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Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands
By Mary Seacole. 2005
Written in 1857, this is the autobiography of a Jamaican woman whose fame rivalled Florence Nightingale's during the Crimean War.…
Seacole's offer to volunteer as a nurse in the war met with racism and refusal. Undaunted, Seacole set out independently to the Crimea where she acted as doctor and 'mother' to wounded soldiers while running her business, the 'British Hotel'. A witness to key battles, she gives vivid accounts of how she coped with disease, bombardment and other hardships at the Crimean battlefront."In her introduction to the very welcome Penguin edition, Sara Salih expertly analyses the rhetorical complexities of Seacole's book to explore the richness of her story. Traveller, entrepreneur, healer and woman of colour, Mary Seacole is a singular and fascinating figure, overstepping all conventional boundaries." Jan Marsh, Independent"It's hard to believe that this amazing adventure story is the true-life experience of a Jamaican woman - it would make a great film." Andrea Levy, Sunday TimesWithout Hope: A Childhood Ruined by the Man she should Trust the Most
By Barbara Naughton. 2010
Barbara's father was a sadistic man at the best of times - his idea of fun was to kill the…
family dog by tying it to the back of his car and driving off. Also for kicks, he took his children out on to the lake and held them under until they were gasping for their lives.He sexually assaulted Barbara from a young age, often when the rest of the family were in the house. He repeatedly threatened to kill her, and made two very serious attempts. During the final attempt, as he was raping and choking her, Barbara made a vow - if she survived, she would come forward and get justice against her father ...Without Hope is a powerful and inspiring true story of a girl who finally found the inner strength to escape her brutal childhood.The Wisdom of Wolves: How Wolves Can Teach Us To Be More Human
By Elli H. Radinger. 2017
'ENCHANTING' MAIL ON SUNDAY They care for their elderly, play with their kids, and always put family first. Can we…
all learn something from the wisdom of wolves? In this unforgettable book, wolf expert and naturalist Elli Radinger draws on her 25 years of first-hand experience among the wolves of Yellowstone National Park to tell us their remarkable stories. __________ Wolves are more human than we ever knew . . . In fact, they can teach us how to be better humans. They play, love, care for others, show compassion, die of broken hearts, pine for home, work in teams, are endlessly patient and leaders know when to defer to followers. In The Wisdom of Wolves naturalist Elli Radinger takes us on a journey into the heart of the wolf pack, revealing what they can teach us about family, cooperation, survival, leadership, commitment and how to enjoy what life gives us. No other book will bring you closer to discovering the truth about wolves - and ourselves. 'This book is the result of her two decades of close observation; part impassioned memoir, part natural history study, and part photo gallery. Her access to her subjects is extraordinary' SUNDAY TIMES'Elli's bestselling book suggests that in a high-tech age, when so many of us have become alienated from nature, wolves have much to teach us about the art of living well' DAILY MAIL'Through The Wisdom of Wolves, we get to feel that little bit closer to the pack and discover what we may have in common' BBC WILDLIFEWho's Next?: The Humorous Reminiscences of an Alternative Medical Practitioner
By Jan De Vries. 1989
Readers of Jan de Vries' immensely popular health books will already appreciate the wisdom and wit of 'the healing Dutchman'.…
Now, in Who's Next?, de Vries shares many of his most humorous experiences over almost three decades of practicing medicine.Highly anecdotal, Who's Next? is a frequently amusing, occasionally poignant book offering insights into what it is that makes so many thousands of people turn to the highly individual approach Jan de Vries has to health and healing. His experiences have ranged from the weird to the wonderful and have contributed to the person he has become: his fascination with people and his love of nature, his fine attention to detail and understanding of sensitive problems are all rounded off by a strong and appealing sense of humour. Who's Next? shows to good effect this side of the remarkable Scottish-based alternative medical practitioner.What's It All About?
