My Not So Perfect Life blends a part love story with workplace drama, creating a sharply observed narrative that critiques the false judgments prevalent in our social-media-obsessed world. Sophie Kinsella, a New York Times bestselling author, delivers a timely novel filled with vibrant, relatable characters and her signature storytelling gifts.
Everywhere Katie Brenner looks, someone else is living the life she longs for, especially her boss, Demeter Farlowe. Demeter is brilliant and creative, lives with her perfect family in a posh townhouse, and wears the coolest clothes. Meanwhile, Katie's life is a daily struggle—from her dismal rental to her oddball flatmates to the tense office politics she's trying to navigate. No wonder Katie takes refuge in not-quite-true Instagram posts, especially as she's desperate to make her dad proud.
Then, just as she's finding her feet—not to mention a possible new romance—the worst happens. Demeter fires Katie. Shattered but determined to stay positive, Katie retreats to her family's farm in Somerset to help them set up a vacation business. London has never seemed so far away—until Demeter unexpectedly turns up as a guest. Secrets are spilled and relationships rejiggered, and as the stakes for Katie's future get higher, she must question her own assumptions about what makes for a truly meaningful life.
Follow the adventures of Bertie Wooster and his gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves, in this stunning new edition of one of the greatest comic novels in the English language.
Bertie must deal with the Market Snodsbury Grammar School prize giving, the broken engagement of his cousin Angela, the wooing of Madeline Bassett by Gussie Fink-Nottle, and the resignation of Anatole, the genius chef. Will he prevail? Only with the aid of Jeeves!
Stephen Fry's breathtakingly outrageous debut novel, by turns eccentric, shocking, brilliantly comic and achingly romantic.
Adrian Healey is magnificently unprepared for the long littleness of life; unprepared too for the afternoon in Salzburg when he will witness the savage murder of a Hungarian violinist; unprepared to learn about the Mendax device; unprepared for more murders and wholly unprepared for the truth.
The Liar is a thrilling, sophisticated and laugh out loud hilarious novel from a brilliantly talented writer.
Since Coco Pinchard's messy divorce, she hasn't just picked up the pieces; she's now a best-selling author and basking in a newly-wed glow with her gorgeous second husband, Adam. She feels stronger and wiser, and surely, the second time around, she'll have learned from her mistakes?
But things aren't going quite to plan... Adam has lost his job, Coco's grown-up son, Rosencrantz, seems to have derailed his life in spectacular fashion, and ex-mother-in-law Ethel keeps letting herself into the house thanks to an endless supply of spare keys.
When literary agent Angie takes on Coco's arch rival, the formidable Regina Battenberg, it looks as though things can't get any worse. And then Coco discovers she's pregnant; at 44. Can she really go through it all again? The sleepless nights, the stretch marks on top of stretch marks, and the sheer responsibility of bringing a new life into the world?
The third book in Robert Bryndza's bestselling Coco Pinchard series is a hilarious diary with Coco's trademark wit and honesty, tracing the raging hormones and extraordinary twists that take her to motherhood for the second time.
What happens when the one that got away comes back?
Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.
From the moment they met, they’d been a gang of two; partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is definitely not. In fact, the men in her life make her want to take holy orders…
Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.
Hilarious, heartbreaking, and everything in between, you’ll be hooked from their first ‘hello’.
What is a sociopath to do?
Dyson Devereux has it all – a way with the ladies, impeccable good taste, and a complete inability to empathise with other human beings. Perfect for the head of Burials and Cemeteries at Newton Borough Council. But Dyson’s fed up. How long will he have to deal with banal work colleagues, drug-addled girlfriends, and gaudy memorial structures? It feels like he’s just serial-killing time …
When Dyson suspects someone of having an even darker past than him, he sees a chance to get out. Will he take it, or is he destined for a life of toil in the health-and-safety-obsessed public sector?
Brutal, bleak, and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of political correctness and woke culture.
Meet Dyson Devereux, Britain’s answer to Patrick Bateman. Ever wondered what goes on in the mind of a sociopath? This black comedy will appeal to fans of transgressive fiction authors like Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Irvine Welsh.
