A classic East Anglian memoir describing a vanished world of rural customs and culture with wit, intelligence and freshness of observation, now in a 50th anniversary edition with a new foreword by Ashley Cooper. Born a stone's throw from the church and educated at the village school, Ernest Ambrose was brought up to respect God, his parents, Long Melford's two local squires and the rector.That didn't mean rural Suffolk life in the nineteenth century was quiet. Poaching was rife, the excesses of the Whitsun fair were an annual highlight, and young Ernie's friends risked their necks to master the new-fangled 'high bikes', or penny farthings. He witnessed the legendary street-battle when factory workers from neighbouring Glemsford stormed the village, the violence only quelled by a bayoneted militia. With the rest of his generation, he went off to war in Flanders. And, as the church organist in another nearby village, he heard at first hand the accounts of the hauntings that would make Borley Rectory a nationwide media sensation.Looking back in his tenth decade, he describes a vanished world of rural customs and culture with wit, intelligence and a freshness of observation that have made Melford Memories - now reissued on the 50th anniversary of its first publication - a much-loved Suffolk classic.
The stained glass windows of Holy Trinity Church at Long Melford in Suffolk are one of the glories of England's medieval heritage. Most stained glass from this period was destroyed in the Reformation, when the Tudor boy king Edward VI ordered religious imagery in churches to be destroyed, and later in the Civil War. The glass at Long Melford is a rare survival. Its mainly secular images show East Anglian dignitaries and their wives, some of them familiar names in the history of the Wars of the Roses, and provide an unparalleled record of 15th-century costumes, heraldry and hairstyles. The 36 line-drawn images based on the figures in the windows - with an introduction on the history of Long Melford and a short biography of each character - will provide hours of colouring entertainment for adults and children alike. Long Melford's stained glass is in urgent need of conservation. All proceeds from the sale of this book go to the restoration fund
They all meet at the school gates every day...but their kids are the last thing on their minds]WINNER: Best Author-Published Read at the Festival of Romance
Welcome to the Black Forest, where fairytale creatures come to life...
The laugh-out-loud new tale from the author of the No.1 bestseller The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay]
A world of faeries, leprechauns and dragons - and magic fuelled by the blood of trees.A mystery portal to the Real World.And a pair of curious young adventurers who know they shouldn't step through it...Meet Fergal the Second, nicknamed 'two'. Or 'Doe', in his own language. He can do magic. But, for the moment, he's forgotten where he's from. Or what's happened to his blind friend Ruby.He's actually from Tir na Nog, the enchanted world of Shadowmagic, where a new generation of the royal House of Duir are cheeking their parents, preparing for adulthood and itching to see the Real World for themselves - whatever the peril.
The absolutely inspiring true tale of a young couple who gave up the "e;good life"e; in England to start a new life in the wilderness of the Yukon Dorian Amos--a painter from Cornwall--and his wife decided that they were in need of adventure, so they gave up their comfortable life and traveled to Yukon Territory in the remote Canadian wilderness. Told by Dorian with warmth and humor, this is the compelling account of their adventures. Buying a piece of land in the forest just outside Dawson City, they revel in the stark beauty of the landscape and the liberation they feel from the mundanity of their former home--crossing frozen rivers just to buy food, hunting caribou, coming face to face with bears, and building their own log cabin. The perfect tale for anyone feeling that there must be more to life, their story will convince readers to stop putting their dreams on hold.
An account providing a human face to the realities of life in Palestine The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is one of the most widely reported and long standing struggles in the world, yet for many, misunderstanding is rife about its most basic issues. Hilda Reilly volunteered to work at An-Najah University in Nablus in order to spend time among many ordinary people, living under extraordinary circumstances. She lives among students, and relates the many conversations she has with a wide range of Palestinians about their thoughts on Hamas and Fatah, Yasser Arafat, bin Laden and Hussein, Blair and Bush, bringing readers an insight to the people behind the politics.
Some people would describe Beattie Bramshaw as a pillar of the community. Many would applaud her numerous successes in the bakery competition at the annual village show. A small number might say, if pushed, that they find her a little on the bossy side. But no-one would have her down as a murderer. So why is she being questioned in Dreighton police station after being found in the local allotments, at the dead of night, wielding a kitchen knife just yards away from where local lottery winner, Yvonne Richards, was found stabbed to death? And what does all of this have to do with Doug Sparrow's prize marrows?
