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Good for a Girl: My Life Running in a Man's World
by Lauren Fleshman'Women's sports have needed a manifesto for a long time. With Good for a Girl we finally have one' Malcolm Gladwell 'The invitation to have a long overdue conversation for a long overdue cultural shift' Alysia Montaño, Olympian, co-founder of &Mother, and author of Feel-Good Fitness 'This is the book we've been waiting for' Kate Fagan, author of What Made Maddy RunLauren Fleshman has grown up in the world of running. One of the most decorated collegiate athletes of all time and a national champion as a pro, she was a major face of women's running for Nike before leaving to shake up the industry with feminist running brand Oiselle and coach elite young female runners. Every step of the way, she has seen how our sports systems - originally designed by men, for men and boys - fail young women and girls as much as empower them. Girls drop out of sports at alarming rates once they hit puberty, and female collegiate athletes routinely fall victim to injury, eating disorders or mental health struggles as they try to force their way past a natural dip in performance for women of their age.Part memoir, part manifesto, Good for a Girl is Fleshman's story of falling in love with running as a girl, battling devastating injuries and self-doubt, and daring to fight for a better way for female athletes. Long gone are the days when women and girls felt lucky just to participate; Fleshman and women everywhere are waking up to the reality that they're running, playing and competing in a world that wasn't made for them. Drawing not only on her own story but also on emerging research on the physiology and psychology of young athletes of any gender, Fleshman gives voice to the often-silent experience of the female athlete and argues that the time has come to rebuild our systems of competitive sport with women at their centre.Written with heart and verve, Good for a Girl is a joyful love letter to the running life, a raw personal narrative of growth and change, and a vital call to reimagine sports for young women.
The Growing Summer
by Noel StreatfeildBY THE AUTHOR OF BALLET SHOESwith beautiful illustrations by Edward Ardizzone'A joyous, sunlight book. For me, the best Noel Streatfeild of all' HILARY MCKAY'"You have a whole wing of the house to yourselves. The glorious world outside to play in. All that the earth brings forth to feed you, and you stand there asking foolish questions until my head reels. Help yourselves, children, help yourselves." Then, flapping her cloak as if to shoo off a clutter of chickens, Great Aunt Dymphna was gone.' Summer will be different for the Gareth children this year. Their father, an epidemiologist, is ill abroad, and their mother must go to help him. So Alex, Penny, Naomi and Robin are sent to Ireland to stay with an eccentric distant relative.Great Aunt Dymphna is like nobody they've ever met. She lives in a ramshackle house, quotes swathes of poetry and flits about like a great bat. And, to the children's consternation, she expects them to fend for themselves. Despite tears and many mishaps, they learn something new every day, and living with Great Aunt Dymphna becomes an adventure.
The Growing Summer (Virago Modern Classics #804)
by Noel StreatfeildBY THE AUTHOR OF BALLET SHOESwith beautiful illustrations by Edward Ardizzone'A joyous, sunlight book. For me, the best Noel Streatfeild of all' HILARY MCKAY'"You have a whole wing of the house to yourselves. The glorious world outside to play in. All that the earth brings forth to feed you, and you stand there asking foolish questions until my head reels. Help yourselves, children, help yourselves." Then, flapping her cloak as if to shoo off a clutter of chickens, Great Aunt Dymphna was gone.' Summer will be different for the Gareth children this year. Their father, an epidemiologist, is ill abroad, and their mother must go to help him. So Alex, Penny, Naomi and Robin are sent to Ireland to stay with an eccentric distant relative.Great Aunt Dymphna is like nobody they've ever met. She lives in a ramshackle house, quotes swathes of poetry and flits about like a great bat. And, to the children's consternation, she expects them to fend for themselves. Despite tears and many mishaps, they learn something new every day, and living with Great Aunt Dymphna becomes an adventure.
