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Sarah's Diary: An unflinchingly honest account of one family's struggle with depression
By Sarah Griffin. 2007
'I was fourteen when I found my Dad trying to commit suicide in the garage. Sounds shocking doesn't it? But…
that was part of me, part of living with my Dad'Sarah's Diary is the very personal diary of Sarah Griffin - an ordinary teenage girl learning to deal with the ups and downs of family life. On the outside hers was like any other family, but behind closed doors lay a sad and lonely secret. Sarah's Dad had depression -- a condition we've all heard of but seldom discuss. Beautifully written, brutally honest, Sarah's story is compelling reading.The Rainbow Comes and Goes
By Diana Cooper. 1958
Lady Diana Cooper was a star of the early twentieth stage, screen and social scene. This first instalment of her…
sparkling autobiography tells of her upbringing, her beautiful artistic mother and aristocratic father, her debut into high society and the glittering parties - 'dancing and extravagance and lashing of wine, and charades and moonlit balconies and kisses' - which were interrupted with the outbreak of the First World War. This volume ends with Diana's marriage to the 'love of her life', diplomat and politician Duff Cooper.Queen of the Ploughing
By Anna May McHugh. 2017
'The embodiment of the spirit of rural Ireland'Anna May McHugh's name is synonymous with 'the Ploughing' - the annual Championships…
of the National Ploughing Association. The event is the biggest outdoor agricultural show in Europe and Anna May is the driving force behind its spectacular growth.Anna May now tells her story. Her description of growing up as part of a large family in rural County Laois is an evocative and affectionate account of an Ireland that is now gone. But in her account of how she went from being a secretary of the Ploughing Association, her first job, to becoming - to her own amazement - its managing director twenty years later is a story of leadership and people skills that are very much of the twenty-first century. Anna May was truly ahead of her time.Still living in County Laois, close to where she grew up, and now in her eighties, Anna May still runs the multi-million euro operation from her home, alongside her daughter, Anna Marie. Queen of the Ploughing is a captivating read, full of warmth, lively stories and Anna May's sharp observations. And it's not just about Anna May's life, but is also a celebration of the best of Irish life over eight decades.Please Let It Stop: The true story of my abused childhood
By Jacqueline Gold. 2007
'In retrospect, I can see I was the perfect candidate for child abuse. My parents had divorced and my mother…
didn't show me much love. Her self-imposed isolation kept me away from other children. My abuser had nobody in his way.'Please Let It Stop is a gripping and ultimately inspiring memoir of suffering and determination, of obstacles and inner battles. Jacqueline Gold was abused by her stepfather for many years, but one day she summoned the courage to ask him to stop. Jacqueline went on to become Chief Executive of Ann Summers, but the journey was far from easy. In this, her no-holds-barred autobiography, Jacqueline describes her abused childhood, her tumultuous struggles to find love and conquer depression, and the heartbreak of undergoing IVF. Told with remarkable honesty, her story is a testament to one woman's ability to overcome the darkest of times.Please Don't Cry: A family torn apart by grief. An incredible act of love.
By Jane Plume. 2014
'I’m glad I could do her this one last favour. If it had been the other way round, I know…
Gina would have done the same for me.’Jane and Gina were the best of friends. When Gina’s husband Shaun was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2009, Jane vowed to do everything she could to help her best mate and her two small sons through the awful time to come. But things were about to take a tragic turn for the worse. In 2010, Gina was killed in a shock car crash. Though devastated by her own grief, Jane knew that Gina needed her now more than ever – to help with the boys she had left behind. And after cancer claimed Shaun's life, Jane stepped in to care for the two orphans, becoming the mother her best friend could no longer be.This is the moving true story behind an incredible act of love.Paying for It: How Turning Tricks Paid the Mortgage, Kept the Kids in Trainers and Gave Me Back My Life
By Scarlett O'Kelly. 2012
Combining the sexual frankness of Fifty Shades of Grey and of Belle de Jour's writing, with the fascinating insights of…
What the Nanny Saw, Scarlett O'Kelly's memoir of her year as a high-end escort, Paying For It, is an explicit, astonishing and compulsive story of living a double life .Facing financial meltdown, mother of three Scarlett O'Kelly did what the average woman would find unthinkable: she set herself up a sex worker. There was the sex, which, surprisingly for Scarlett, could have unexpected pleasures. Then the clients - ordinary men who worried that they had to hide their sexual needs, desires and fantasies from their wives or girlfriends. Not to mention her realisation that women just like her could build stronger relationships if they could let go their hang-ups in and out of bed. And there's the high price Scarlett paid for her double life - one she is still coming to terms with.Paying For It is a raw, intimate and powerful story of one brave woman's sacrifice in a time of hardship. It is a searingly honest and truly eye-opening account of modern life and what really goes on in couples' bedrooms.It is also an intriguing and risqué account of one woman's sexual odyssey - from her decision to make money from sex to her realisation that she had become sexually liberated in the process.Scarlett O'Kelly is a middle class everywoman - and her clients were ordinary middle class men - so this is an intriguing picture of a side of life that is usually hidden.Brought together for the first time in one edition, both of Christabel Bielenberg's bestselling memoirs give an incredibly moving, emotionally…
