Alan Owen

The true story of Congressman Daniel Sickles, a womaniser and a cad, who shot his wife's lover in 1859, getting away with murder because of his close friendship with the president. Sickles went on to command a regiment in the Civil War and lead a life as extraordinary as any novel.

Included in these twelve stories; a waiter divulges a shocking life of crime to his ex-wife; a woman repeats the story of her parents' unstable marriage after a horrible tragedy; a schoolgirl regrets gossiping about the cuckolded man who tutors her; and in the title story, a middle-aged accountant offers his reasons for ending a love affair.

Edmond Music is a Catholic priest and director of Beale Hall, a research institute. He has a secret, well several secrets, he doesn't believe in God; he sleeps with his housekeeper; and he is a Jew! Now, his long term enemy, Fred Twomble, an American professor of English, has arrived to expose and destroy Edmond. X rated, contains offensive language.

The end of war and emigration signal hope for Czech doctor Carl Zlinter, but Carl is not all he seems and even the girl who shares his life cannot fathom his dark secret.

After an early career as a journalist, John Sergeant joined the BBC in 1970, and for 30 years covered many important news stories as a special correspondent and political correspondent. In 2000 he became ITN's Political Editor. In this book he wittily describes his experiences reporting on the country's leading politicians.

9th volume of his diaries. Sequel to 'Deep Romantic Chasm' (5841). More sharp observation, at times cruel, of the people and places in his life.

Set in an unnamed Latin American country with a turbulent history, this is also the history of the Trueba family; their passions, struggles and secrets of three generations.

When Peter Hansome dies in a car crash he leaves behind a wife, Bridget, and a mistress, Frances. The lovers' triangle which emerges is just one of many triangles which occured in Peter's life and relationships.

Nobody knows more about the life of the Bard than Pickleherring, an aging actor in Restoration London. He claims that when he was a boy he created all the great female roles in the plays, and knew Shakespeare intimately. X rated, contains offensive language and explicit sex.

This is a classic study of treachery and an analysis of the impulse to betray. It begins with the post-World War II trials for treason of William Joyce ( Lord Haw Haw) and John Amery.

A selection of cases from Dr Watson's notebooks which culminate in the strange disappearance of Sherlock Holmes in Switzerland.

Robert Peterson, a young writer desperate for fame and fortune allows himself to be seduced and corrupted in 1950's Hollywood.

Julia Garnet, a recently retired teacher, uses a legacy to rent an apartment in Venice over the winter. Her normal caution and reserve are overwhelmed by the beauty of the place and she comes to life.

Inspired by the life of Gauguin, this is the story of Charles Strickland. The conventional stockbroker abandons his family to live as a painter in Paris and Tahiti. The book vividly portrays the mentality of genius.

The classic story of an old fisherman's struggle to single-handedly land his largest catch ever.

A pianist and composer in the Warsaw Ghetto, Wladyslaw Szpilman owed his survival from the death camps to his musical talent. This is his memoir together with the diary of a German Officer who saved his life.

Pyle, a naïve young American, is sent to Indo-China to promote democracy, but instead causes bloodshed. His friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, intervenes but is he doing so for politics or for love?

In April 1895, Joshua Slocum sailed from Boston on his sloop, Spray. His three-year voyage around the world ranks alongside those of Magellan, Drake and Cook, but unlike them Slocum sailed alone. The tale of his adventures, funny and hair-raising still endures over a century later.

Witty portraits of people in the early twentieth century: the famous, the infamous and the unknown.

In the winter of 1847 the 'Star of the Sea' leaves Ireland for New York. The passengers are hundreds of fleeing refugees, braving the Atlantic in search of a new home. Unknown to them, a killer is stalking the decks, hungry for vengeance. Richard & Judy Bookclub.

The writer Tobias Smollett served as a ship's surgeon; suffered from prejudice as a Scotsman in London; was imprisoned for libel, yet still became a central figure in London literary life in the eighteenth century. This biography explores the various threads of his life to show us the talent that is frequently forgotten.

The young Betjeman was vulnerable, largely unsuccessful and unhappy. In this biography which charts the years from his birth in 1906 to his clandestine marriage in 1933, the author presents an interesting account of the popular poet.

One day a war correspondent disappears leaving no trace. Her husband is mystified and wants to understand the reason for her absence. His search for her, and for truth in his own life, takes him through Europe to Central Asia; from the safety of his own world onto an unknown path seeking his destiny.