Secondhand Biographies

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORTNUM & MASON DEBUT FOOD BOOK AWARD 2023_______________'A beautiful book: compellingly written, tender and thoughtful' Ruby Tandoh'A warm, incandescent memoir about identity,...

"I was two when the woman I called Mummy told me, 'You came out of another mummy's tummy.' I grew up thinking that my birth mother didn't want me. I...

Stuart just wanted his father to love him, but he was made to believe he was too naughty to be loved. Finally, David Howarth was sent to prison for abusing...

A lot of professors give talks titled 'The Last Lecture'. Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them: What wisdom would we...

Matthew Parris's Parting Shots is a treasure trove of wit, venom and serious analysis.Up till 2006 a British Ambassador leaving his post was encouraged to write what was known as...

Winner at the 2022 Parlimentary Book AwardsBaroness Floella Benjamin is an inspiration, an actress and much-loved children's television presenter who is a member of the House of Lords. But how...

New York Times Bestseller NPR Best Book of 2016 "Sharp and prescient...The appeal of Valenti's memoir lies in her ability to trace objectification through her own life, and to trace...

Frederic Raphael shared his days at Cambridge with us in his bestselling novel Glittering Prizes, now, in this evocative, painfully honest memoir he tells us about the first eighteen years...

Bill Gates, the chairman, chief executive officer and cofounder of the Microsoft corporation, is the principal architect of the "information super-highway" that will shape the future. It will affect everyone...

Critical Acclaim for Jacqueline Bouvier John Davis's intimate memoir of his beloved first cousin "Readers longing for a dignified and elegant approach to Jackie's early years will enjoy this biographical...

Cynthia Kim explores all the quirkyness of living with Asperger Syndrome (ASD) in this accessible, witty and honest guide looking from an insider perspective at some of the most challenging...

Usually when animals are mistreated it's because their owners don't know any better. But there is another kind of cruelty to animals, one that brings delight and satisfaction to its...

The Vanderpump Rules breakout star and provocateur brings her signature sharp wit to the page with this collection of humorous and brutally honest essays exploring her rocky road to fame,...

A searching and at times harrowing re-appraisal of the life of Evel Knievel, the seventies American icon and the greatest daredevil motorcyclist that ever lived. Born in the town of...

In August 2014, Farida Khalaf was just a normal Yazidi girl, living in a village high in the mountains of northern Iraq. Then her village was attacked and swiftly taken...

Born on a Somerset pea-field in 1941, the second of eight children in a Romani family, Maggie Smith-Bendell has lived through the years of greatest change in the travelling community's...

After the pleasure comes the pain. The Sexual Life of Catherine M, Catherine Millet's analysis of the many forms and flavours of sexual pleasure, was internationally admired, and not just...

I checked my balance and peered apprehensively at the sheer drop below. Once I felt comfortable, I radioed down to Stu.'I'm just gonna unclip quickly,' I said.My walkie-talkie crackled straight...

Beyond Market Value chronicles Annette Campbell-White's remarkable life, from a childhood spent in remote mining camps throughout the British Commonwealth, where books created an imaginary home; to her early adulthood...

Vidal Sassoon's extraordinary life has taken him from an impoverished East End childhood to global fame. The father of modern hairdressing, his slick sharp cutting took the fashion world by...

A Sunday Times Book of the YearA Times Book of the YearA Guardian Book of the YearA Telegraph Book of the Year'EXPLOSIVE... Contains a string of startling revelations about Mr...

'Discover the secret to thriving in old age' Telegraph'In front of me is an adventure with old age as my companion, my shadow and confederate, maybe my friend.'Old age is...

'Deeply touching.' - Daily Mail'A personal, sometimes harrowing history of partition... a writer well worth reading.' - The Times'A deeply personal story of identity and a highly relatable journey for...