charged and compelling insight into life in Nazi Germany during The Third Reich and during the aftermath of World War Two. Offering a new perspective, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the wartime era.'This is one of the best WWII books I have ever read' -- ***** Reader review'An excellent book and a must-read for anyone interested in this era' -- ***** Reader review'Absorbing' -- ***** Reader review'Intensely moving' -- ***** Reader review'A wonderful book. I couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review***********************************************************************************************The Past is MyselfChristabel Bielenberg, a niece of newspaper magnate Lord Northcliffe, married a German lawyer in 1934. She lived through the war in Germany, as a German citizen under the horrors of Nazi rule and Allied bombings. The Past is Myself is her story of that experience - and an unforgettable portrait of an evil time.The Road AheadFollowing the extraordinary success of her wartime memoir, The Past is Myself, Christabel Bielenberg received thousands of letters from readers begging her to describe what happened next. In The Road Ahead she continues her story with the outbreak of peace - a time of struggle for reconciliation with, and the rebuilding of, a defeated nation. She also tells of life in her newly adopted country, Ireland, her involvement with the Peace Women of Northern Ireland, and with characteristic modesty and gratitude, looks back on a rich, full life.Anyone interested in the Second World War and life in the 1930s and 1940s will devour these unflinchingly honest and enthralling memoirs, published together in one edition for the first time.Our World: Our OFFICIAL autobiography
By Little Mix. 2016
Celebrate Little Mix's first UK number-one album - Glory Days - by reading the full story of the girls' astonishing…
rise to pop super stardom. Our World is full of exclusive photos and inspirational stories about Jade, Perrie, Jesy and Leigh-Anne's unique friendship.Little Mix are the UK's most successful girl band. They first found fame - and each other - on The X Factor in 2011. Five years later they have gone from strength to strength, achieving huge global success. With three platinum-selling albums in the UK and over 14 million record sales worldwide, the band are both adored by their fans and critically acclaimed for their brilliant music. In this book the girls share the real behind-the-scenes story of both their personal lives and their success. They reveal the many highs - what it feels like to perform in front of thousands of people; the excitement of seeing your music soar to Number One around the world - but also the lows. Through it all the girls have had each other, and their incredibly close friendship has grown stronger and stronger as the years have gone by. Now the girls are like sisters, and in this book they share their journeys and how it feels for your dreams to come true.Brimming with exclusive photos, this book shares with us the girls' innermost secrets - their hopes and dreams for the future, their families, their relationships, their style advice and above all their friendship. This book is Little Mix's story in their own words and tells you everything you need to know about their lives both in and out of the spotlight.Our Billie
By Ian Clayton. 2010
'An astonishing work' - Joanne HarrisEvery parent's worst nightmare became a reality for Ian Clayton. On a short holiday break…
in Hay-on-Wye he took his nine-year-old twins canoeing, and in a freak accident his daughter Billie was drowned. In a remarkably frank and vivid way Clayton describes what happened on that spring day, his desperate attempts to save his two children, and then what it felt like two years later to come face to face with the men who hired out the canoe.But Our Billie is not a story of bitterness and recrimination. Instead it's the story of how a family attempts to come to terms with something which makes no sense at all. Through his memories of Billie and his wonderfully affectionate portrait of the small town in Yorkshire where the family has lived for generations, he weaves a story of loss and remembering, of gratitude and forgiveness.Openhearted: Eighty Years of Love, Loss, Laughter and Letting Go
By Ann Ingle. 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR TWO IRISH BOOK AWARDS'Something they don't tell you about getting older is that you fall. Oh, you hear…
about it in passing, of course, "She had a fall, poor thing". Falling is not something you ever think about as a younger woman. You think about falling in love . . .'At 20 Londoner Ann Ingle fell madly in love with an Irish fellow she met on holiday in Cornwall. At the church to arrange their shotgun wedding she discovered that he hadn't even told her his real name.Sixty-odd years later Ann looks back on that first glorious fall and in a series of essays considers what she has learned from the life that followed - bringing eight children into the world, their father's years of mental illness and tragic death at 40, being a cash-strapped single mother in 1980s Dublin, coming into her own in her middle years - going to college, working and writing, and continuing to evolve and learn into her ninth decade, even as she accepts the realities of being 'old'.Candid about everything that matters - love, sex, heartbreak, money, class, religion, mental health, rearing children (and letting them go), reading and writing, ageing - Open-Hearted is a compelling story about living life in a spirit of curiosity and delight and with a willingness to look for good in others._________________________________'By some distance the most courageous, most poignant, most life-affirming memoir I've read in the last twenty years and more' Paul Howard'Genuinely inspirational. I LOVE ANN INGLE' Marian Keyes'What a beautiful openhearted, at times broken-hearted memoir ... honest, funny, searingly direct, a wonderful voice ... remarkable' Joe Duffy'Really beautiful. Searingly honest, astonishingly frank and very, very funny' Maia DunphyOne Last Goodbye: Sometimes only a mother's love can help end the pain