It's 1985, and eighteen-year-old Coco Pinchard is home in London for Christmas after her first term at Aberystwyth University. She has started to write, and fallen hopelessly in love with Daniel Pinchard, a devilishly handsome musician from the wrong side of the river.
But Coco's overbearing mother has other plans and resumes her campaign for Coco to meet and marry the 'right sort of man', preferably Kenneth, son of her best friends Adrian and Yvonne Rosebury, who will be joining them for Christmas.
As snow falls softly over the city, and Coco tries to juggle a series of hilarious events, the stage is set for a Christmas lunch like no other.
A Very Coco Christmas is a delicious, stand-alone prequel short story to Robert Bryndza's smash-hit Coco Pinchard series, with a glorious cast of characters including Daniel's mother Ethel, sister Meryl - and a turkey called Jean Paul Belmondo.
Sweet, bookish Neve Slater always plays by the rules, and the number one rule is that good-natured fat girls like her don't get guys like gorgeous, handsome William, heir to Neve's heart since university. But William's been in LA for three years, and Neve's been slimming down and re-inventing herself so that when he returns, he'll fall head over heels in love with the new, improved her.
So she's not that interested in other men. Until her sister Celia points out that if Neve wants William to think she's an experienced love-goddess and not the fumbling, awkward girl he left behind, then she'd better get some, well, experience.
What Neve needs is someone to show her the ropes, someone like Celia's colleague Max. Wicked, shallow, sexy Max. And since he's such a man-slut, and so not Neve's type, she certainly won't fall for him. Because William is the man for her... right?
Somewhere between losing weight and losing her inhibitions, Neve's lost her heart – but to who?
The odds are stacked against Chuffy when he falls head over heels for American heiress Pauline Stoker. Who better to help him win her over but Jeeves, the perfect gentleman's gentleman?
But when Bertie, Pauline's ex-fiancé, finds himself caught up in the fray, much to his consternation, even Jeeves struggles to get Chuffy his fairy-tale ending.
Meanwhile, Bertie's dedicated but somewhat untuneful playing of the banjo has driven Jeeves, his otherwise steadfast gentleman's gentleman, to give notice. Looking for respite, Bertie disappears to the country as a guest of his chum Chuffy, only to find his peace shattered by the arrival of his ex-fiancée Pauline Stoker, her formidable father, and the eminent loony-doctor Sir Roderick Glossop.
It seems Bertie cannot survive for long without Jeeves - and soon a situation arises which only Jeeves can solve.
It's Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce - an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving - is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces' decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern.
Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop's Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening's shocking conclusion: a body found, past midnight, strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene?
As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use every ounce of her chemical cleverness and crime-solving prowess to ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight. But when she does piece the puzzle together and deduce who has committed this twisted crime, will Flavia be able to escape in one piece?
Was the Battle of Hastings a French victory? Non! William the Conqueror was Norman and hated the French.
Were the Brits really responsible for the death of Joan of Arc? Non! The French sentenced her to death for wearing trousers.
Was the guillotine a French invention? Non! It was invented in Yorkshire.
Ten centuries' worth of French historical 'facts' bite the dust as Stephen Clarke looks at what has really been going on since 1066. The English Channel may be only twenty miles wide, but it’s a thousand years deep. Clarke takes a penetrating look into those murky depths, guiding us through all the times when Britain and France have been at war - or at least glowering at each other across what the Brits provocatively call the English Channel.
Along the way, he explodes a few myths that French historians have been trying to pass off as 'la vérité', as he proves that the French did not invent the baguette, or the croissant, or even the guillotine, and would have taken the bubbles out of bubbly if the Brits hadn’t created a fashion for fizzy champagne.
Starting with the Norman (not French) Conquest and going right up to the supposedly more peaceful present, when a state visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy becomes a series of hilarious historical insults, this is a light-hearted - but impeccably researched - account of all our great fallings-out. In short, the French are quite right to suspect that the last thousand years have been one long British campaign to infuriate them. And it’s not over yet ...
