Secondhand Biographies

'I hadn't been very comfortable with fame, but I didn't know what to do with myself after I was famous. On the surface, I was just hugely relieved to be...

'One of the gems of the year' - Michele Magwood, Sunday Times (Books LIVE SA)The story of a young man fighting to recover from a devastating psychotic break and the...

A gripping, painfully honest, and ultimately inspirational memoir from global superstar and creator of the Red Table Talk series Jada Pinkett Smith. In a media driven landscape that crafts narratives...

"A renegade Florence Nightingale cares for the ill in a remarkable tale of compassion and combating prejudice" The Guardian 'Breath-taking courage and compassion [...]a beautiful book' The Sunday Times'An extraordinary...

When Pat Stewart posed on the railings of Blackpool promenade on a blustery day, little did she know the resulting photograph would become an iconic image of the twentieth century....

A candid, warm and engaging account of former 'IT' Girl and model Caprice Bourret's quest to become a mother after the brutal medical diagnosis that she would never carry a...

Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud is a beautifully written account of Sun Shuyun's journey to retrace the steps of one of the most popular figures in Chinese history -...

It is the late 1970s and Manjula Padmanabhan is in her mid-twenties trying to find her way in the world. Life in Bombay is proving tricky: there are the visits...

Most break-up bibles are full of the same old stories of woe, wrack and ruin...1. Crying into large glasses of Chardonnay2. A huge amount of retail therapy and some unwise...

'An incredibly personal story...sad, but unbelievably funny' - Claudia Winkleman, BBC Radio 2 Arts Show'This memoir is gasp-out-loud, offensively funny, touching and a sure thing for anyone who likes David...

The tough life of one of Britain's most senior policemen, who rose through the ranks from poverty and deprivation to the highest office, and went on to become Blair's 'Drug...

Set in 1970s Manchester, Once in a House on Fire tells the true story of three sisters and their mother, a close-knit and loving family forced to battle with poverty,...

An intimate portrait of an everyday genius. As Aristotle understood it, 'there is no great genius without a mixture of madness' and he may well have had a point: Einstein...

With the same sharp eye, quick wit and narrative drive that made The Game a bestseller, Neil Strauss takes us on a white-knuckle journey through America's heart of darkness as...

'Incredible. One of those rare books that should be dispensed on prescription to every household.' - Lucy Easthope, author of When the Dust Settles'Hilarious, bitter, poignant and profound . ....

When even his friends refer to him as 'a balding, bug-eyed opportunist with the looks of a beach ball, the charisma of a glove-puppet and an ego the size of...

As a small boy in Epping Forest, Jack Straw could never have imagined that one day he would become Britain's Lord Chancellor. As one of five children of divorced parents,...

Bear Grylls is a man who has always sought the ultimate in adventure. Growing up on the Isle of Wight, he was taught by his father to sail and climb...

"It might be thought the height of poor taste to ascribe good fortune to a healthy man with a young family struck down at the age of sixty by an...

William Woodruff had the sort of childhood satirised in the famous Monty Python Yorkshireman sketch. The son of a weaver, he was born on a pallet of straw at the...

For years, Jenny and sister Kim suffered horrendous physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father. They survived in part because of their closeness and their determination to...

"I immersed myself in magic. I read every book I could get my hands on and practised and practised, day after day and night after night. Magic became my world...some...

Heartwarming, compelling and genuinely remarkable, More Than Just Coincidence is the true story of a mother who was reunited with her daughter, twenty years after she gave her up for...

"A renegade Florence Nightingale cares for the ill in a remarkable tale of compassion and combating prejudice" The Guardian 'Breath-taking courage and compassion [...]a beautiful book' The Sunday Times'An extraordinary...

How do you learn to live again when you've danced with death?Louise's road to having a baby was far from easy, suffering a heartbreaking miscarriage during her first pregnancy and...

Rich with humour, insight, compassion - and absolute honesty - Tiny Beautiful Things is a balm for everything life throws our way, administered by the author of the New York...

For Patrick Melrose, `family' is more than a double-edged sword. As friends, relations and foes trickle in to pay final respects to his mother, Eleanor - an heiress who forsook...

Welcome to the life of Dr Max Skittle. Therapist, relationship counsellor, social worker, friend, parent-figure - and, yes: doctor.Join Max - and his patients - as he takes us on...

For fans of Bryony Gordon and Dolly Alderton, The Sisterhood is an honest and hilarious book which celebrates the ways in which women connect with each other.'My five sisters are...

A stunning and poignant account of an extraordinary teacher's determination never to abandon a child in need from the internationally bestselling author of 'One Child' and No. 1 bestseller 'Ghost...

'One of the non-fiction books of the year.' Andrew O' Hagan A powerful, evocative and deeply personal journey into the world of missing people When Francisco Garcia was just seven...

For Alex James, music had always been a door to a more exciting life: a way to travel, meet new people and, hopefully, pick up girls. But as bass player...