By Cilla Black. 2006
Cilla Black is without doubt one of Britain's most treasured personalities. Generations have grown up with Cilla's music, TV shows,…
and performances. But how much do we really know about 'the girl with the bright red hair and the jet black voice'? What's It All About? is Cilla's own story, told for the first time ever. It's the story of a woman who has worked ceaselessly to stay at the top for forty years despite setbacks and personal tragedy; a life of incredible highs and terrible lows. In this deeply personal autobiography she tells her unique story in intimate and vivid detail for the very first time. This is the real Cilla Black.Vet on Call: My First Year as an Out-of-Hours Vet
By Marc Abraham. 2011
When his father sat him down and told him to 'make something' of himself, young vet Marc Abraham decided to…
do it the hard way - by setting up an emergency 'out of hours' clinic. If getting used to the long night shifts wasn't bad enough, emergency cases are rarely straightforward. Whether it was dog who swallowed golf balls, or a gerbil in urgent need of a caesarean, every case had the potential for heartbreak. But animals and their owners could also be hilarious, such as the breeder who unwittingly gave his German Shepherd four testicles. . .Over the course of twelve tough months, the clinic began to flourish. Would Marc finally make something of himself after all?Marc Abraham writes guilelessly about his early mistakes, and the terror and joy involved in saving an animal's life. His memoir is a heart-warming, compelling and thoroughly entertaining look at the life of a vet on call.The Virgin Banker
By Jayne-Anne Gadhia. 2017
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the straight-talking CEO of Virgin Money, looks back at the events that have influenced, shaped and inspired her…
to become one of the most powerful women in banking.With anecdotes from her life before becoming a banker, including beating the bullies and experiencing racism as part of a mixed race marriage, through to building a business from scratch, working at RBS under Fred Goodwin just before the financial crash, and steering Virgin Money to become a listed business, breaking boundaries along the way, professionally and personally.Jayne-Anne shines a light on issues surrounding the role of women in banking and the alpha-male dinosaurs that dominate the industry. She draws on the relationships and deals that have shaped her career so far, including her personal experience with mental health issues, which has helped her attitude and approach to both her business and personal life. This is not a conventional biography, nor a ‘how to do it’ business book. It is a candid, fresh and fascinating insight into being a woman in business, the financial crisis and the way in which business can be conducted as a force for good.Whatever Happened to Margo?
By Margaret Durrell. 1995
In 1947, returning to the UK with two young children to support, Margaret Durrell starts a boarding house in Bournemouth.…
But any hopes of respectability are dashed as the tenants reveal themselves to be a host of eccentrics: from a painter of nudes to a pair of glamorous young nurses whose late-night shifts combined with an ever-revolving roster of gentleman callers leading to a neighbourhood rumour that Margo is running a brothel. Margo's own two sons, Gerry and Nicholas, prove to be every bit as mischievous as their famous Uncle Gerald - and he himself returns periodically with weird and wonderful animals, from marmosets to monkeys, that are quite unsuitable for life in a Bournemouth garden.What Would Beyoncé Do?!