By Kay Gilderdale. 2011
Watching her child die is the hardest thing a mother can ever do. But for Kay Gilderdale, saying a final…
goodbye to her only daughter Lynn was exceptionally painful: she'd played a part in her death.Lynn was just 14 when she was struck down by the crippling disease ME, leaving her paralysed and in constant agony. Over the next 17 years, she became desperate to escape her miserable existence, even begging her mum to help her die. So, one night, when Kay found Lynn attempting suicide, she was forced to make an impossible decision. Continue watching her child suffer or help her end the pain?Eventually, fighting her every instinct, Kay helped her precious daughter take a fatal overdose. But while Lynn was finally free, her mother faced a fresh agony - a possible lifetime behind bars. The highly controversial trial that followed opened a fierce public debate on assisted suicide. Is it murder or mercy?Here, in her heartbreaking story, Kay reveals the harrowing truth behind the headlines and the desperate lengths a mother will go to for the love of a child.One Day at a Time: A Memoir
By Susan Lewis. 2011
She was only nine when her world fell apart. The struggle to understand took a lifetime.In 1960s Bristol, Susan's family…
was like any other with its joys and frustrations, and fierce loyalties. Then tragedy struck and left a legacy that was to last a lifetime.Susan was only nine when her mother died. A year later she was sent away to school. She didn't want to go, and didn't understand why she had to. In her struggle to cope with an uncertain world - a world where nothing seemed to make sense any more - she pushed away the one person she loved best, her father. It wasn't until adulthood beckoned that she realised that, in order to turn their relationship around, she had to learn to love - and trust - again.Once I Was a Princess: A Mother's Worst Nightmare
By Jacqueline Pascarl. 1999
Can you imagine what it would be like to be swept off your feet by a royal prince to live…
a charmed life in the marble palaces of an oil-rich nation - and then to watch your fairy-tale romance turn into a nightmare of Islamic superstition, isolation, betrayal and abuse? What would you do if you managed to escape your life of torment - and then your children were kidnapped by their own father? This is what happened to Jacqueline Pascarl.In Once I Was a Princess, Jacqueline recounts her part in this controversial, headline-grabbing international drama with heart-rending honesty.No Shame: How to drop the guilt … from some who’s learned the f**king hard way
By Laura Belbin. 2022
Shame, shame we know your nameDo we own it? Being a woman that is. Do we fuck! We live in…
fear of how we look, what we eat, how we age and what we do. Wow, it's 2022 and we're still churning out that same old shit. I've been told as you get older you care less. Fucking great. I can't wait to be menopausal with skunk-like grey track lines in my hair, saggier tits, and miserable as shit. I don't know about you, but I'd quite like to have that experience - the no-fucks-experience that is - now, before that all happens. To have the confidence to believe in who I am. It's a push we all have to make - whether it be in our confidence over our bodies, who we are as people, or what goes on inside our mind - and we all have to work at it. It's baby steps. So let's take it back to those tiny steps, because all mountains that are climbed don't happen without practice, perseverance, self-belief and a fuck ton of work.No Cake, No Jam: Hardship and happiness in wartime London
By Marian Hughes. 2014
No Cake, No Jam is the heart-warming true story of a little girl’s London childhood during the Blitz, and of…
how she rose above adversity through sheer guts and strength of character.Marian Hughes was born in the same year as her father committed suicide. She spent most of her early childhood with her elder sisters and brother in Spurgeon’s Orphanage in South London. There she learned to love extravagant hymns and to receive regular beatings.Suddenly, when Marian was ten, her mother appeared. All four children were swept up by their mother to live in a damp and filthy flat off Baker Street. There began a life of moonlight flits, camping and squats. Marian’s mother forgot to feed her children, and paid no attention to school or the bombing. Marian soon turned to begging and stealing to help the family get by.Marian’s brother and elder sisters left home as soon as they could, but Marian remained to support her deranged and frequently violent mother, evading Care and Protection Orders and often running away. Then the day finally came when Marian had to sign the papers to have her mother committed. From that moment, 14-year-old Marian had to find out if she was strong enough to live for herself ...Throughout all the twists and turns of her childhood, Marian never lost her spirit and never faltered in her loyalty. Full of vigour, truth, humour and curiosity, No Cake, No Jam is a passionate celebration of a life and love.My Sister Milly
By Gemma Dowler. 2017
You've seen Manhunt, now read this powerful and personal account from Milly Dowler's sister Gemma . . . 'My name…
is Gemma Dowler. On 21 March 2002, a serial killer named Levi Bellfield stole my sister and sent our family to hell . . .'In My Sister Milly, Gemma Dowler recounts the terrible day of Milly's disappearance, the suspicions that fell on the family, the torture of encountering the murderer in court, the fatal errors made by the police, how it very nearly destroyed her family and how love and hope helped the family survive.Everyone thinks they know the story of Milly Dowler, but only one person knows the true pain of having lost her sister, and how a family can rediscover hope to survive.________________'Compelling. An amazing book'Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2'Heartbreaking' Daily Mail'Tragic, poignant, full of emotional memories'Daily MirrorMy Own Story: Inspiration for the major motion picture Suffragette (Vintage Feminism Short Editions Ser.)
