Shirley Hall

John is the adored son of Joan, a beautiful talented single mother. They live in the West Country, but on John's thirteenth birthday Joan takes him to London. Unused to city driving she takes a wrong turn and that small mistake has devastating consequences.

Mitford USA is one of those pretty peaceful villages everyone dreams of retiring to. Just as the village rector, Father Tim, thinks he needs a change, life hots up!

This is the story of Frances Purcell and sees her though art school and her passionate relationship with Gabriel Mackenzie.  Book 2 of series.

As a young child the author was orphaned and found herself shuttled between relatives. Later, during the second world war, she worked abroad for the NAAFI. Throughout, these memoirs show the resilience and positiveness of the author.

Willow’s friend, Richard Crescent, has been found drenched in his colleague’s blood, and is accused of murder by the police. Willow, convinced he couldn’t have done it, rushes back form her Tuscan holiday, and together with her friend, C.I. Tom Worth, tries to solve the murder.

This book contains thirty-six essays which celebrate American literary and cultural society from the mid-19th century to the 1960s. It features the intertwined lives of, amongst others, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, Mark Twain, Willa Catha and Norman Mailer.

Two cousins embark on a voyage to Chile and meet two children on board ship. Dire consequences follow.

The story of Tom, Laura, Hugh and Margaret, who live in the great house Charlecote before the outbreak of the First World War. Their parents are stern and Tom is sent away to boarding school but during the holidays the four of them have many adventures in the grounds of the house.

Living with their widowed mother in sleepy Fenmarket, Clara and Madge Hopgood stand out from the crowd - beautiful, artistic, and daring to declare political opinions at Rectory parties. Eventually they escape to London, where they are caught up in the whirlwind of new social and political ideas following the revolutions sweeping Europe in 1848.

Alison is 13. Her mother has recenty died; her dad has just bought a house in the North. Brimming with resentment, she is determined to dislike the rambling old Coal House. But as she becomes involved, the house and its unsolved mystery draws her in.

Revealing and humourous thoughts on family, friends and Chatsworth from the diaries of Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire.

Emancipated Edwardian, Amelia Peabody sets off for Egypt armed with self-confidence, a journal and a parasol. On the way she rescues Evelyn Barton-Forbes and takes her to Cairo where the adventures really begin when Amelia discovers a plot to harm Evelyn.

When Sir Henry Baskerville dies in Egypt after an archaeological discovery, his wife sends for Amelia Peabody to discover the truth about Sir Henry's death!

The Earl of Templecombe had dared to kiss Miranda Melbury at their first meeting, when she had required rescuing when her horse bolted. Now, it was rumoured that the Earl, somewhat the worse for gambling losses, was looking for a new source of funds. Was he planning to persue Miranda because she had become an heiress - or did he plan to finance his future by other, more criminal means?

A fascinating insight into how pre-war debutantes adapted to the challenges of the Second World War, taking on the roles of nurses, pilots, spies, land girls, ambulance drivers, decoders and factory workers.

A priest goes missing outside the Abbey walls and a novice, Meriet, is soon linked to the crime. Only Brother Cadfael believes in his innocence and he has to employ all his powers of detection to save the boy from the noose.

An introduction to several meditation methods including visualization, breathing exercises, chants and invocations from the Buddhist tradition. The aim is to guide the reader to a deeper understanding of prayer, whatever their faith.

Amid the tragedy of Monmouth's rebellion in 1685, Sir Alexander St Barbe returns to claim his inheritance.  Book 3 of series.

A scandal involving a top American politician reveals some ugly family truths.  Book 1 of series.

Rivalries and passions in an am-dram group lead a to a real-life case for D.C.I Jack Finch.

Sequel to 'The Sun in the Morning' (3250). In the 1930s, after some years at a drab school in Britain, the author returns to India with her sister. Here she describes their life and travels in India in the golden years of the British Raj.

London 1589. Joel Downes is sent by his former master's widow to look for the grandchild she has never seen. Apparently, Frances Tabor has vanished into thin air, but Joel discovers Grace Wilton, a penniless orphan, who is very pretty and amenable. Joel needs money - why shouldn't he pass off Grace as the missing heiress? However, Joel is not quite as clever as he thinks, while poor Grace is not cut out to be a conspirator.

From the outbreak of World War II to the evacuation of Dunkirk, this book follows the fortunes of the people who live in a working class street in Portsmouth. The joys, sorrows and friendships of April Grove are played out against the backdrop of a seaport arming for war. Book 1 of series.

Hannah Goslar was a childhood friend of Anne Frank, and here she remembers her own experiences in the war.

This collection of Penelope’ Fitzgerald’s reviews, essays and autobiographical pieces includes writing on classic novelists, and contemporary writers (including Anne Enright, Carol Shields, Rose Tremain, and Roddy Doyle) as well as accounts of her schooldays and her childhood in Hampstead.

Elizabeth was a typist, Alan was a mechanic and one day they decided to opt out of the rat race. This is the story of their first years in a semi-derelict farmhouse overlooking Snowdonia.

Katherine Swynford’s story provides unique insights into the life of a medieval woman. An important person in her own right, she made her own choices, flouted convention and took control of her own destiny.

A collection of short stories on the theme of magic and English folklore, where the heroines and heroes are beset by problems.

Lady Hester Stanhope chose the exciting life of a traveller and adventurer when her uncle William Pitt died in 1806. She became Queen of the Bedouin, wore male Arabic dress and was the first European woman to enter Palmyra.

While Alicia was a schoolgirl a jilted boyfriend had killed himself, and her parents had moved from Kent. When she turns up after twenty years she is welcomed back although nobody knows why she has returned. Within hours Inspector Thanet has to investigate her murder.

Truly courageous and radical, Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the most controversial women of her day. She wrote a treatise on the rights of women, and lived in France during the revolution. She never gave up her radical views or her belief that honesty and courage would triumph over convention.

Sequel to: 'At home in Mitford' (5282). In sleepy Mitford, Father Tim realises that he is in love with Cynthia Coppersmith, but the path of true love never runs smooth.

Jenny Uglow has a love of gardens and plants, and she is curious about the evolution of gardens and gardening practices. Here she unpicks the history of British gardening from prehistoric times, in a light, pleasurable book.

Nancy Mitford's letters to her friends show acute observation, fantasy and wit.

When Alison marries Rigby Toan she is blissfully happy, but then recession strikes and their home is repossessed. Alison realises belatedly that her husband is very different from the man she thought she had married.

Minty is the kind of girl who notices things. Pockets of cold air on a stairway. Cries on the wind. Ghosts.

On night-time jaunts from the house where she's staying while her mother recovers from an accident, Minty stumbles upon a moondial which takes her back in time. She finds Tom, a sickly kitchen boy, and Sarah, a girl with a birthmark who is only allowed out at night because her family think she has the mark of the devil...