Miles from anywhere, Darracott Place is presided over by the irascible Lord Darracott. The recent drowning of his eldest son has done nothing to improve his temper. For now, he must send for the unknown offspring of the uncle whom the family is never permitted to mention.
The new heir is Major Hugo Darracott, “that damned weaver's brat” from the Yorkshire wilderness. The family members are ordered to lick Hugo into shape for his new status. However, Hugo is actually very, very rich and was raised to be a credit to both sides of his family. But his sense of humor makes it impossible to resist playing the ill-bred yokel of the Darracotts' worst fears.
Making the best of a bad situation, Anthea Darracott was civil to her newly-met cousin Hugh--but barely. For Anthea, reduced to accepting the charity of Lord Darracott, had been ordered to marry Hugh, new heir to the Darracott fortune. Lord Darracott's plan seemed perfect--to him: Hugh, the offspring of his son and a common weaver's daughter, might bring an unsuitable wife into the family. To prevent this disaster, Hugh must marry the impoverished, 22-year-old spinster Anthea. Knowing this, the two young people detested one another on sight.
But even she doesn't guess what he's capable of, until a family crisis arises and only Hugo can preserve the family's honor, leading everybody on a merry chase in the process.
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family. Among them is Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson's wondrous debut.
Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, Major Pettigrew is one of the most indelible characters in contemporary fiction, and from the very first page of this remarkable novel, he will steal your heart.
The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village.
Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?
For Georgia, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Just when she thought she was the official one-and-only girlfriend of Masimo, he's walked off into the night with the full hump, leaving Georgia all aloney on her owney—again.
All because Dave the Laugh tried to do fisticuffs at dawn with him! Two boys "fighting" over Georgia? It's almost as romantic as Romeo and Juliet... though perhaps a touch less tragic.
It's time for Georgia to get to the bottom (oo-er) of this Dave the Laugh spontaneous puckering business once and for all. It's like they always say: If you snog a mate in the forest of red bottomosity and no one is around to see it, is he still a mate? Or is he something more?
During the postmodern boom of Blair’s Britain, two well-meaning drug dealers on the verge of becoming respectable businessmen become embroiled in a surreal gangster heist.
Tony, a West London drug dealer, attempts to start a legitimate business around a new age herbal pill that provides natural highs. In order to secure the cash for their start-up venture, he strikes a deal with a kooky English aristocrat.
Their plans go askew, however, when Richard, their lawyer and long-term friend, involves them in his own shady dealings. Richard acquires an international bearer bond worth $100 million, which belongs to Poncho Khan, a notorious Indian crime boss.
In a time when mass consumerism and licentious hedonism are the dominant features of London society, the three men attempt to outsmart the drug king before they fall victim to their own depravity.
Meet Oliver Tate, the dryly precocious, soon-to-be-fifteen-year-old hero of this engagingly offbeat debut novel. Oliver lives in the seaside town of Swansea, Wales. At once a self-styled social scientist, a spy in the baffling adult world surrounding him, and a budding, hormone-driven emotional explorer, Oliver is stealthily (and perhaps a bit more nervously than he’d ever admit) nosing his way forward through the murky and uniquely perilous waters of adolescence.
His objectives? Uncovering the secrets behind his parents’ teetering marriage, unraveling the mystery that is his alluring and equally quirky classmate Jordana Bevan, and understanding where he fits in among the pansexuals, Zoroastrians, and other mystifying, fascinating beings in his orbit.
“It’s in my interests to know about my parents’ mental problems,” he reasons. Thus, when he discovers that his affable dad is quietly struggling with depression, Oliver marshals all the daytime-TV pop-psychology wisdom at his command—not to mention his formidable, uninhibited powers of imagination—to put things right again.
But a covert expedition into the mysterious territory of middle-aged malaise is bound to be tricky business for a teenager with more to learn about the agonies and ecstasies of life than a pocket thesaurus and his “worldly” school chum Chips can teach him. Ready or not, however, Oliver is about to get a crash course. His awkwardly torrid and tender relationship with Jordana is hurtling at the speed of teenage passion toward the inevitable magic moment... and whatever lies beyond.
