Vivienne Ennemoser

Unquiet Women is an exquisitely crafted patchwork of the forgotten lives of some of the most remarkable women in history.

History is polyphonic; it must be told by many voices. In Unquiet Women, Max Adams brings to life the voices and experiences of women living between the last days of Rome and the Enlightenment, whose stories of creativity, intellect and influence are all too rarely told.

From Wynflæd, the Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who owned male slaves and badger-skin gowns, to Mary Astell, the philosopher who out-thought John Locke, this is a kaleidoscopic study of women's history before the Enlightenment changed everything. In this rigorous work of rescue and recovery, their voices can be heard across the centuries - still passionate and still strong.

The events of the Wars of the Roses are usually described in terms of the men involved: Richard Duke of York, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII. But these years were also packed with women's drama and - in the tales of conflicted maternity and monstrous births - alive with female energy.

In this completely original book, Sarah Gristwood sheds light on a neglected dimension of English history: the impact of Tudor women on the Wars of the Roses. She examines, among others, Cecily Neville, who was deprived of being queen when her husband died at the Battle of Wakefield; Elizabeth Woodville, the commoner who married Edward IV in secret; Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, whose love and ambition for her son knew no bounds.

Until now, the lives of these women have remained little known to the general public. Sarah Gristwood tells their stories in detail for the first time. Captivating and original, this is historical writing of the most important kind.

This is a book of poetry for everyone.

This collection of poetry celebrates the brilliant thing that is feelings. It explores all the different emotions we experience and how different situations bring these emotions to the surface.

From feelings of uncontainable excitement and inexplicable sadness to the electricity which surges from anger and pride, the poems in this anthology perfectly put into words all the different things we feel in our hearts.

When a small group of children befriend a stray dog, the entire community is inspired to become involved. Elki does not have a home - she is a stray dog who finds kindness in the company of a little group of children. They play together during the day, but Elki must stay alone outside every night because dogs are not allowed in their block of flats. One day Elki disappears and is found injured. Who will look after her and how?

The men and women of the ‘Y' (for Wireless') Service were sent out across the world to run listening stations from Gibraltar to Cairo, intercepting the German military's encrypted messages for decoding back at the now-famous Bletchley Park mansion.

Such wartime postings were life-changing adventures – travel out by flying boat or Indian railways, snakes in filing cabinets and heat so intense the perspiration ran into your shoes - but many of the secret listeners found lifelong romance in their far-flung corner of the world. Now, drawing on dozens of interviews with surviving veterans, Sinclair McKay tells their remarkable story at last.

Scotland, 1860: Reverend Alexander Ferguson, naïve and newly-ordained, takes up his new parish, a poor, isolated patch on the Hebridean island of Harris. His time on the island will irrevocably change the course of his life, but the white house on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long after Alexander departs.

Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock - the family of tiny borrowers - think they have at last found an ideal home. They've moved into a house in a miniature village built as a hobby by a retired railroad man. The village is the perfect size for Borrowers, and after the hardships they've faced, the Clocks gratefully settle into the luxury of having a 'proper' house. The easy life makes them careless.

Or, rather, it makes Arrietty careless. She befriends a 'human bean', and the next thing Arrietty knows, she and her family have been kidnapped. Their captors are a greedy married couple called the Platters, who have big plans for the little people. They have created their own miniature village in a glass case and plan to imprison the Borrowers within - like animals in a zoo - for the rest of their lives...

Book 4 in the Borrowers series.

The story of a movie actress whose fame lingers many years after her tragic death. In public Marilyn Monroe was feted and loved but in her private life there were controversies, conspiracies and unsolved mysteries.

Christopher Masters, known as 'The Roommate Killer', strangled three women over a two-week period in a London house in November 2012. Holly Kemp, his fourth victim, was never found. Until now... Her remains have been unearthed in a field in Cambridgeshire and DC Cat Kinsella and the Major Investigation Team are called in. But immediately there are questions surrounding the manner of her death. And with Masters now dead, no one to answer them...

More than a year has passed since Moss was released from the clutches of the Riverwitch. Now her father has swapped his bloody axe for a blacksmith's forge and they have moved away from London, taking Salter with them.

