From the author of The Bookseller of Kabul, this is a brave and rigorous attempt to understand how life is for 'ordinary' Russians under Putin. Her point of entry is a young former soldier i... read more
Uncertain of her forthcoming marriage to a young blade, a woman rallies to the help of a friend and finds herself in a tangle in the seamy side of London in the 1920s.
A curious book that takes us around that very particular and even eccentric eco-system of colleges, hierarchies, gossip, exams, students, proctors, lawns, quads and dons.
A funny, raucous debut novel set in the Ukraine, involving a woman trying to breed snails and 'romance tours' of hopeful bachelors from the west looking for 'untainted' brides as the country... read more
The eminent psychologist presents his views on coping with aging and the transience of life, drawing on the Stoics, Existentialists, Jung and C21st neuroscience. Wise indeed - and positive.
The novelist (of, most recently, the hugely loved Horse) has written a graceful memoir of sudden bereavement, its bureaucratic aftermath and finding solace in solitude.
This uproarious, clever classic (originally published 1958) of a young American woman's sojourn in France, her love affairs on the fringes of Bohemia and the film industry, is largely based ... read more
A biography of the guitarist and lead singer of The Jam: "...You choose your leaders and place your trust/ As their lies wash you down and their promises rust/ You'll see kidney machines rep... read more
A memoir from the Swedish tennis prodigy who retired at the age of twenty-six, in which he opens up about his childhood, family, addiction and illness.
Seven children come together after the death of their father but find their attempts to mourn him thwarted by his will. The result is this deliciously funny, heartening, somewhat dark caper ... read more
A funny, raucous debut novel set in the Ukraine, involving a woman trying to breed snails and 'romance tours' of hopeful bachelors from the west looking for 'untainted' brides as the country... read more
The author's Orwell: The Life won the 2003 Whitbread Prize for Biography. Since then, a great deal of new material has come out and he has addressed the subject again.
Born in Russia in 1894, Gala escaped the Revolution and lived in Paris with Paul Eluard and then Max Ernst before meeting Dali in 1929. Klein argues that she, as the Mother of Surrealism wit... read more
DJ takes on another Big Year, this time the one that produced Horses, Blood on the Tracks and The Hissing of Summer Lawns. His book on '95, Faster than a Cannonball, was a riot.
Freud is the primary focus here, but we also encounter Klimt, Schiele, Herzl, Empress Sisi and many others in this fine account of the new understanding of the mind that arose from Vienna at... read more