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From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing, a short story about a young girl’s experience of growing up in an unnamed African country.A young white girl, growing up on her family’s farm in the African bush, recalls her encounters with the local tribal chief, Mshlanga, and the growth of her awareness of the status of those around her.‘The Old Chief Mshlanga’ is a subtle but compelling tale of childhood, race and injustice, filled with the insight and anger that powers Doris Lessing’s most acclaimed novels.This story also appears in the collection This Was the Old Chief’s Country.

Family secrets. Forbidden love. And the true price of wealth.Following the death of Joel Goodman, reporter Thomas Cleary is sent to interview the legendary film-maker’s daughter, Lily.Thomas is a small-town boy and when Lily invites him to a dinner party, he gains access to the exclusive upper echelons of Hollywood society. As he enters a world of private jets and sprawling mansions, his life and career take off beyond his wildest dreams.Then he meets Matilda Duplaine.Beautiful and mysterious, Matilda has spent her entire life within the walls of her powerful father’s Bel-Air estate and Thomas is immediately entranced by her. But what starts as an enchanted romance soon threatens to destroy their lives and the lives of everyone around them.

A big, intensely involving and evocative Indian novel, with its story of a woman’s fight for her place in the world, reminiscent of Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’.The dew hasn't formally evaporated off the mustard leaves outside. Except for the sleeping baby, she is alone at home. Her mother gave her this much. As an excuse Lata Bai left Shanti behind for Mamta to look after. She has an hour before her mother will return from the well.Mamta runs her hand over her wedding sari. For a minute she considers why it is already lying unwrapped, in precise folds gleaming like a treasure in her mother's tin trunk, then she remembers her mother had used the wrapping to deliver Shanti. She picks up a corner and looks through the sheerness of the fabric. Everything turns red, the red of love. Mamta smiles. It is as it should be. «Keep my world red, oh Devi,» she prays. «Jai ho Devi, Devi Jai ho,» she recites her mother's words. Almost a married woman, she feels she has an equal right to them.’Mamta is one of seven children and learns early on in her childhood what it means to be born female in rural India. Married to a savagely unkind and brutal husband, she flees to the city to try and make a new life for herself. Sharing her story are her mother, Lata Bai, the saintly Lokend, her ever-loving brother Prem, a soul-searching bandit and a brutal landlord. This is a redemptive story, despite the often unforgiving setting, and one that is difficult to put down.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing, a distinctive science fiction short story.Unknown observers send reports on a city that is threatened with destruction. They gather information on the inhabitants and their behaviour. It soon becomes clear that this is far from an alien planet.As in many of her acclaimed science fiction novels, in ‘Report on the Threatened City’, Doris Lessing uses the traditions of this genre to examine the world we know and human nature itself, from a completely new and often unforgiving perspective.This story also appears in the collection The Temptation of Jack Orkney.

The first in a multi-generational trilogy by mega-seller Penny Jordan is set in the decadent world of the silk industry.Dangerous liaisons…Skeletons in closets…A scandalous web of lies and deceit…The Pickfords are just your average family.1920s Cheshire. A time of great glamour and decadence, high living and loose morality. A time where anything goes – and does.Amber Vrontsky is the heiress to the wealthy Pickford dynasty, presided over by the formidable Blanche.Obsessed with social climbing, Blanche wants nothing more for her granddaughter than a titled husband – a prize which she herself failed to secure, despite her immense wealth.But free spirited Amber is intent on forging her own artistic career with the silk she loves so much. Unable to disobey Blanche, however, she moves to society London to become a debutante – and enters a world of illicit affairs, drug-taking, gambling, lavender marriages…From the lavish decadence of society London to the opium dens of the Far East, the chic boutiques of Paris to the Nazi-controlled streets of Berlin, Silk spans the depravity and the glamour of this tumultuous time.Spoil yourself with this dazzling, decadent treat by international multi-million-copy selling Penny Jordan – the ultimate read for fans of Danielle Steel and Penny Vincenzi.