Phoenix Fled (Virago Modern Classics #806)
by Attia Hosain'There is so much to love and admire in these stories - their understanding of heartbreak, their attention to affection and love across many divides' KAMILA SHAMSIE'Listen to me, child. You will be a woman soon and must behave well and with modesty. The Kazi will ask you three times whether you will marry Kalloo Mian. Now don't you be shameless, like these modern girls, and shout gleefully "Yes". Be modest and cry softly and say "Hoon".'A marriage is arranged between a little servant girl and a middle-aged cook with an opium habit; an idealistic political worker faces disillusionment; a man returns from years studying in England to a wife he scarcely knows; a conventional bride has her first encounter with her husband's 'emancipated' friends.Telling of the lives of servants and children, of conflict between the old traditions and new ways, and exploring the human repercussions of the Muslim/Hindu divide, these twelve stories present a moving and vivid picture of life in India in the mid-twentieth century. To each episode Attia Hosain brings a superb imaginative understanding and a sense of the poignancy of the smallest of human dramas. Attia Hosain published only two books, but her writing has influenced generations of writers. Discover Sunlight on a Broken Column, Hosain's acclaimed only novel - a coming-of-age story set against the turbulent background of Partition, also published in Virago Modern Classics.
Sunlight on a Broken Column (Virago Modern Classics #805)
by Attia HosainSunlight on a Broken Column, first published in 1961, is an unforgettable coming-of-age story set against the turbulent background of Partition.'The deftness with which Attia Hosain handles the interplay of manners, class, culture and different forms of female power is gorgeously done . . . Laila is such a remarkable heroine - sharp, spirited and passionate' - KAMILA SHAMSIE'An extraordinary novel, with an extraordinary heroine. Laila - even from the confines of the women's quarters - is a sharp observer of the tumultuous politics, and the cultural, racial, and religious conflicts of the dying days of the Raj. There is such richness here, waiting to be rediscovered. And readers will fall in love with Laila' MONICA ALI'My life changed. It had been restricted by invisible barriers almost as effectively as the physically restricted lives of my aunts in the zenana. A window had opened here, a door there, a curtain had been drawn aside; but outside lay a world narrowed by one's field of vision'Laila, orphaned daughter of a distinguished Muslim family, is brought up in her grandfather's traditional household by her aunts, who keep purdah. At fifteen she moves to the home of her 'liberal' but autocratic uncle in Lucknow. As the struggle for Independence sharpens, Laila is surrounded by relatives and university friends caught up in politics, but she is unable to commit herself to any cause: her own fight for independence is a struggle against tradition. With its stunning evocation of India, its political insight and unsentimental understanding of the human heart, Sunlight on a Broken Column is a classic of Muslim life.Attia Hosain published only two books, but her writing has influenced generations of writers. Discover Phoenix Fled, Hosain's acclaimed short-story collection, also published in Virago Modern Classics.
Behind Closed Doors: Why We Break Up Families – and How to Mend Them
by Polly Curtis'BRILLIANT . . . I LOVE THIS BOOK' LEMN SISSAY'A MUST-READ BOOK' JACQUELINE WILSON'EXTRAORDINARY' OLIVER BULLOUGH'EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK' HILARY COTTAMMeet the mother whose children were taken away, and the father who fought for his son. Listen to the radical social worker, the judge, the lawyer. See inside the homes of foster carers, adoptive parents and children in care. Because behind closed doors, a scandal is ongoing.We now remove more children from their parents than ever before, more than any other western country. Not because of a rise in physical or sexual abuse, but because of complex factors that are overlooked and misunderstood.Children's Care is a system where fathers are ignored, and mothers are punished for experiencing abuse. Rife with prejudices about race, ableism and class, determined by a postcode lottery. Blind to poverty and its effects on family life. And, at its very worst, an exercise in social engineering that can never replace parental love.This is not a soft issue. Not a 'women and children' problem. It is a prism through which we can understand the deepest issues at play in politics, economics and society today, and it is happening behind closed doors. Because of legal restrictions against reporting in family courts, the uneasy work of social care and the shame poured on parents, these problems remain out of our sight. They are the subject of horror headlines or stale statistics. But family life is at the heart of who we are as people, and it is they who can help us understand. From North to South, rich and poor, Black and white, these are the people who know, first-hand, what is going wrong - and how we can fix it.These are their stories.'IMPORTANT' IAN BIRRELL'VITAL' HANNAH JANE PARKINSON'ONE OF BRITAIN'S BEST JOURNALISTS WRITING ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE' MARIANA MAZZUCATO
Behind Closed Doors: Why We Break Up Families – and How to Mend Them