And his boy-detective exploits have set him on a collision course with the New Age old flame who’s resurfaced in his mother’s life to lead her into temptation with lessons in surfing, self-defense... and maybe seduction. Struggling to buoy his parents’ wedded bliss, deep-six his own virginity, and sound the depths of heartache, happiness, and the business of being human, what’s a lad to do?
Poised precariously on the cusp of innocence and experience, yesterday’s daydreams and tomorrow’s decisions, Oliver Tate aims to damn the torpedoes and take the plunge.
At Bagley Hall, a notoriously wild, but increasingly academic, independent school crammed with the children of the famous, trouble is afoot.
The ambitious and fatally attractive headmaster, Hengist Brett-Taylor, hatches a plan to share the facilities of his school with Larkminster Comprehensive - known locally as 'Larks'. His reasons for doing so are purely financial, but he is encouraged by the opportunities the scheme gives him for frequent meetings with Janna Curtis, the dynamic new head of Larks, who has been drafted in to save what is a fast-sinking school from closure.
Janna is young, pretty, enthusiastic and vastly brave - and she will do anything to rescue her demoralised, run-down and cash-strapped school.
Neither parents nor staff of either school are too keen on this radical move, although some can see the possible financial advantages. For the students, however, it offers great opportunities to get up to even more mayhem than usual.
Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She's made a mistake so huge, it'll wreck any chance of a partnership. Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere.
Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she's mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as a housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they've hired a lawyer—and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can't sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the ironing board to open.
How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope—and finds love—is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake. But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does... will she want it back?
Whatever the cause of Bertie Wooster's consternation — Bobbie Wickham gives away fierce Aunt Agatha's dog; again in the bad books of Sir Roderick Glossop; Tuppy crushes on robust opera singer — Jeeves can untangle the most ferocious muddle.
1. Jeeves and the Impending Doom
2. The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy
3. Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit
4. Jeeves and the Song of Songs
5. Episode of the Dog McIntosh
6. The Spot of Art
7. Jeeves and the Kid Clementina
8. The Love that Purifies
9. Jeeves and the Old School Chum
10. Indian Summer of an Uncle
11. The Ordeal of Young Tuppy
Who can forget our beloved gentleman's personal gentleman, Jeeves, who ever comes to the rescue when the hapless Bertie Wooster falls into trouble. My Man Jeeves is sure to please anyone with a taste for pithy buffoonery, moronic misunderstandings, gaffes, and aristocratic slapstick.
Contents:
Georgia Nicolson is back with more mad, marvy confessions in this hilarious installment of her adventures. Join her as she embarks on a trip to Hamburger-a-gogo land (also known as America) in pursuit of Masimo, the Italian-American dreamboat. Will she succeed in becoming the composed sex kitten she aspires to be?
Georgia's escapades include learning the art of riding a bucking bronco and navigating the complexities of teenage life, complete with weird parents, mad cats, and the attentions of too many boys. Will she reel in the Italian dreamboat, or is she destined to live forever all aloney on her owney?
Get ready for a laugh-out-loud journey filled with teen drama, romantic escapades, and plenty of British humor.
It bites: New York hotels cost an arm and a leg, and Terri had flown from England to help plan her cousin’s wedding. The new in-laws offered lodging. But they were a weird bunch. There was the sometimes-chipper-sometimes-brooding Lucern, and the wacky stage-actor, Vincent. (She couldn't imagine Broadway casting a hungrier singing-and-dancing Dracula.)
And then there was Bastien. Just looking into his eyes, Terri had to admit she was falling for him - someone even taller, darker and hungrier than the other two. She was feeling a mite peckish herself. And if she stayed with him, those blood-sucking hotel owners wouldn't get to her!
Rules? What rules? Plucky beat reporter Holly Colshannon has a flair for the dramatic, a nose for trouble, and the remarkable ability to smile through any indignity—though her latest assignment is about to test her mettle.
Newly “promoted” to crime reporter for the Bristol Gazette, she must shadow the unsmiling (though undeniably delicious) Detective James Sabine through his action-packed days. Her task? To capture all the danger and thrills of a cop’s life in a daily column for the rag.