By Luisa Omielan. 2016
You know when you find yourself approaching thirty and your dreams are broken? You've got a temping career going nowhere,…
a student debt that’s mounting and you've just had to move back into your mum’s house.Then to top it all off, you get absolutely annihilated with heartbreak because of an ex, who is just ‘not ready’ but then manages to be ready, a week later, with someone else. And it is here, at your lowest point, that one of your best friends decides to remind you that you are the same age as Beyoncé.FML.Luisa Omielan is a stand-up comedian who turned her life around after she answered the mantra every person needs in their life: What Would Beyoncé Do?!Hilariously funny, wonderfully uplifting and brutally honest, Luisa's memoir shows us all that there is no situation in which Bey can’t save the day.14 COUNTRIES, 42 WOMEN - FROM PERIODS TO ORGASMS TO FGM. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OVERSHARING. 'Nimko's book…
is going to shift the conversation around women's bodies. Our bodies, and everything they do, make us who we are' - Amika George, founder of Free Periods Campaign______________________What do you do when you're homeless and on your period? What does it feel like to have a poo following childbirth? How do we learn to love our bodies again after they've been abused? It's rude. It's improper. It's disgusting. All justifications that leave women's questions about their bodies unanswered. And activist Nimko Ali has had enough of it.Following her own experience of FGM and rebuilding her relationship with her body, this important book contains the true stories of women sharing what they've always been told is secret and shameful - from east London to Ethiopia, from pregnancy to menopause. This is a call to arms. This is a cry to reclaim the narrative around our fannies and to refuse the taboos that silent us. ______________________ 'A beautiful book with such a wide range of uplifting but often heart-breaking stories. Made us cry and think in equal measure' - Pandora Sykes, co-host of The High Low'Nimko has blown apart all taboos, blown apart the echo chamber and included all women in the feminist conversation.' - Scarlett Curtis, author of Feminists Don't Wear Pink'There is no subject too taboo for her to tackle. We should all be talking about our vaginas and she is leading the way' - Bryony Gordon, author of Mad Girl'Nimko Ali is heroine for our time, she destroys the notion of things being too rude to discuss' - Caitlin Moran, author of How to Be a WomanWhat Have I Done?: An honest memoir about surviving postpartum psychosis
By Laura Dockrill. 2020
'Such a raw, honest and important book' Giovanna FletcherLike any new mum, Laura Dockrill felt rather overwhelmed after the birth…
of her son. But a slow recovery, sleep deprivation and anxiety quickly escalated into postpartum psychosis, and she had to spend a fortnight in a psych ward, separated from her family. It was only when Laura began to put her ordeal into words that she began to find herself again, and recovery seemed within reach.This is Laura's raw, honest and life-affirming story of how she made it through one of the most frightening experiences a mother can face. Now, she wants to break down the silence around postnatal mental health, shatter the idealised expectations of perfect motherhood, and show all new struggling parents that they are not alone.'A book to save a whole generation of women' AdeleA pleasure to read...I didn't want to put it down. If anyone is going through a similar experience it will make them feel less alone' Philippa Perry'A humbingly honest and human war report from the front lines of mothering psychosis and recovery; there is no other book like it' Caitlin Moran'An incredibly powerful book' Jessie Ware'This book will give women and their families confidence that the brain and body will heal' Dr Jessica Heron, CEO of Action on Postpartum Psychosis'An amazing read' Fiona Telford, postpartum psychosis survivorWhat Daddy Did: The shocking true story of a little girl betrayed
By Donna Ford. 2008
In this haunting and frank account, Donna Ford, bestselling author of The Step Child, returns to the horrific abuse she…
suffered at the hands of her stepmother. As a tiny girl of five, and for six long years, Donna was physically, mentally and sexually abused. She was starved, beaten and 'loaned out' to neighbours who raped and molested her ... and throughout her father stood by and did nothing. When her stepmother finally left the family home, Donna dreamed of a normal childhood in which she would be taken care of by the man who had, up until this point, failed her. But it was not to be. By telling the whole story of her Edinburgh childhood, Donna tries to understand why the man who should have loved her the most - her own father - was the one who deceived her the most, by continuing to allow men to abuse her. Instead of finding a future of love and happiness, Donna was once again thrust into a living nightmare of exploitation and betrayal by those who should have wrapped her up in their love. While this is a true story of appalling child abuse, it is also a tale of how exhilaration, tenderness and self-development can flourish despite childhood horrors. We take a journey with Donna to discover the woman she has become: a devoted mother of three and a talented artist and writer.What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: The Highs and Lows of an Air Ambulance Doctor