John Bevis is a writer and book-lover on an eccentric quest: to obtain a membership card from every library authority in England. In a ten-year mission criss-crossing the country - from Solihull to Slough, from Cleveland to Cornwall - he enrols at libraries of all shapes and sizes: monuments to Art Deco or Brutalism; a converted corset factory; one even shaped like a pork pie. With the architectural eye of Pevsner and the eavesdropping ear of Bill Bryson, he engages us at every step with anecdotes and apercus about the role of the public library in our national life, while ruing its decline in the age of austerity. As interested in the people he finds as he is in the buildings and their history, he is a humane, witty and erudite guide. The result is a book to be treasured by anyone who has ever used a library.
Unless you're a woman on Tinder between the ages of 19 and 30 in the Clapham area, or a high-end cocaine dealer operating in South West London, you probably won't have heard of Rafe Hubris (BA, Oxon).Despite that, he's a crucial figure in the life of our nation. As Boris Johnson's most classic special adviser (SPAD) at Number 10, he helped the UK government skilfully and efficiently control the Covid crisis, containing it for good by the end of 2020.In the first of what will doubtless be many memoirs as Rafe travels his own inevitable journey to the premiership, this fly-on-the-wall account documents his Year of 'Rona in its entirety (and iniquity).Even non-Oxbridge readers (for whom the author has taken care to keep his language as accessible as possible) will come away from this volume struck by how lucky we are to have him. Floreat Etona!**Note for non-Oxbridge readers: this means ‘May Eton flourish' in Latin.****Latin is the language of Ancient Rome and its empire.
Welcome to Otisville, America's only Jewish prison...where a new celebrity inmate is about to shatter the peace. Jonathan Stone brings the sensibility of Saul Bellow and Philip Roth to the post-truth era in a sharply comic novel that is also wise, profound and deeply moral.
Adventures in a helicopterAdrian Bleese spent twelve years flying on police helicopters, and attended almost 3,000 incidents, as one of only a handful of civilian air observers working anywhere in the world.In Above The Law he recounts the most intriguing, challenging, amusing and downright baffling episodes in his careerworking for Suffolk Constabulary and the National Police Air Service. Rescuing lost walkers, chasing cars down narrow country lanes, searching for a rural cannabis factory and disrupting an illegal forest rave...they're all in a day's work.It's a side of policing that most of us never see, and he describes it with real compassion as he lives his dream job, indulging his love of flying, the English landscape and helping people. Perhaps more than anything, it's a story about hope.
Ruby Matthews has a plan. Twelve jobs in twelve months, until she finds the one of her dreams... From the bestselling author of the Cockleberry Bay and Ferry Lane Market series
In this charming sequel to Working It Out, will Ruby Matthews let love win or allow her past to haunt her?
Rachel Klein is sacked from her job at the White House after she sends an email criticising Donald Trump. As she is escorted off the premises she is hit by a speeding car, driven by what the press will discreetly call 'a personal friend of the President'.Does that explain the flowers, the get-well wishes at a press briefing, the hush money offered by a lawyer at her hospital bedside?Rachel's recovery is soothed by comically doting parents, matchmaking room-mates, a new job as aide to a journalist whose books aim to defame the President, and unexpected love at the local wine store.But secrets leak, and Rachel's new-found happiness has to make room for more than a little chaos. Will she bring down the President? Or will he manage to do that all by himself?Rachel to the Rescue is a mischievous political satire, with a delightful cast of characters, from one of America's funniest novelists.
A cow looks out to sea, dreaming of a life that involves grass.Jan is also looking out to sea. He's in Goa, dreaming of the passport-thief who stole his heart (and his passport) forty-six years ago. Back then, fate kept bringing them together, but lately it seems to have given up.Jan has not. In his long search he has accidentally held a whole town at imaginary gunpoint in Soviet Russia, stalked the proprietors of an international illegal lamp-trafficking scam and done his very best to avoid any kind of work involving the packing of fish. Now he thinks if he just waits, if he just does nothing at all, maybe fate will find it easier to reunite them.His story spans fifty-four years, ten countries, two imperfect criminals (and one rather perfect one), twenty-two different animals and an annoying teenager who just...Will...Not...Leave.But maybe an annoying teenager is exactly what Jan needs to help him find the missing thief?Featuring a menagerie of creatures, each with its own story to tell, We Are Animals is a quirky, heart-warming tale of lost love, unlikely friendships and the certainty of fate (or lack thereof).For the first time in her life the cow noticed the sun setting, and it was glorious.