On the bright side, she gets her own byline. On the down side, delectable James is hardly overjoyed to have her around. But soon, her columns become a hit with readers who can't get enough of her personal adventures riding shotgun with the sexy crime stopper.
Who ever expected law and order to be so romantic? With a rugby-playing boyfriend on one side and James’s super-gorgeous fiancée on the other, keeping sparks of electricity in check is a challenge. In the end, though, love always evens the score...
At sixteen, Adrian Mole's life continues to be nothing but a set of tragic circumstances. His tempestuous relationship with an alluring schoolmate tortures him, while his intellectualism continues to be ignored by the British press. Despite it all, he remains as agonizingly funny as ever in this, the second of his diaries.
Adrian navigates the complexities of adolescence with a blend of humor and insight, offering readers a glimpse into the hilarious and sometimes poignant world of a teenage diarist.
Georgia Nicolson is back, and as always, she is navigating the hilarious and chaotic world of teenage life. Since she's been dating the yummy scrumboes Sex God, Robbie, her glossy lips are always at the ready, and her "red-bottomosity" is kept under wraps.
But life is never simple for Georgia. Along with Naomi the Sex Kitten's new litter (thank you, Angus), Robbie's announcement that his band will be traveling to Hamburger-a-gogo land (Georgia can only hope to go with), and a class trip to France, Georgia is one camper in a state of teenage splendiosity.
The small trouble is, Georgia also wonders if Dave the Laugh might still be the guy for her. When Robbie gives a surprise-ending twist to his travel plans, she gets a "weird feeling of reliefosity" that makes her wonder if she must venture out and bravely use her "red bottom wisely."
This book showcases Georgia's true nuddy-pants personality to be just as funny as ever. With plenty of juicy hints at what's to come, this laugh-out-loud read is one not to miss.
Birmingham, England, c. 1973: a time of industrial strikes, bad pop music, corrosive class warfare, and adolescent angst. Amidst the chaos of IRA bombings and societal upheaval, four friends navigate the complexities of their teenage years.
Meet the class clown who stoops very low for a laugh, a confused artist enthralled by guitar rock, an earnest radical with socialist leanings, and a quiet dreamer obsessed with poetry, God, and the prettiest girl in school. Together, they hold on to one another as the world seems to self-destruct around them, guiding each other through the choppy waters of a decidedly ambiguous decade.
To Libby Mason, Mr. Right has always meant Mr. Rich. A twenty-seven-year-old publicist, she's barely able to afford her fashionable and fabulous lifestyle and often has to foot the bill for dates with Struggling Writer Nick, a sexy but perpetually strapped-for-cash guy she's dating (no commitments – really).
So when Ed, Britain's wealthiest but stodgiest bachelor, enters the picture, her idea of the fairy tale romance is turned on its head. Mr. Maybe is the tale of her heartfelt but hilarious deliberation, irresistibly chronicled by bestselling author Jane Green.
On one hand, Nick makes up for his low bank-account balance by his performance in the sack, or in the bathtub, as the case may be. But life with him means little more than nightly trips to the bar, a dark and grungy apartment, and plenty of dull political tirades to boot. But those blue eyes, and that tender heart...
On the other hand, there's Ed, whose luxurious house and gargantuan bank account are quite tempting to the starving Libby. But his unsavory mustache and bumbling ways make Libby wonder if the platinum AMEX and unlimited "retail therapy" are worth it. He may have fallen in love with her at first sight, but nothing seems to solve his lackluster performance in the sack – even speed reading The Joy of Sex.
When the diamond shopping commences, Libby is forced to realize that the time for "maybe" is up. Taking romantic comedy to a hip, sparkling new level, Mr. Maybe is a classic tale of what happens to one girl when her heart and her head aren't looking for the same thing. With a laugh a minute and a heroine whose struggles in the dating jungle will remind you of your own, Mr. Maybe is a story that will leave you smitten.
Sunset at Blandings is the final, unfinished novel by the beloved author P.G. Wodehouse. Although Wodehouse passed away before completing this work, it remains a delightful installment in the Blandings Castle series.