by Polly Curtis'BRILLIANT . . . I LOVE THIS BOOK' LEMN SISSAY'A MUST-READ BOOK' JACQUELINE WILSON'EXTRAORDINARY' OLIVER BULLOUGH'EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK' HILARY COTTAMMeet the mother whose children were taken away, and the father who fought for his son. Listen to the radical social worker, the judge, the lawyer. See inside the homes of foster carers, adoptive parents and children in care. Because behind closed doors, a scandal is ongoing.We now remove more children from their parents than ever before, more than any other western country. Not because of a rise in physical or sexual abuse, but because of complex factors that are overlooked and misunderstood.Children's Care is a system where fathers are ignored, and mothers are punished for experiencing abuse. Rife with prejudices about race, ableism and class, determined by a postcode lottery. Blind to poverty and its effects on family life. And, at its very worst, an exercise in social engineering that can never replace parental love.This is not a soft issue. Not a 'women and children' problem. It is a prism through which we can understand the deepest issues at play in politics, economics and society today, and it is happening behind closed doors. Because of legal restrictions against reporting in family courts, the uneasy work of social care and the shame poured on parents, these problems remain out of our sight. They are the subject of horror headlines or stale statistics. But family life is at the heart of who we are as people, and it is they who can help us understand. From North to South, rich and poor, Black and white, these are the people who know, first-hand, what is going wrong - and how we can fix it.These are their stories.'IMPORTANT' IAN BIRRELL'VITAL' HANNAH JANE PARKINSON'ONE OF BRITAIN'S BEST JOURNALISTS WRITING ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE' MARIANA MAZZUCATO
Everyone's a Critic: How we can learn to be kind to ourselves
by Julia BuenoDo you beat yourself up after making a mistake? Do you treat yourself worse than you would a good friend?If these questions strike a chord, it's likely that you contend with unhealthy self-criticism. This mental habit is the cause of so much emotional suffering, and lies at the root of most of the problems that psychotherapists and counsellors encounter.In Everyone's a Critic, psychotherapist Julia Bueno shares seven case studies, inspired by her practice. They explore some of the reasons why we learn to turn against ourselves, encourage readers to be more curious about their self-critic, and inspire a practice of greater self-compassion instead.Praise for Everyone's a Critic:'Julia Bueno explores such an important topic, and one that holds so many people back: our inner critic. This book discusses where it may come from and, through case studies, how we can rewrite the script. Gently enquiring, authoritative and reassuring.' Annalisa Barbieri, Guardian'A quiet revelation: an investigation into the lacerating self-criticism many of us unleash upon ourselves without even being aware of it. One thinks, feels and learns. A compelling and important book.' Hannah Betts]'This is most certainly not a self-help book to beat yourself up with. Julia Bueno explains how self-criticism affects many of us and digs far deeper than the usual social-media-blaming... It's an important, timely book that many will benefit from reading and acting upon.' Louise Chunn, founder of therapist-matching site Welldoing'If you've ever felt that little voice - or a very loud one - at the back of your mind telling you you're no good, Julia Bueno's book is the ideal way to answer back.' Harry Mount, editor of the Oldie
Where Are You From? No, Where are You Really From?
by Audrey OslerA story of migration, identity and belonging, drawing on the stories of people from Audrey Osler's mixed-heritage family, over three centuries. Whether or not we trace our families from beyond the shores of Britain, we British people deserve a better understanding of our shared past, and opportunities to explore and recognise the complexities and contractions of empire. Careless or wilful amnesia has allowed the British migration narrative to begin in the mid-twentieth century, with migrants from India, Pakistan and the Caribbean forming the foundation of present-day multicultural Britain. A racist fixation means that some twenty-first-century Britons fantasise that people of colour arrived after World War Two, without any link to the country, to exploit the British welfare state and British hospitality.For people of colour the questions: Where are you from? No, where are you really from? often imply more than simple curiosity. They are political questions of identity, since the assumption (naive or aggressive) is that to be British and to belong you must be white. Says Audrey Osler: 'The British Empire frames and shapes my family's history. Whether born in Britain, like me or my father, or in some other distant British territory, like my mother, we all continue to experience the legacy of this same empire and the impact of its ambitions, politics, and economics. My family story, back to the eighteenth century, across every generation, is one of migration in different directions, over four centuries, journeys prompted by war, study, a global economic crisis, a fresh start, love, and even child abduction. The stories I tell here reveal as much about Britain as they do about the countries of the British Empire. This is not just my history, it elucidates the largely untold history of a nation and of its citizens, both people of colour and white.'