But strange things are happening on the river and the Riverwitch is lurking again. Moss has no choice but to leave her new home on a deadly journey to put an end to the evil that is enveloping the Tower like a stinking fog. It's a decision that may cost her her friendship with Salter and ultimately her life.

Book 2 in the Executioner's Daughter series.

Bette Davis was one of the Hollywood greats, with a commanding presence and full of drive and energy. She was nominated for seven Oscars and mixed great roles with rather more mediocre ones.

Lillian Beckwith serves up another delightful slice of Hebridean life and a collection of local characters. Meet Johnny Comic, Morag, Kirsty, Behag, Hector, Erchy and the postie - among others. Subjects for amusement include tourists, an election, blizzards and a tinkers' wedding.

When Lilian Beckwith first moved to the island of Bruach, she was advised by locals to carry a rope - in case! Here she continues her semi-autobiographical account of life in the Hebrides. Sequel to 'The Hills Is Lonely' (8130).

Isabel Dalhousie attends an art auction and finds two paintings attributed to the same artist appearing on the market at the same time. Both exhibit unusual characteristics and Isabel suspects they may be forgeries.  Book 5 of series.

In 1803, the fragile Peace of Amiens breaks down, and Anne Peters finds herself stranded in Paris, penniless and alone, in danger of arrest.One chance of escape is offered, to flee under the protection of the dashing Count Nikolai Kirov, and make a new life in Russia as governess to his children.In the flamboyant and demanding circle of the count, his family and friends, moving between the glittering city of St Petersburg, ancient Moscow and the wild, untamed beauty of the Caucasus Mountains, the young Englishwoman begins her transformation into Anna Petrovna.

But as Napoleon gathers his army for the final attack on Imperial Russia, Anna must prepare for a battle of the heart - her forbidden love for a man and a country she may never call her own.  Book 1 of series.

The Queen and her Maids of Honour are spending the summer at a nobleman's estate, where a new manor house is being built. But the work has to stop when a mysterious spook appears. Could the ghost of a murdered Earl be haunting the site of his death? Grace begins to investigate and finds that there are many rumours about the ghost - and uncovering the truth could be dangerous...

It's the height of summer and the palace is full of ambassadors and ladies from the Spanish court. When a visit to the famous St Bartholomew's fair is planned to entertain the guests, Grace jumps at the chance to get out for the day. Not everybody feels the same though and there's a lot of superstition amongst the ladies about the gypsies, fortune tellers and herbal medicine that will be at the fair.

When a mysterious fire at the fair leaves Lady Sarah injured and a gypsy woman dead, it seems the ladies were right to be worried. But was the fire started on purpose? And can Grace get to the bottom of this mystery?

Book 10 in the Lady Grace Mysteries series.

When the Court clockmaker, Mr Urseau, is found dead in his workshop - a dagger in his chest and a key clutched in his hand - rumours start flying. Was the murderer his young assistant? Or maybe his wife? Both could be after Urseau's private treasure. And where is the key from? What is it for?

Lady Grace, Queen Elizabeth's own Lady Pursuiviant, is determined to get to the bottom of all these questions. But things get even more complicated when Grace discovers that a mysterious clock was delivered to the palace on the day Urseau was killed...

Book 11 in the Lady Grace Mystery series.

In a desperate attempt to recover from the loss of her husband and her baby son, Rose McQuinn has returned home to Edinburgh from America. She has little time to ponder her loneliness before she unwittingly steps into the shoes of her father, the legendary Detective Inspector Faro. She agrees to help investigate the strange behaviour of the husband of her childhood friend, Alice. But when Rose starts to get too near the truth, she puts her own life in danger.

Victoria Lachlan is orphaned at birth and raised by Jane McCrady whom she believes is her great-grandmother. When Jane dies Victoria is offered a home with the Pringles and a job in Darlonachie Castle kitchens. But times are changing both above and below stairs following the first world war. As Victoria grows into a beautiful young woman she has to face difficult choices and come to terms with a long buried secret from the past.

Nan Shepherd describes her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. There she encounters a world that can be breathtakingly beautiful at times and shockingly harsh at others. Her intense, poetic prose explores and records the rocks, rivers, creatures and hidden aspects of this remarkable landscape.