By Emmeline Pankhurst. 2015
The great leader of the women’s suffrage movement tells the story of her struggles in her own words.Emmeline Pankhurst grew…
up all too aware of the prevailing attitude of her day: that men were considered superior to women. When she was just fourteen she attended her first suffrage meeting, and returned home a confirmed suffragist. Throughout the course of her career she endured humiliation, prison, hunger strikes and the repeated frustration of her aims by men in power, but she rose to become a guiding light of the Suffragette movement. This is the story, in Pankhurst’s own words, of her struggle for equality.My Girl: The Babes in the Woods murders. A mother’s fight for justice.
By Michelle Hadaway. 2023
Shortlisted in the 'True Crime Book Of The Year' category for Capital Crime’s Fingerprint Awards, 2023.On Thursday 9th October 1986,…
Michelle Hadaway's worst fears came true. After watching her daughter Karen playing in the neighbour's garden with her best friend Nicola, Michelle returned to cook dinner for her family. Unbeknownst to her, this would be the last time she would ever see Karen alive.In the following days and months, shocking details would come to light about the nature of Karen and Nicola's murders, and the case which had come to be known as 'the Babes in the Wood murders' would lead to one of the most infamous and cruellest miscarriages of justice in British history.For decades, Michelle fought tirelessly to bring justice to her daughter's murder, shining light on countless police failings and media manipulations in the process. Finally, in 2018 after 32 years of suffering, Russell Bishop, the man Michelle had long known to be guilty, was sentenced in court.This is the story of two stolen lives, of the long road to justice, but most of all the story of a mother's love and determination.Mummy, Take Me Home: A Mother's Tug-of-Love Torment
By David Leslie. 2008
'Mummy, take me home,' sobbed little Jasmine Chapman as she was ripped from her mother's arms. But there was nothing…
that Morag could do . . . except continue to fight for custody of the child she loved so much.When their relationship ended, Jasmine's parents argued bitterly about her future. But they were unable to come to an amicable agreement, and a UK court ruled that the case be heard in the US, the home of Jasmine's father. Fearing that she would lose her child, Morag fled from Texas with her daughter, only to be hauled back in shackles and incarcerated in a grim American prison. When Morag was eventually freed and awarded custody of her little girl, she thought her nightmare was over. However, back in the UK, every move she made was watched and every mistake recorded. Morag sank into deep depression and became lost in a haze of alcohol and drugs. The once beautiful and desirable young woman found her life spiralling out of control. Eventually, she lost the daughter she had fought so hard to keep.Mummy, Take Me Home is the gripping and disturbing true-life story of a tug of love that no mother should ever face and no child should be forced to endure.Mummy is a Killer
By Nikkia Roberson. 2012
'Why did you leave me? Why did you get messed up with all of those drugs? Why did you kill…
my brother and sister? Didn’t you love us enough?'Nikkia Roberson has been asking these questions for most of her life. But how else do you cope when your mentally ill mother has killed your little brother and sister by scalding them with boiling water?This is a harrowing true story of how one little girl endured the most tragic of childhoods. But it’s also the ultimate tale of forgiveness. Follow Nikkia on her heartbreaking journey, as she attempts to find answers and rekindle a relationship with her mother behind the gates of a secure psychiatric hospital.Deeply moving, Mummy is a Killer proves that love really is the strongest emotion of all.