Where Are You From? No, Where are You Really From?
by Audrey OslerA story of migration, identity and belonging, drawing on the stories of people from Audrey Osler's mixed-heritage family, over three centuries. Whether or not we trace our families from beyond the shores of Britain, we British people deserve a better understanding of our shared past, and opportunities to explore and recognise the complexities and contractions of empire. Careless or wilful amnesia has allowed the British migration narrative to begin in the mid-twentieth century, with migrants from India, Pakistan and the Caribbean forming the foundation of present-day multicultural Britain. A racist fixation means that some twenty-first-century Britons fantasise that people of colour arrived after World War Two, without any link to the country, to exploit the British welfare state and British hospitality.For people of colour the questions, Where are you from? No, where are you really from? often imply more than simple curiosity. They are political questions of identity, since the assumption (naive or aggressive) is that to be British and to belong you must be white. Says Audrey Osler: 'The British Empire frames and shapes my family's history. Whether born in Britain, like me or my father, or in some other distant British territory, like my mother, we all continue to experience the legacy of this same empire and the impact of its ambitions, politics, and economics. My family story, back to the eighteenth century, across every generation, is one of migration in different directions, over four centuries, journeys prompted by war, study, a global economic crisis, a fresh start, love, and even child abduction. The stories I tell here reveal as much about Britain as they do about the countries of the British Empire. This is not just my history, it elucidates the largely untold history of a nation and of its citizens, both people of colour and white.'
Will She Do?: Act One of a Life on Stage (Eileen Atkins)
by Eileen Atkins'She is the cur's cods, the terrier's testicles, the business. I will go farther and declare that Atkins is the finest actor appearing in the world right now' - A. A. GillWill She Do? is the story of a girl from a council estate in Tottenham, born in 1934 to an electric-meter reader and a seamstress, who was determined to be an actress. Candid and witty, this memoir takes her from her awkward performances in working-men's clubs at six years of age as dancing 'Baby Eileen', through the war years in London, to her breakthrough at thirty-two on Broadway with The Killing of Sister George, for which she received the first of four Tony Award nominations. She co-created Upstairs, Downstairs and wrote the screenplay for Mrs Dalloway (for which she won an Evening Standard Award) and at aged eighty-six, this is her first autobiographical work. Characterised by an eye for the absurd, a terrific knack for storytelling and an insistence on honesty, Will She Do? is a wonderful raconteur's tale about family, about class, about youthful ambition and big dreams and what really goes on behind the scenes. Made a Dame in 1991, Eileen Atkins has been on American and British stage and screen since 1957 and has won an Emmy, a BAFTA and is a three-time Olivier Award winner; her theatre performances include The Height of the Storm, Ellen Terry, All that Fall and she has appeared in television and films ranging from Doc Martin to Cranford to The Crown.
Will She Do?: Act One of a Life on Stage (Eileen Atkins)
by Eileen Atkins'She is the cur's cods, the terrier's testicles, the business. I will go farther and declare that Atkins is the finest actor appearing in the world right now' A. A. GillWill She Do? is the story of a girl from a council estate in Tottenham, born in 1934 to an electric-meter reader and a seamstress, who was determined to be an actress.Candid and witty, this memoir takes her from her awkward performances in working-men's clubs at six years of age as dancing 'Baby Eileen', through the war years in London, to her breakthrough at thirty-two on Broadway with The Killing of Sister George, for which she received the first of four Tony Award nominations. She co-created Upstairs, Downstairs and wrote the screenplay for Mrs Dalloway (for which she won an Evening Standard Award) and at aged eighty-six, this is her first autobiographical work.Characterised by an eye for the absurd, a terrific knack for storytelling and an insistence on honesty, Will She Do? is a wonderful raconteur's tale about family, class, youthful ambition, big dreams and what really goes on behind the scenes.Made a Dame in 1991, Eileen Atkins has been on American and British stage and screen since 1957 and has won an Emmy, a BAFTA and is a three-time Olivier Award winner. Her theatre performances include The Height of the Storm, Ellen Terry, All that Fall and she has appeared in television and films ranging from Doc Martin to Cranford to The Crown.