The novel follows the familiar Blandings formula: a pretty niece is brought to the castle to be separated from her suitor. The suitor, using an assumed name, infiltrates with the help of the ever-resourceful Gally. Meanwhile, the hapless Lord Emsworth innocently divulges secrets to an angry sister, creating a web of comic misunderstandings.
Despite its incomplete nature, Sunset at Blandings offers readers a glimpse into Wodehouse's masterful storytelling. His notes provide insight into the intended plot's final stages, allowing fans to imagine the conclusion of this charming tale.
Even in his final years, Wodehouse's writing remained funny, fresh, and young at heart, filled with sunshine and the promise of love.
Miss Pettigrew, an approaching-middle-age governess, was accustomed to a household of unruly English children. When her employment agency sends her to the wrong address, her life takes an unexpected turn. The alluring nightclub singer, Delysia LaFosse, becomes her new employer, and Miss Pettigrew encounters a kind of glamour that she had only met before at the movies.
Over the course of a single day, both women are changed forever. It's a story of transformation, unexpected friendship, and the magic of stepping out of one's comfort zone.
Better than Life is a wild and wacky science fiction novel that continues the adventures of the beloved Red Dwarf crew. Inspired by the popular BBC-TV series, this book is reminiscent of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The story follows Lister, who finds himself in a peculiar predicament. After passing out drunk in London, he awakens in a locker on a moon of Saturn. Now, Lister is trapped in a computer game that transports players to the perfect world of their imaginations. However, this is no ordinary game; it’s a game people are literally dying to play.
Join Lister, Rimmer, Kryten, Holly, and the Cat as they navigate through this addictive virtual reality called Better Than Life. Each character experiences their own version of paradise: Lister lives in a replica of Bedford Falls from It's a Wonderful Life, Rimmer is married to a supermodel, and the Cat lives in Denmark in a palace surrounded by a moat of milk. Life's good on Earth. Or is it?
To escape this perilous paradise, the crew must face the ultimate challenge: they have to want to leave. This book promises a journey through frontal-lobe knotting realities where none dare venture but the bravest of the brave, the boldest of the bold, and the feeblest of the feeble-minded.
The first lesson Lister learned about space travel was you should never try it. But Lister didn't have a choice. All he remembered was going on a birthday celebration pub crawl through London. When he came to his senses again, with nothing in his pockets but a passport in the name of Emily Berkenstein.
So he did the only thing he could. Amazed to discover they would actually hire him, he joined the space corps—and found himself aboard Red Dwarf, a spaceship as big as a small city that, six or seven years from now, would get him back to Earth.
What Lister couldn't foresee was that he'd inadvertently signed up for a one-way jaunt three million years into the future—a future which would see him the last living member of the human race, with only a hologram crew mate and a highly evolved cat for company. Of course, that was before the ship broke the light barrier and things began to get really weird...
Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym's richest and most amusing high comedies. At its center is Mildred Lathbury, a clergyman’s daughter and a mild-mannered spinster in 1950s England. She is one of those "excellent women," the smart, supportive, repressed women who men take for granted.
As Mildred gets embroiled in the lives of her new neighbors—anthropologist Helena Napier and her handsome, dashing husband, Rocky, and Julian Malory, the vicar next door—the novel presents a series of snapshots of human life as actually, and pluckily, lived in a vanishing world of manners and repressed desires.
This hilarious comedy of manners by the shrewdly observant British novelist is often compared to Jane Austen, offering a poignant and witty exploration of post-war England.
One of the most well-loved and best-selling British humor titles of all time.
"Canute began by being a Bad King on the advice of his Courtiers, who informed him (owing to a misunderstanding of the Rule Britannia) that the King of England was entitled to sit on the sea without getting wet."
This humorous "history" is a book that has itself become part of the UK's history. The authors made the claim that "All the History you can remember is in the Book," and, for most Brits, they were probably right. But it is their own unique interpretation of events that has made the book a classic; an uproarious satire on textbook history and a population's confused recollections of it.
