she must leave Romania. 
 
She escapes in secret - narrowly avoiding the police - through Yugoslavia to Italy, and finally to Chicago. But she leaves without saying a final goodbye to Mihai. And though she struggles to bury her longing for the past, many years later she finds herself compelled to return, determined to learn the truth.

Train to Trieste

Anna Hope

The unputdownable historical novel by the acclaimed and bestselling author of WAKE and EXPECTATION: a devastating story of love and madness at the brink of the Great War. 
 
'Absolutely heart-breaking. One of the best books I’ve ever read' DINAH JEFFERIES, author of The Tea-Planter's Wife 
 
'Compelling, elegant, insightful' OBSERVER 
 
1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, where men and women are kept apart by high walls and barred windows, there is a ballroom vast and beautiful. For one bright evening every week they come together and dance. When John and Ella meet it is a dance that will change two lives forever. 
 
Set over the heatwave summer of 1911, the end of the Edwardian era, THE BALLROOM tells a rivetting tale of dangerous obsession, of madness and sanity, and of who gets to decide which is which. It is a love story like no other. 
 
***************************************** 
 
Praise for Anna Hope's The Ballroom: 
 
'Beautifully wrought, tender, heartbreaking' Sunday Express 5/5 
 
'Moving, fascinating' Times 
 
'A tender and absorbing love story' Daily Mail 
 
'Unsentimental and affecting' Sunday Times 
 
'Exquisitely good' Metro 
 
'Absolutely fantastic . . . I'm in real awe of her writing' ELIZABETH MACNEAL, author of The Doll Factory 
______________

The Ballroom

A Richard and Judy book club pick

Cristina Caboni

From Florence to Paris, a scent like no other can take you unexpected places . . . 
 
Ten-year-old Elena lives in Florence with her cold and distant perfumier grandmother. Only when enveloped in aromas does Elena feel at home, and she has nurtured a unique gift: the ability to decipher the ingredients of a perfume, and experience the feelings it evokes. 
 
Years later, Elena’s talent leads her to the cobbled streets of Paris. There she rediscovers an old, secret family perfume recipe that no other perfumier has been able to replicate. 
 
As Elena begins to open her heart to new adventures she meets a man who is guarding his own secrets. From France’s sun-drenched lavender fields to the ancient heart of Italy, together they will follow a path of secret scents, distant memories and new hopes . . . 
 
'Sensuous, evocative, intriguing and emotional - and like all good perfumes it lingered long after. An absolute treat' Veronica Henry 
'Evocative, atmospheric and engaging' Daily Mail 
'A beautiful and well-constructed tale' Elle 
'A stunning story' Vanity Fair

The Secret Ways of Perfume

With unforgettable characters, charming romance and lots of laughter, A Merry Mistletoe Wedding is a gorgeous Christmas read from much-loved and ever-popular author Judy Astley. Perfect for fans of Carole Matthews, Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Milly Johnson. 
 
'Elegant, witty writing, endearing characters and a wonderful romance. What more could you want?' -- Katie Fforde 
 'A light-hearted, romantic and escapist read' -- Good Housekeeping 
'With dialogue that will have you laughing out loud, and well drawn characters to boot, this is an enjoyable light read' -- Sunday Mirror 
'It was like putting on your favourite jumper - warm and cosy - and great to cuddle up with this winter' -- ***** Reader review 
'Warm and witty' -- ***** Reader review 
'Full of fun and charm' -- ***** Reader review 
'Fantastic from start to finish!' -- ***** Reader review 
 
***************************************************************************************** 
 CHURCH BELLS RING...ARE YOU LISTENING? 
 
It is almost a year since Sean and Thea met and it's been a roller-coaster ride: they're getting married on Christmas Day! 
 
 Neither Thea or Sean want a big fuss - a simple wedding, with Christmas lights and just a few sprigs of mistletoe for decoration is all they need. But before they know it, things begin to get complicated... 
 
Trying to manage a long-distance relationship in the build-up to their Christmas wedding is one thing, but as one challenge after another comes their way, the happy couple begin to wonder if they'll ever make it down the aisle . . . 
 
 Thea and Sean's story begins in It Must Have Been The Mistletoe - have you read it?

A Merry Mistletoe Wedding

the perfect festive romance to settle down with this Christmas!

Stephanie Butland

“It smelled bittersweetly of sourdough, and there was the trace of hot, fresh bread in the air. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door” 
 
Fifteen years ago Bettina May’s life’s veered off course in one disastrous night. Still reeling from the shock of losing everything she thought was hers, Bettina opens a bakery in a village and throws herself into the comfort of bread-making. 
 
She spends her days kneading dough and measuring ingredients. She meets someone. She begins to heal. 
 
Until someone who knows what happens that night walks into Bettina's bakery. In the pause of a heartbeat, fifteen years disappear and Bettina remembers a time she thought was lost for ever . . . 
 
Can she ever go back?

The Other Half Of My Heart

A Private Thriller

A series of children's modern classic novels by renowned 20th century children's writers. All the titles in this series have the A Puffin Book logo, contemporary-style covers, and child-friendly endnotes.

A Puffin Book

A Ripley Novel

A Slice of the Moon

A Victorian Mystery

A Walk in...

A Women’s Murder Club Thriller

A chef Paul Delamare Mystery

Aberrations

Across the Universe

Actiphons

Adelia Aguilar

Adrian Mole

Adventures in Time

Aftermath

Against War

Age of X

Agent 21

Agent Z

Detective Aidan Waits is a troubled junior detective haunted by his past. Facing an uncertain future, and disconnected from his history, DC Waits and his partner, Detective Inspector Peter 'Sutty' Sutcliffe work on Manchester's streets to uncover the city's worst criminals among the grime of the underworld.

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