'Dan Rhodes is a true original' - Hilary Mantel 'I read this novel right through the day I got my hands on it, laughing like a banshee.' - David Sexton, Sunday TimesWhen the sleepy English village of Green Bottom hosts its first literary festival, the good, the bad and the ugly of the book world descend upon its leafy lanesBut the villagers are not prepared for the peculiar habits, petty rivalries and unspeakable desires of the authors. And they are certainly not equipped to deal with Wilberforce Selfram, the ghoul-faced, ageing enfant terriblewho wreaks havoc wherever he goesSour Grapes is a hilarious satire on the literary world which takes no prisoners as it skewers authors, agents, publishers and reviewers alike
Plunged back in time to Anglo-Saxon England, can 16-year-old Joss warn King Edmund in time to stop his murder by Viking invaders?
For James Salisbury the only thing worse than being found guilty...is being found not guiltyWhen James Salisbury, the owner of a British car manufacturer, ploughs his 'self-drive' car into a young family, the consequences are deadly. Will the car's 'black box' reveal what really happened or will the industry, poised to launch these products to an eager public, close ranks to cover things up?James himself faces a personal dilemma. If it is proved that he was driving the car he may go to prison. But if he is found innocent, and the autonomous car is to blame, the business he has spent most of his life building, and his dream of safer transport for all, may collapse.Lawyers Judith Burton and Constance Lamb team up once again, this time to defend a man who may not want to go free, in a case that asks difficult questions about the speed at which technology is taking over our lives.'It is Abi Silver's imaginative touches as well as her thorough legal knowledge that make her courtroom thrillers stand out' Jake Kerridge
A COMPELLING AND CLAUSTROPHOBIC THRILLER'Once I'd started reading I could not put it down' IAIN MAITLANDWhen burned-out investigative journalist Adam Budd's estranged mother dies, he inherits her estate. This includes Stone Heart House, a huge, ramshackle mansion on a remote Scottish island. He visits the island to sort out her tangled affairs, and at first it seems like a charming haven of tranquillity. But after he witnesses a strange accident, he begins to develop suspicions about the inhabitants.Why does everyone seem so eerily calm, even under stress? What is stopping Harriet, the lawyer helping him with his affairs, from leaving the island when she so clearly wants to? Is he making a big mistake by falling for her? And why have so many children gone missing?Stone Heart Deep is a compelling and claustrophobic thriller with a remarkable twist, as if Iain Banks had rewritten The Wicker Man.
WAS VIRTUAL KILLING JUST THE BEGINNING?When eminent psychiatrist Dr Liz Sullivan is found dead in her bed, suspicion falls on local gamer and YouTube celebrity Jaden 'JD' Dodds. Did he target her because of her anti-gaming views and the work she undertook to expose the dangers of playing online games? And what was her connection with Valiant, an independent game manufacturer about to hit the big time, and its volatile boss?Judith Burton and Constance Lamb team up once more to defend JD when no one else is on his side. But just because he makes a living killing people on screen doesn't mean he'd do it in real life. Or does it?Another thought-provoking courtroom drama from the acclaimed author of the Burton & Lamb series.
A WICKEDLY HONEST PORTRAIT OF MIDDLE ENGLAND ON THE EVE OF COVID'A hymn to the mundane, as intricately crafted as an Ayckbourn play. A brilliant first novel' AILSA COXIt's 2019 in Sudleigh, a market town not far from the south coast. It's not a bad place to live, provided the new housing development doesn't ruin it, but most residents are too caught up in their own grudges, sores and struggles to notice.Gap-year Tom is cleaning toilets but finding unexpected solace in his Chinese house-share. Former lounge musician Frank wants to pass his carpet business to his nephew Josh, killing the boy's dream to become a chef. Sharp-elbowed phone-sex operator Heather will stop at nothing to become manager of the golf club. Miss Bennett keeps putting her house on the market when she doesn't want to move.Do they all know how their lives are linked? And will creative writing tutor Tony, hard at work on his ironic pseudo-children's book The Jazz Cats, ever pluck up the courage to leave his unappreciative girlfriend Lydia?Meticulously observed, with flashes of wicked comedy, We Need to Talk offers a jigsaw puzzle of unwitting connections for the reader to assemble. The finished picture is an unflinchingly honest portrait of multi-jobbing, gig-economy Middle England on the eve of Covid.
Why is Lauren so fascinated by Edith's childhood in colonial Kenya? Is Paul, the handsome lodger in the basement, the honest broker he appears? And how does Charity, a Kenyan girl brutally tortured during the Mau Mau rebellion, fit into the equation?
You cannot run away from what haunts you. A Gothic story of madness, revenge and Uranium-235.
Can you find justice...when the world is watching? Another thought-provoking courtroom drama from the acclaimed author of the Burton & Lamb series.
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