By Dr Tony Bleetman. 2012
'During open-chest resuscitations, I've held a non-beating, recently stilled human heart in my hands. And, should you ever get to…
hold one, you will find the human heart to be rubbery and shockingly light.'What Could Possibly Go Wrong? is a report from the front line of emergency medicine, the first ever account of what it is like to work as an air ambulance doctor. Whether describing cutting through a patient's breastbone to plug a stab wound or barrel rolling a light aircraft at 5,000 feet, Tony Bleetman captures the sheer adrenaline of racing through the sky to save lives. You will learn how to land a helicopter on the side of a mountain, what it means to encounter death every day, and how to perform a tracheotomy in real life (clue: it doesn’t involve a ball-point pen).Funny, shocking and moving, What Could Possibly Go Wrong? is a glimpse at a world where the wrong decision can mean the difference between life and death.Originally published as You Can't Park There: The Highs and Lows of an Air Ambulance Doctor.'I squeezed through the narrow gap and out into the hallway and I stood for a moment, unable to decide…
where to go. Should I make a dash for the kitchen, where my mother would be swigging from a bottle? Or should I run upstairs and try to find somewhere to hide? It was a choice I didn't really need to make, because there was no escape'Anna Lowe grows up on the doorsteps of pubs, waiting for her mum to come out. Having to give up her bedroom to her mother's drunken friends. And regularly calling out the ambulance, after finding her mother unconscious and covered in vomit. But it is when they move in with her mother's boyfriend Carl that things take the ugliest turn. Not only is he violent with her mother, but he also sexually abuses Anna from the age of six - destroying any semblance of normal childhood she had left. Wake Up, Mummy is the heartbreaking true story of a little girl who eventually found the courage to break free from the past.A Volunteer Nurse on the Western Front: Memoirs from a WWI camp hospital
By Olive Dent. 2014
Starring Oona Chaplin as a V.A.D. (Voluntary Aid Detachment), and Suranne Jones and Hermione Norris as trained nurses, The Crimson…
Field is a gripping drama set in a tented hospital on the coast of France, where plucky real-life V.A.D. Olive Dent served two years of the Great War, and kept this extraordinarily vivid diary of day-to-day life – ever cheerful through the bitter cold, the chilblains, hunger and exhaustion. Resilient, courageous and resourceful, nurses, doctors and patients alike do their best to support each other. A Christmas fancy-dress ball, a concert performed by a stoic orchestra covered in bandages, church services held in a marquee and letters from Blighty all keep spirits up in camp, as wounded soldiers suffer terribly with quiet dignity on the makeshift wards, and nurses rush round tirelessly to make them as comfortable as possible.With original illustrations throughout by fellow V.A.D.s, Olive’s memoir is a fascinating period piece, a rare first-hand account of this little-known story, which will resonate very strongly with viewers of The Crimson Field.THE TRUE CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR AND 18-WEEK SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER'One of the most fascinating books I…
have read in a long time. Engrossing, a haunting page-turner. A book I could not put down' The Times, BOOKS OF THE YEAR__________Meet the forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd.He solves the mysteries of unexplained or sudden death.He has performed over 23,000 autopsies, including some of the most high-profile cases of recent times; the Hungerford Massacre, the Princess Diana inquiry, and 9/11. He has faced serial killers, natural disaster, 'perfect murders' and freak accidents.His evidence has put killers behind bars, freed the innocent, and turned open-and-shut cases on their heads. Yet all this has come at a huge personal cost. Unnatural Causes tells the story of not only the cases and bodies that have haunted him the most, but also how to live a life steeped in death. Thoughtful, revealing, chilling and always unputdownable, if you liked All That Remains, War Doctor and This is Going to Hurt you'll love this. **Pre-order Dr Richard Shepherd's new book THE SEVEN AGES OF DEATH now**__________'Gripping, grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice' Evening Standard'A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology. Human and fascinating' Nigella Lawson 'An absolutely brilliant book. I really recommend it, I don't often say that but it's fascinating' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2'Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel' Guardian 'Fascinating, gruesome yet engrossing' Richard and Judy, Daily Express'Fascinating, insightful, candid, compassionate' ObserverTycho and Kepler: The Unlikely Partnership that Forever Changed our Understanding of the Heavens