Transit (Virago Modern Classics #807)
by Anna SeghersINTRODUCED BY STUART EVERS: 'A genuine, fully fledged masterpiece of the twentieth century; one that remains just as terrifyingly relevant and truthful in the twenty-first'An existential, political, literary thriller first published in 1944, Transit explores the plight of the refugee with extraordinary compassion and insight. Having escaped from a Nazi concentration camp in Germany and a work camp in Rouen, the nameless narrator finds himself in the dusty seaport of Marseille. Along the way he was asked to deliver a letter to Weidel, a writer in Paris whom he discovered had killed himself as the Nazis entered the city. Now he is in search of the dead man's wife. He carries Weidel's suitcase, which contains an unfinished novel - and a letter securing Weidel a visa to escape France.Assuming the name Seidler - though the authorities think he is in fact Weidel - he goes from cafe to cafe looking for Marie, who is in turn anxiously searching for her husband. As Seidler converses with refugees over pizza and wine, their stories gradually break down his ennui, bringing him a deeper awareness of the transitory world they inhabit as they wait and wait for that most precious of possessions: transit papers.'This novel, completed in 1942, is in my opinion the most beautiful Seghers has written . . . almost flawless' - Heinrich Boll
Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman's astonishing life of seduction, intrigue and power
by Sonia PurnellAn electrifying re-examination of one of the twentieth century's greatest unsung power players, from the bestselling author of A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE'Superb and fascinating. I can't recommend it more' LADY ANNE GLENCONNER, bestselling author of Lady in Waiting'Fascinating and revelatory, written with great aplomb, insight and shrewd analysis. A triumph' WILLIAM BOYD'An incredible story, beautifully told, of a remarkable woman whose political influence spanned Churchill to Clinton. Quite a woman, quite a read' ALASTAIR CAMPBELLWhen Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were scathing - and often downright sexist. Written off as a social climber, her glamorous social life and infamous erotic adventures overshadowed her true legacy. Much of what she did behind the scenes to shape the twentieth century, on both sides of the Atlantic, remained invisible. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how Harriman left an indelible mark on the world today.There is practically no-one in twentieth-century politics, culture and fashion whose lives she did not touch. Her influence began at age twenty, when her father-in-law, Winston Churchill, engaged her as a "secret weapon" during World War II, wining, dining and seducing Americans over to the British cause against Hitler. It continued later in the US, where she hand-picked Bill Clinton from obscurity and vaulted him to the presidency. It extended further, over five decades and two continents, influencing figures like the Kennedys, Nelson Mandela, Truman Capote, Gianni Agnelli, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem and Frank Sinatra.Written with the novelistic richness and investigative rigour that only Sonia Purnell could bring to this story full of sex, power, yachts, palaces and fabulous clothes, Kingmaker sets out Harriman's rightful place at the heart of recent history.****'Purnell has made a statement by giving Harriman the Big Life treatment. In Purnell's hands, Kingmaker becomes a study of the limited means of influence available to ambitious women of Harriman's generation' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Purnell's research is impeccable' SPECTATOR'Sympathetic, well-researched, busily peopled' OBSERVER BOOK OF THE DAY'Riveting and revelatory' THE NEW YORKER
Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman's astonishing life of seduction, intrigue and power
by Sonia PurnellAn electrifying re-examination of one of the twentieth century's greatest unsung power players, from the bestselling author of A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE'Superb and fascinating. I can't recommend it more' LADY ANNE GLENCONNER, bestselling author of Lady in Waiting'Fascinating and revelatory, written with great aplomb, insight and shrewd analysis. A triumph' WILLIAM BOYD'Refreshing and timely; meticulously researched; highly readable ... Pamela, in Purnell's deft hands, blossoms into a fascinating subject' FINANCIAL TIMES'An incredible story, beautifully told, of a remarkable woman whose political influence spanned Churchill to Clinton. Quite a woman, quite a read' ALASTAIR CAMPBELLWhen Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were scathing - and often downright sexist. Written off as a social climber, her glamorous social life and infamous erotic adventures overshadowed her true legacy. Much of what she did behind the scenes to shape the twentieth century, on both sides of the Atlantic, remained invisible. