While for generations Polly Toynbee’s ancestors have been committed left-wing rabble-rousers railing against injustice, they could never claim to be working class, settling instead for the prosperous life of academia or journalism enjoyed by their own forebears. So where does that leave their ideals of class equality?Through a colourful, entertaining examination of her own family – which in addition to her writer father Philip and her historian grandfather Arnold contains everyone from the Glenconners to Jessica Mitford to Bertrand Russell, and features ancestral home Castle Howard as a backdrop – Toynbee explores the myth of mobility, the guilt of privilege, and asks for a truly honest conversation about class in Britain.
The author skilfully mines his own family stories in this inventive and intriguing blend of historical fiction and archival research which vividly recreates the lives of some of his forebears over the past two hundred years.
Entertaining survey of a variety of seismic, landmark first nights, across a range of performative arts, which explores how individual artists can shape and change the course of our cultural history.
A subtle family saga which begins with the experiences of William Gale in the horror of the Crimean war, in which he is awarded the Victoria Cross, and details the psychological effects on his family down the generations.
A subtle family saga which begins with the experiences of William Gale in the horror of the Crimean war, in which he is awarded the Victoria Cross, and details the psychological effects on his family down the generations.
Skilful depiction of the enduring strengths and ongoing faultlines in the friendship between Maryan and Zahra, from their girlhood secrets and skirmishes in Karachi to their present day professional lives in London.
Maryam and Zahra. In 1988 Karachi, two fourteen-year-old girls are a decade into their friendship, sharing in-jokes, secrets and a love for George Michael. As Pakistan’s dictatorship falls and a woman comes to power, the world suddenly seems full of possibilities. Elated by the change in the air, they make a snap decision at a party. That night, everything goes wrong, and the two girls are powerless to change the outcome.
Zahra and Maryam. In present-day London, two influential women remain bound together by loyalties, disloyalties, and the memory of that night, which echoes through the present in unexpected ways. Now both have power; and both have very different ideas of how to wield it… Their friendship has always felt unbreakable; can it be undone by one decision?
A treasure trove of culinary advice and inspiration from experts and traders plus more than 80 new recipes to helpmake the most of their exceptional seasonal produce.
Rich, poignant story of a family living in the Birmingham suburb, which maps the changes in British society over the lasst 75 years – full of gentle nostalgia and sharp, often funny, observation.
George Sand and Frederic Chopin arrive in Mallorca in 1838, hoping for a creative spell in exile, and encounter a restless teenage ghost who falls in love with George. A clever novel about sexuality, music, literature, and inspiration.