By Kitty Ferguson. 2002
The extraordinary, unlikely tale of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler and their enormous contribution to astronomy and understanding of the…
cosmos is one of the strangest stories in the history of science.Kepler was a poor, devoutly religious teacher with a genius for mathematics. Brahe was an arrogant, extravagant aristocrat who possessed the finest astronomical instruments and observations of the time, before the telescope. Both espoused theories that seem off-the-wall to modern minds, but their fateful meeting in Prague in 1600 was to change the future of science.Set in one of the most turbulent and colourful eras in European history, when medieval was giving way to modern, Tycho and Kepler is a double biography of these two remarkable men.Two Children Behind A Wall
By Catherine Laylle. 2011
In 1984, Catherine Laylle, a Frenchwomen living in London, met and married a German medical student, Dieter. The couple had…
two sons, Alexander and Constantin. When, however, at Dieter's insistence, they moved back to his home town in Germany, the marriage began to fall apart. Dieter refused to get a job, Catherine found living with his family oppressive and eventually, she returned to London with the children. The boys spent term time with their mother, holidays with their father - until the summer of 1994, when Dieter decided that his sons should be raised as Germans and, with the support of the local judge, defied the London court ruling that gave Catherine custody. Catherine went to the courts in London, Germany and the Hague - but it seemed that no court outside the jurisdiction of Lower Saxony would overrule the decision. Today, Alexander is eleven and Constantin is nine. Catherine has barely seen them in the two years since Dieter kidnapped them - and then only under the supervision of one of his friends. This is the harrowing story of a mother's attempts to regain her children, and of her desperate struggle against a tyrannical family and the blind injustice of the courts in Europe.The Trust Manifesto: What you Need to do to Create a Better Internet
By Damian Bradfield. 2019
From the moment we wake up and unlock our phones, we're producing data. We offer up our unique fingerprint to…
the online world, scan our route to work, listen to a guided meditation or favourite playlist, slide money around, share documents and update our social media accounts. We reach for our phones up to 200 times a day, not knowing which companies are storing, using, selling and manipulating our data. But do we care? We're busy. We've got lives. We're pressed for time! There aren't enough hours in the day to read the terms and conditions. Or, maybe we're happy to trade our personal data for convenient services and to make our lives easier?Big data is the phenomenon of our age, but should we trust it without question? This is the trust dilemma.In 2009, Damian Bradfield founded WeTransfer, the largest file-sharing platform in the world with 50 million global users shipping more than one billion files of data a month. His unique experience of the big data economy has led him to question if there is another way to build the internet, one that is fairer and safer for everyone and, in The Trust Manifesto, he lays out this vision.Torn Apart: How Two Sisters Found Each Other After Sixty-Five Years
By Blanche Le Fleur, Derek Flory, Sybil Le Fleur. 2008
When Sybil and Blanche Le Fleur were growing up in idyllic Burma in the 1920s and '30s, little did they…
realise the changes and challenges that they would face during their lives. With the death of first their mother and then their father, they had to cope with enormous personal tragedy, including the loss of all their family wealth. Then the Japanese bombed Rangoon on 23 December 1941. Sybil managed to get out of the city, but there was no way for her to return to her sister, or even to know if Blanche was still alive, as the death toll was so high.While Sybil escaped from Burma and settled in Scotland after marrying a Scottish soldier, Blanche lived for over three years under Japanese occupation. After leaving for India in 1958, Blanche made a new life while still thinking of and praying for her sister. Decades later, a chance set of circumstances led to the discovery by Sybil's son that Blanche was alive and living in India. Torn Apart is the heart-rending, inspirational account of how the Le Fleur sisters lived separate lives for more than 65 years before an emotional reunion brought them together again in 2007.