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how Harriman left an indelible mark on the world today.There is practically no-one in twentieth-century politics, culture and fashion whose lives she did not touch. Her influence began at age twenty, when her father-in-law, Winston Churchill, engaged her as a "secret weapon" during World War II, wining, dining and seducing Americans over to the British cause against Hitler. It continued later in the US, where she hand-picked Bill Clinton from obscurity and vaulted him to the presidency. It extended further, over five decades and two continents, influencing figures like the Kennedys, Nelson Mandela, Truman Capote, Gianni Agnelli, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem and Frank Sinatra.Written with the novelistic richness and investigative rigour that only Sonia Purnell could bring to this story full of sex, power, yachts, palaces and fabulous clothes, Kingmaker sets out Harriman's rightful place at the heart of recent history.****'In Purnell's hands, Kingmaker becomes a study of the limited means of influence available to ambitious women of Harriman's generation' DAILY TELEGRAPH'A thorough account of Harriman's rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read ... Riveting and revelatory' THE NEW YORKER'Purnell's research is impeccable' SPECTATOR'It might be said now that this woman with many high-profile lovers was "slut-shamed," and that her high "body count" is, while relevant to her accomplishments, no more deserving of negative judgment than that of her prominent male partners ... Purnell seeks nobly to highlight Harriman's involvement in public as well as private affairs' NEW YORK TIMES'Sympathetic, well-researched, busily peopled' OBSERVER BOOK OF THE DAY
Under a Dark Angel's Eye: The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith
by Patricia HighsmithBy the bestselling author of The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol and Strangers on a Train* 'By opening this book, you've given Patricia Highsmith permission to follow you, catch you, take you apart. Get ready to run' CARMEN MARIA MACHADO* 'Every story shimmers like a dark gem as Highsmith turns her gimlet eye on domesticity, suburban madness, toxic families and the loneliness of childhood. Often mordantly funny and always psychologically acute, this collection is not to be missed' MEGAN ABBOTT* 'The sheer macabre, amoral brilliance of Patricia Highsmith surely makes her one of the finest writers in the English language' RICHARD OSMANINTRODUCED BY CARMEN MARIA MACHADOPatricia Highsmith was one of the great twentieth-century novelists, celebrated for classics The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol and Strangers on a Train, but she was also a masterful and prolific short-story writer. This definitive new collection, featuring two stories that have never been published before, confirms Highsmith as a genius of the genre. Peerlessly disturbing, exhilarating and savagely funny, Highsmith's stories still have the power to startle, presenting a world that is frighteningly familiar and as relevant today as when they were written.* Includes two newly discovered stories* This is the only volume of Highsmith's stories to select from a lifetime of short-story writing
Golem Girl: A Memoir - 'A hymn to life, love, family, and spirit' DAVID MITCHELL
by Riva Lehrer'A hymn to life, love, family, and spirit' DAVID MITCHELL, author of Cloud AtlasThe vividly told, gloriously illustrated memoir of an artist born with disabilities who searches for freedom and connection in a society afraid of strange bodies.***WINNER OF THE BARBELLION PRIZE***In 1958, amongst the children born with spina bifida is Riva Lehrer. She endures endless medical procedures and is told she will never have a job, a romantic relationship or an independent life. But everything changes when as an adult Riva is invited to join a group of artists, writers, and performers who are building Disability Culture. Their work is daring, edgy, funny, and dark, and it rejects tropes that define disabled people as pathetic, frightening or worthless, instead insisting that disability is an opportunity for creativity and resistance. Riva begins to paint their portraits - and her art begins to transform the myths she's been told her whole life about her body, her sexuality, and other measures of normal.'A brilliant book, full of strangeness, beauty, and wonder' Audrey Niffenegger'Wonderful. An ode to art and the beauty of disability' Cerrie Burnell'Stunning' Alison Bechdel***SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD***
I'm Still Here: 'A leading new voice on racial justice' LAYLA SAAD, author of ME AND WHITE SUPREMACY