England 1651. England is engaged in a bitter civil war. Abigail Chaplin, a young deaf girl, is desperate for a chance to show she can work as a maidservant, like other girls her age.

When her father is killed fighting for the Roundheads, and with her family now short of money, she is sent to work where no-one else will - as a servant in the house of her enemies. For Markyate Manor belongs to arrogant sixteen-year-old heiress and Royalist, Lady Katherine Fanshawe.

Katherine has a deadly secret, and Abi swears not to tell. But when Katherine falls for Abi’s brother, a Roundhead, Abi finds her loyalties torn. And as the battle begins, can she keep both her mistress and her brother out of danger?

England,1651. England is fighting a bitter civil war. Rebellious seventeen-year-old Ralph Chaplin has fallen for beautiful copper-haired Kate. There’s only one problem – he is a Roundhead soldier and she is an aristocrat, a Royalist lady.

Ralph’s father tells Ralph that the battle at Worcester will be a chance to finish the fighting for good. But the battle is not the glorious victory he imagines, and Ralph makes a deadly enemy – an enemy intent on cutting down all those Ralph loves, even when the battle is over. As the danger draws closer, can Ralph protect Kate?

Book 2 in the Highway Trilogy.

A classic of alienation and horror, 'The Birds' was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's sense of dominance over the natural world.

Frances Osborne explores the story of her great–grandmother, the Bolter of the title, who left her husband and children to pursue a life of sexual profligacy around the time of the Great War. Richard & Judy Bookclub

At the age of 16 Margaret Fay Shaw left America to spend a year at a school near Glasgow. She loved Scotland and returned later to live with two sisters on South Uist. While there she made an important collection of Gaelic lore and song. Her story is a defence of Gaelic culture as well as a record of the life of a remarkable woman.

The story of the troubled relationship between a young girl Helene, her self-absorbed mother, and the mother’s lover, Max. It follows the family through the period of the Great War and the Russian Revolution while Helene grows from an unhappy child into an angry young woman.

Swimming for his life towards traffickers on the Italian shore, Selim enters a world where Kurdish refugees disguise themselves as tomatoes, dates of birth are a matter of opinion, and a residency permit is a ticket to paradise. When he ends up in a small town in Germany, Selim believes he is finally safe, until the law catches up with him.

When Heloise Goodley left her City job for a life in the Army she had little idea of what to expect. Officer training at Sandhurst soon changed all that and in this book we follow her progress from civilian to soldier, and finally to the front line in Afghanistan.

Late one night, Kate is woken by her husband Paul, drunk, covered in blood, and mumbling that he's killed something - or someone. Afterwards, Paul denies he ever said what he did. But when a young woman who works for him is found murdered, Kate's suspicions about what her husband has really done send her on a desperate search for the truth.

Scottish broadcaster and author, Sally Magnusson, cared with her two sisters for her mother, Mamie, during her long struggle with dementia, until her death in 2012. This moving and honest account of losing a loved one day by day to an insidious disease is both deeply personal and a challenging call to arms.

Destined to be a haunter of libraries, Lewis's cautious progress through life reveals to him only his own shortcomings. Estranged from his wife and daughter, he searches for an alternative lifeline which comes from an unexpected quarter.

When Sheila's gradual descent into blindness leaves her unable to see to find her way around the house she grew up in, she finds herself dreading her future in an 'ever darkening vacuum'. But then the remarkable guide dog, Emma, enters her life, and Sheila begins a journey that brings her the independence, love and happiness she never dreamed possible.

A collection of short stories which unfold with a deceptively light touch, exploring with compassion what it is to be human and flawed. X rated, explicit sexual content.

All her life Saba has been taught that 'fate is in the blood,' which must mean that twins will live the same life, even if separated by land and sea. As Saba struggles with the limited possibilities available to her as a woman in Iran, she imagines a simultaneous, parallel life - a Western version, for her twin sister in America, which Saba believes gives her a freedom and control that she can only dream of.

In the spring of 1939 two determined twenty-four-year-olds, Heather Jenner and Mary Oliver, decided to open a marriage bureau on London's Bond Street, and set about the delicate business of match-making. Drawing on the bureau's extensive archives, their story, and those of their clients gives us a riveting glimpse of life and love during and after the war.