A heartbreaking new novel about lost loves and past regrets. A guaranteed tearjerker.Blue Reynolds has the world at her feet. Her successful daytime chat show and the attendant wealth make her the envy of women all over the globe. But little do her fans know that behind the façade of designer clothes and luxury apartments, Blue is tormented by a tragic event in her past.Whilst on a work trip to Florida, Blue finds herself caught up in a love triangle between two men – a situation made even more problematic by the fact that the two men are father and son. Whilst Blue is drawn to her old flame Mitch, she also finds herself deeply attracted to his enigmatic son Julian.Her troubles are further increased when the press discover that she gave up a child for adoption as a troubled teen – a child that she has desperately tried to find in the years that followed.With the media camping outside her door, desperate to tarnish the reputation of one of the world's most famous women, Blue realizes she must face her demons and overcome her fears as well as follow her heart – even if that means giving up the life she has worked so hard to create.Old conflicts, long-held secrets, and thwarted expectations provoke the question of what makes love true. A compelling and poignant novel that will captivate readers of Anita Shreve and Rosie Thomas.

A poignant, highly original novel about an author whose relationship with his very famous book editor will change him forever… ‘Told with warmth and humour – the story of a mother-son reconciliation, facilitated by a most unlikely fairy godmother…delightful’ Chloe Benjamin, author of The ImmortalistsAfter years of struggling as a writer in 1990s New York City, James Smale finally gets his big break when his novel sells to an editor at a major publishing house:none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Jackie, or Mrs. Onassis as she's known in the office, loves James's candidly autobiographical novel, about his own dysfunctional family.As Jackie and James develop an unexpected friendship, she pushes him to write an authentic ending, encouraging him to confront the truth about his relationship with his mother. But when a long-held family secret is revealed, he realises his editor may have had a larger plan that goes beyond the page…

This remarkable novel tells the story of three women, each of them far from where they came, all of whom are still searching for somewhere that can be called home.This book was published by Heinemann in 2004. It has been out of print since 2005.Maysa returns to the house that was her grandparents' home , in a village high on the slopes of Mount Lebanon.Aida, long a traveller far from the land of her birth, returns in search for the man, a refugee, who was so much more of a father to her than her ownSalwa, who was taken from her homeland when a young bride and delivered to another family, another country, returns to find the person she once was.

Hilarious, poignant and frequently surreal, Small Holdings is a is a comedy of errors from a neglected corner of everyday life by the brilliantly unconventional Nicola Barker.An attractive park in Palmers Green plays host to Phil, a chronically shy gardener who feels truly at home only with his plants. He and his gentle colleague Ray, a man with all the sense of a Savoy cabbage, are tortured by Doug, their imposing and unpredictable supervisor, and a malevolent one-legged ex-museum curator called Saleem. In love with the truck-obsessed Nancy, Phil strives nobly to maintain his equilibrium despite being systematically mystified, brutalised, drugged, derided and seduced. But when he loses his eyebrows, he decides to fight back.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing, a short story about a young boy’s coming of age.While on holiday with his mother, a young boy sees a group of older children jumping from a rock into deep sea. He feels compelled to challenge himself to match them, and in doing so will take his first steps away from childhood.An amazingly vivid short story, Through the Tunnel explores the difficulties of childhood and ageing, resonating with many of Doris Lessing’s acclaimed novels.This story also appears in the collection To Room Nineteen.

An exclusive short story for World Book Day from one of our bestselling authorsSometimes all we need is a relaxing holiday in the sun.For Anthony and Carole, a week in a lovely Greek hotel has helped them mend the cracks in their marriage. For widowed Jessica, it’s the longest she’s ever gone without visiting her beloved husband’s grave.However when the flight doesn’t go according to plan, they are each forced to face up to the very things they have been avoiding for so long.By the time they land, they have learnt important life lessons about themselves and each other which change them forever.

Charles O’Brien, bard and giant. The cynical are moved by his flights of romance; the craven stirred by his tales of epic deeds. But what of his own story as he is led from Ireland to seek his fortune beyond the seas in England?The Surprising Irish Giant may be the sensation of the season but only his compatriots seem to attend to his mythic powers of invention. A motley court surrounds him: slow witted Jankin; the thrusting Claffey brothers; sharp-tongued Bride Claskey, the procuress. None so low as Bitch Mary, and none so opportunistic as impressario Joe Vance, yet London shall make its mark on them all.Just bodies. But even dead, London shall have them. John Hunter, celebrated surgeon and anatomist, buys dead men from the gallows and babies’ corpses by the inch. Where is a man to hide his bones when he is yet alive?The Giant, O’ Brien is an unforgettable novel; lyrical, shocking and spliced with black comedy.