by Austin Channing Brown'A leading new voice on racial justice' LAYLA SAAD, author of ME AND WHITE SUPREMACYA REESE'S BOOK CLUB X HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK PICK * THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThis book is my story about growing up in a Black girl's body. It's about surviving in a world not made for me. Austin Channing Brown's first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, 'I had to learn what it means to love Blackness,' a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America's racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert helping organisations practice genuine inclusion. In a time when nearly every institution (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claims to value diversity in its mission statement, Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice. Her stories bear witness to the complexity of America's social fabric and invite the reader to confront apathy, recognise God's ongoing work in the world and discover how Blackness-if we let it-can save us all.'An example of how one woman can change the world by telling the truth about her life with unflinching, relentless courage' GLENNON DOYLE, author of UNTAMED'Most people say, "that books has legs"; I measure the impact of a book by how often I throw it across the room. [Austin's book] has serious wings. It broke me open' BRENE BROWN
Chouette
by Claire Oshetsky* 'A marvel' Rumaan Alam * 'Stunning' Claire Lombardo * 'Hypnotic' Catherine Cho * 'Breathtaking' Rachel Yoder *A FIERCE, DARK FABLE ABOUT MOTHERHOOD THAT WILL GRIP YOU IN ITS TALONS AND NEVER LET GOTiny is pregnant. Her husband is delighted. 'It's not yours,' she tells him. 'This baby will be an owl-baby.' Tiny's always been an outsider, and she knows her child will be different.When Chouette is born, Tiny's husband and family are devastated by her condition and strange appearance. Doctors tell them to expect the worst. Chouette won't learn to walk; she never speaks; she lashes out when frightened and causes chaos in public. Tiny's husband wants to make her better: 'Don't you want our daughter to have a normal life?' But Tiny thinks Chouette is perfect the way she is.As Tiny and her husband fight over what's right for their child, Chouette herself is growing. In her fierce self-possession, her untameable will, she teaches Tiny to break free of expectations - no matter what it takes.Savage, startling, possessed of a biting humour and wild love, Chouette is a dark modern fable about mothering an unusual child. It will grip you in its talons and never let go.
Soundings: Journeying North in the Company of Whales - the award-winning memoir
by Doreen Cunningham'Beautiful . . . Justifies its place alongside nature writing classics such as H is for Hawk' NEW STATESMAN'Wonderful ... both frank and fearless' TELEGRAPH BEST TRAVEL BOOKS OF THE YEAR'Fascinating' GUARDIAN TOP TEN NATURE MEMOIRSFrom Mexico to the Arctic ice, grey whale mothers swim with their calves. Following them, by bus, train and ferry, are Doreen and her toddler Max, in pursuit of a wild hope.Doreen first visited Alaska as a young BBC journalist reporting on climate change among indigenous whaling communities. There, drawn deeply into an Iñupiaq family and an ill-fated love affair, she joined the bowhead whale hunt out on the sea ice.Years later, now a single mother living in a hostel, Doreen embarks on this extraordinary journey: following the grey whale migration back to the Arctic, where greys and bowheads meet at the melting apex of our planet.'As compelling as any novel... A human story of resilience, loss and immense bravery. It becomes not just a book about mother and son, whales, the climate, but a book about power and what happens when power is abused. It is a rallying call for love' Alice Kinsella, IRISH TIMES'In this melodic memoir, the climate researcher turned journalist parallels the whales' journey with her own through parenthood' ShreyaChattopadhyay, NEW YORK TIMES'Soundings got under my skin. I finished it in tears' AMY LIPTROT'What a voice! What a book!' CHARLES FOSTER'Soulful, honest, insightful, humane and propulsive' JINI REDDY 'Thrilling, passionate and tender-hearted' HELEN JUKES WINNER OF THE RSL GILES ST AUBYN AWARDLONGLISTED FOR THE SNHN NATURAL HISTORY BOOK PRIZEONE OF SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE'S TEN BEST BOOKS ABOUT TRAVEL OF 2022
Our Red Book: Intimate Conversations about Periods
by Rachel Kauder NalebuffA Scottish MP celebrates making period products freely available. A father admits embarrassment at buying pads for his daughter. A Jewish grandmother describes getting her first period in front of Nazi soldiers. A trans woman, a trans man and a non-binary person share their stories. And a marathon runner makes crimson waves.From the first red flag to the last goodbye, from Indigenous rites to medical frontiers, from miscarriages to menopause, from pain to pride, from 'free bleeding' in public to bleeding behind bars - the underwear, the oversight, period poverty and protests - Our Red Book takes us to every corner of the globe and every voice yet unheard.Featuring contributions from Gloria Steinem, Judy Blume, Madame Gandhi, and Florence Given, Our Red Book is a collection of oral histories, written and visual testimonies from extraordinary people around the world, gathered especially by the New York Times bestselling editor of My Little Red Book.
