Showing titles in Biographical Fiction

The politics of empire-building and the hypocrisies, back-stabbings, and corruptions of Rome's first family come to light. First published in 1934, the book retains a marvelously modern and often comic tone, and is written in the form of Claudius' autobiography. This is gripping stuff, read by one of our finest actors, who also starred as Claudius in the classic television series.

No.1 bestselling author Gill Sims is back with her eagerly awaited sixth Why Mummy novel. When family life gives you lemons, trade them for grapes! Mummy Ellen has a Vision. She will cherish every moment this holiday with her Moppets Peter and Jane, alongside her ride-or-die best pal, Hannah...

In these short stories, collected and translated by Ralph McCarthy, we can see just how closely Dazai’s life mirrored his art, and vice versa, as the writer/narrator falls from grace, rises to fame, and falls again. Addiction, debt, shame, and despair dogged Dazai until his self-inflicted death, and yet despite all the lies and deception he resorted to in life, there is an almost fanatical honesty to his writing.

As the beautiful daughter of courtiers, Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount is overjoyed when she secures a position as maid of honor to Katherine of Aragon. But when she captures the attention of the king himself, there are whispers that the queen ought to be worried for her throne. When Bess gives birth to a healthy son the whispers become a roar. But soon the infamous Boleyn girls come to court and Henry's love for her begins to fade. 

'Gripping, heartbreaking and uplifting.' Christy Lefteri, author of the million-copy bestseller The Beekeeper of Aleppo THEIR STORY WILL BREAK YOUR HEART THEIR JOURNEY WILL FILL YOU WITH HOPE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR NAMES When they are little girls, Cibi, Magda and Livia make a promise to...

1135, England: Matilda, daughter of Henry I, knows that there are those who will not accept her as England's queen when her father dies. But the men who support her rival, and cousin, Stephen do not know the iron will that drives her. She will win her inheritance against all odds, and despite all men. Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to a warrior who is fighting to keep Matilda off the throne. But Adeliza knows that Britain's crown belongs to a woman this time. Both women will stand and fight for what they know is right for England's royalty.

Read by the author, Garth Greenwell Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction 'Marvelous: exceptionally vivid, real, and true' – Colm Tóibín, author of Long Island 'Fundamentally about the beauty of life' – Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam 'Exquisite. Utterly mesmerizing' - Mark Haddon...

Islande. À la mort de sa meilleure amie, tuée par son compagnon, Katla se lance un défi inédit: organiser une grève des femmes dans le monde entier, pour dénoncer les violences et les inégalités. Japon. Michiko, jeune salariée enceinte, est harcelée par son patron. Salvador. Ana María, ouvrière à l'usine, se bat pour sa fille, condamnée à trente ans de prison pour suspicion d'avortement. Sénégal. Hawa, urgentiste, tente de sauver une enfant quand le trauma de son passé ressurgit. Katla, Michiko, Ana María et Hawa ne se connaissent pas, mais toutes décident de dire non.

Brought to you by Penguin. 1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time...

A sweeping dual-narrative love story sweeping from 1950s Paris to the V&A Museum in London, told through eight couture dresses that reunite three generations of women. Each Dior dress tells a story... London, 2017. When her beloved grandmother, Sylvie, sends her to Paris to retrieve a dress she...

Anne Neville and her sister Isabel are daughters of the most powerful magnate in 15th century England. Ever ruthless, always plotting, in the absence of a son and heir, Warwick sets about using his daughters as pawns in his political games. Anne grows from a delightful child brought up at the...

Del Wensley, wife of the most celebrated preacher in Harlan County, tries to mind her place. Until her husband’s infidelity pushes an already strained marriage to a breaking point. Clinging to her last hope for self-respect, Del turns her back on the rigid life she’s known. A coal train is rolling through the valley. With her eyes wide open to the unfamiliar, and to the freedom she craves, Del takes to the rails.

October 1485: With the English crown finally in his possession, Henry Tudor’s endeavors to restore order to the realm are hindered by continuing unrest. Intrigue, treason, and distrust blights the new Tudor dynasty, challenging Margaret’s strength of character and her steadfast faith in God.

Elizabeth von Arnim, who is best known for her later novel The Enchanted April, married a Prussian aristocrat and, with their five children, lived in Nassenheide, Pomerania. Elizabeth and Her German Garden is a semi-autobiographical novel about the joy that the protagonist finds in the delights of her Pomeranian garden, which provides relief from the stifling environment of her household. The novel was originally published anonymously because von Arnim feared that her husband, whom she satirised in the book, would disapprove.

It’s time for a w(h)ine “God, she’s funny” – Jilly Cooper ‘Oh, for f*ck’s sake’ muttered Claire under her breath, as she opened the fridge to see what she could find for a no effort dinner. The children continued to fight behind her. They regarded any form of fish not encased in...

Brought to you by Penguin. Shirley Jackson skewered the trials of domestic life in 1950s America with wry wit and uncanny precision. In this sequel to Life Among the Savages, her four offspring have now grown into fully-fledged demons. As their house starts to burst at the seams, the Jackson...

Josephine's life story was as turbulent as the age, an era of revolution and social upheaval, of the guillotine and of frenzied hedonism. With telling psychological depth and compelling literary grace, Carolly Erickson brings the complex, charming, ever resilient Josephine to life in this memorable portrait, one that carries the reader from the sensual richness of her childhood in the tropics to her final lonely days at Malmaison.

'This six-book series looks likely to become a landmark in historical fiction' The Times Alison Weir, historian and author of the Sunday Times-bestselling Six Tudor Queens series, relates one of the most tragic stories in English history: Katheryn Howard, Henry VIII's fifth queen. 'With...

Una apasionada defensa del valor de ser diferente. Partiendo de su experiencia personal y de la lectura de numerosos libros de psicología, neurociencia, literatura y memorias de grandes autores de distintas disciplinas creativas, Rosa Montero nos ofrece un estudio apasionante sobre los...

William Marshal’s prowess and loyalty as a knight in the English royal household has been rewarded by marriage to Isabelle de Clare, heiress to great estates in England, Normandy and Ireland. But their contentment and security is shattered when King Richard dies and is succeeded by his brother John, who takes the Marshals’ sons hostage and seizes their lands.