Witch Week tells the story of a world where witches exist, and the law dictates that all witches must be burned at the stake. The narrative unfolds in an English boarding school, where an anonymous note warns, "Someone in this class is a witch." This revelation causes a stir among the students of class 6B, especially a boy who has just discovered his ability to cast spells and a girl with a name reminiscent of a famous witch.
The story features the charming enchanter Chrestomanci, who also appears in other beloved works such as Charmed Life, The Magicians of Caprona, and The Lives of Christopher Chant. As the students scramble to identify the witch among them, alliances form and tensions rise, leading to magical mishaps and unexpected discoveries.
In this world of enchantment and danger, the students must navigate their fears and friendships to uncover the truth. Will they find the witch before it's too late, or will their society's harsh laws catch up with them?
Nancy Mitford's most famous novels, The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, offer a delightful satire of the British aristocracy during the 1920s and 1930s. These stories follow the amorous adventures of the Radletts, a family known for their exuberant and unconventional lifestyle, which Mitford closely modeled on her own family experiences.
Through the lens of romantic escapades and family dramas, Mitford skillfully critiques the snobbery and false values of the English country nobility. This classic work is a must-read for those who appreciate satirical sagas and timeless tales of love and society.
Apart from breaking two of my mates' noses (one in the ring and one chasing a 'runner'), I used to be known for my stories. And they were all true. I'd come back from distant shores and speak of my adventures. So much so in fact that people used to say, "You should write a book."
My diatribes in my blogs and newspaper columns are simply my way of spinning the balls, because sometimes I like to see what number they land on. That’s all. But although I’m known mostly as a raconteur—and most of my books can be described as coming from the humourist vein—in ‘Nobody Asked Me’ I touch on some subjects that are surely going to upset a few people.
I’ve never quite understood the politically correct brigade. Hardly any subject is taboo to the Englishman when he’s laughing. No longer simply a fad, blogging is now an important new literary innovation. This book is not a story, and if you’re looking for a book that is all sweetness and light, please give this one a miss. It’s not for you. I won’t be offended and I honestly wish you a great life.
If everyone likes me, then I’m not being controversial enough—and trust me when I say that in this book I get controversial. Oh, don’t worry; the humour that my fans seem to enjoy so much is still there, but right now the planet’s spinning in new and scary directions, and this needs to be addressed. So inside the covers of this book I take a look at some of the challenges we’re currently facing. And some of my opinions are going to rattle a few people.
So is a comedy writer honestly the best one to challenge some of the perceptions we’re facing nowadays? Well, I’ve always believed that if you can make people laugh then they tend to listen to what you say when you’re serious. And my goal, my life’s ambition if you like, is to give direction to comedy, purpose to satire.
So why the rabbit popping out of a tin of soup on the cover? Well ‘Rabbit & Pork’ is Cockney rhyming slang for Talk, and on more than one occasion I’ve been accused of rabbiting away excessively—mostly at parties, and generally by my wife.
But why a tin of soup? Well, I tend to believe that everyone is born perfect. Nobody is born with an inherent capacity to hate. It has to be taught. All of our experiences—family, school, work, the books we read, the newspapers we peruse, the music we listen to, our friends, our social life, the opinions of those around us, religion, sports we play or watch, those we love and those who love us, those we desire and those who desire us, those we travel with, our hopes and dreams and ambitions and achievements, our triumphs and disasters—go into a metaphorical cooking pot that we carry with us throughout our lives. All these ‘ingredients’ make up our Soup of Life.
Now, when making a soup, once you’ve added an ingredient, it’s forever blended in and you can’t take it out again. You add a sprinkling of finely chopped garnish; cumin or oregano, and you can never take that ingredient out again. Never, ever, ever. So say at the age of six you add black pepper or rosemary or hatred or love or comedy, from then onwards it’ll always be part and parcel of your ‘soup.’ And as you add more ingredients the ‘recipe’ of your life evolves, and before you know it you can’t taste the coriander or the love any more, but it’s still there at a deep subliminal level. Remember that. Some people may not add hatred until they’re in their twenties, and most of us never add it at all.