Loved and Missed
by Susie Boyt'I was in the story, feeling everything. I cared about every character . . . She writes beautifully. It was a total pleasure' Philippa Perry, author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had ReadSusie Boyt writes with a mordant wit and vivid style which are at their best in Loved and Missed. When your beloved daughter is lost in the fog of addiction and you make off with her baby in order to save the day, can willpower and a daring creative zeal carry you through ? Examining the limits, disappointments and excesses of love in all its forms, this marvellously absorbing novel, full of insight and compassion, delights as much as it disturbs.~'She takes the study of love into uncharted territory and every sentence has its depth and pleasure' Linda Grant 'I am so moved: it carries a huge emotional power... I ache for them all. Poignant, witty, lyrical and perceptive' Joan Bakewell
Hush: 'Shows the push and pull of motherhood...I was absolutely glued to it' Emma Gannon
by Kate MaxwellWhat if the thing you most wanted feels nothing like you expected?A Grazia Hot Debut'A richly textured novel showing the push and pull of motherhood, career identity and what it means to be a woman with multiple sides ... I was absolutely glued to it' Emma Gannon, bestselling author of OliveAfter five exhilarating years in New York, Stevie has a successful career and a glamorous social life. But what she most wants is a baby, an aspiration that feels impossible given that she is single, thirty-eight and living in a tiny apartment in Manhattan, far away from most of her family in England. Determined to become a mother, Stevie returns to London and has a baby on her own. When she gives birth to Ash, she finds motherhood painfully at odds with her former life and her expectations. She begins to wonder if having a child was a mistake - and what she might be willing to do to escape. As she struggles with what her future might hold, revelations from the past change everything she believed about family and love.'A vivid, compelling story about the unspoken truths of motherhood, family and feminine ideals. Tender, unflinching and beautifully evoked' Francesca Hornak, author of The Seven Days of Us'An engaging parable about the ambiguity of modern motherhood, told with warmth and wit' Leah Hazard, bestselling author of Hard Pushed'Maxwell explores uncomfortable but important truths about motherhood brilliantly in her story of a mother falling apart, and piecing herself back together' Julia Bueno, author of The Brink of Being
Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life on the Body in an Unjust Society
by Dr Arline Geronimus'Monumental ' IBRAM X. KENDI'Eloquent, comprehensive and compassionate' LINDA VILLAROSA'Superbly insightful' HARRIET A. WASHINGTONFusing science and social justice, Weathering offers an urgent and necessary exploration of how systemic injustice erodes the health of marginalized people. Renowned public health researcher Dr Arline T. Geronimus coined the term 'weathering' to describe what public health statistics have long evidenced: systemic injustice takes a physical, oftentimes deadly, toll on Black, brown, working class and poor communities. They are disproportionately more likely to suffer from chronic diseases and die at much younger ages than their middle- and upper-class white counterparts. Weathering argues that health and ageing have more to do with how society treats us than how well we take care of ourselves. It reveals what happens to human bodies as they attempt to withstand and overcome the challenges that society leverages at them, and details how this process ravages health. Until now, there has been little discussion about the insidious effects of social injustice on the body. Weathering shifts the paradigm and provides compelling solutions, shining a light on the topic and offering a roadmap for hope.
The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women in Space
by Loren GrushThe remarkable true story of America's first women astronauts'Lifts the curtain on the moment when Neil Armstrong's "one small step for man" expanded to encompass the talent, ambition and perseverance of America's first female astronauts' MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY, bestselling author of Hidden Figures'Strap yourself in for a thrilling ride with genuine American heroes - six women who proved you don't need the right plumbing to have the right stuff!' LYNN SHERR, author of Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots - a group then made up exclusively of men - had the right stuff. It was an era in which women were steered away from jobs in science and deemed too fragile for space flight. Eventually, though, NASA relented and opened the application process to everyone, regardless of race or gender. From a 1977 candidate pool of 8,000 six elite women were selected - Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon. In The Six, acclaimed journalist Loren Grush shows these brilliant and courageous women enduring claustrophobic - and sometimes deeply sexist - media attention, undergoing rigorous survival training, and preparing for years to take multi-million-dollar payloads into orbit. Together, the Six helped build the tools that made the space program run. One of the group, Judy Resnik, sacrificed her life when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded at 46,000 feet. Everyone knows of Sally Ride's history-making first space ride, but each of the Six would make their mark.