By about the 80th page, you begin to wonder whether this isn’t the biographical equivalent of Where’s Wally? For amid the cast of characters fleshing out the first four chapters of Sheila Hale’s weighty, reverential account of the life...

This is about the trip from Nepal into Tibet – Thurbon has his usual eye for the wonderful detail and insight. His tales of seekers, refugees and mystics richly populate Tibetan history and Buddhist belief.

The privileged daughter of one of the most powerful men in England, Mahelt Marshal’s life changes dramatically when her father is suspected of treachery by King John. Her brothers become hostages and Mahelt is married to Hugh Bigod, heir...

This is a short, powerful novel dealing with the complicities and accomodations of power within Italian politics. The story begins with a double-murder. A local pharmacist get a  death threat in the mail, cut and pasted from a newspaper. Murder...

This is the story of Harry Morgan, sometime fisherman, forced to turn his hand to other means of earning money. The end justifies the means, as he turns to smuggling. A tale evocatively rich in characters

… one of the best ways to get to know a country is to take yourself to the less touristy, less obvious destinations. And let’s face it: things don’t get much less touristy than Slough… As staff travel writer...

The novel is renowned for its warmth and humour, yet deals with with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The story takes place during three years of the Great Depression in the fictional “tired old town” of...

It is summer in St Denis and Bruno is busy organising the annual village concert. He’s hired a local Périgord folk group, Les Troubadours, to perform their latest hit ‘A Song for Catalonia’. But when the song unexpectedly goes...

This tense, gripping novel set in 19C St Petersburg amid desperate revolutionaries bent on the overthrow of the Tsar ‘confirms Andrew William’s place in the front ranks of English thriller writers’ (Daily Mail). Shortlisted for the CWA Ellis Peters...

Addy Mayford has always struggled with her identity. Brought up in a household of stories, food and faith by her Irish mother and Pakistani Nana, she feels constantly torn between the two sides of her upbringing. Since the death...