biography

In 1972, Jan Wong became one of only two Westerners admitted to Beijing University at the height of the Cultural Revolution. One day, a student, Yin Luoyi, sought Jan's assistance...

Sick of reality TV, scriptwriter Jane Bussmann (South Park, The Fast Show, Brass Eye and Smack the Pony) moved to Hollywood to do something better. But stranded outside the system,...

An inspirational true story of a 4 year old girl who fell into the power of a man whose evil knew no bounds. She encountered terrifying mental and physical torture...

Who'd have thought a missing bacon rasher and a teaspoon would play a part in advancing someone's career? It's the late '60s and Jane Yeadon has always wanted to be...

When Jane Yeadon decided that she wanted to become a nurse, the Swinging Sixties had arrived in style. But before her training the nearest she got to anything swinging was...

'Janet Frame's luminous words are the more precious because they were snatched from the jaws of the disaster of her early life. It is one of the classics of autobiography....

When Edwina Ashley, god-daughter of Edward VII, came out in 1920 she was the most intriguing and intelligent of the debutantes of her day. When her grandfather, Sir Ernest Cassell,...

'Insightful, wise and life-affirming' Observer'Turns death into life, despair into hope, sorrow into joy' Stephen FryIn Radical Acts of Love, Janie Brown, oncology nurse and counsellor, offers a sensitive and...

_______________'Few writers can match her evocations of individual suffering in wartime.' - Newsweek'A gifted and humane reporter with a novelist's eye for detail.' - Literary Review'One of our generation's finest...

A PACIFIC NORTHWEST BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION BESTSELLER "A fascinating look" (Esquire) at the thrilling world of smokejumpers, the airborne firefighters who parachute into the most remote and rugged areas of the...

When she was fourteen, Jasvinder Sanghera was shown a photo of the man chosen to be her husband. She was terrified. She'd witnessed the torment her sisters endured in their...

A TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR'Solito is my travel book of the year.' Telegraph'Heartbreaking... A rare, eye-opening rendition of the brutal reality of border-crossing.' Lea Ypi'If there's any justice, Solito...

'There are two ways to open a child's head. The pretty way and the quick way. Usually I shave the hair, use a scalpel to nick the skin then apply...

'Hilarious, informative, enlightening, instructive ... It's the funniest book I've read all year' - Chris Evans***You're about to die. What would your final meal be?This question has long troubled Jay...

On 10 June 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in Tahoe, California. It was the last her family and friends...

A raw and powerful memoir of Jaycee Lee Dugard's own story of being kidnapped as an 11-year-old and held captive for over 18 years On 10 June 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee...

On 10 June 1991, eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in Tahoe, California. It was the last her family and friends...

Listed in Time's 100 Must-Read Books of 2019'A gripping and beautiful book about the power of love in the face of unimaginable loss' Cheryl Strayed'Extraordinary . . . both heartbreaking...

'Funny, stark, fascinating' THE INDEPENDENT'An extraordinary celebration of a bygone era' KATE THOMPSON, author of The Stepney Doorstep Society'A vivid portrait of the post-war years, but also a unique community...

In a land where Kings still rule, I am a Princess. You must know me only as Sultana, for I cannot reveal my true name for fear that harm will...

In the international bestseller, Princess: The True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, Princess Al-Sa'ud and the acclaimed author Jean Sasson began a remarkable series of books....

She was the looks of the 60s. Her face appeared on the cover of every fashion magazine and her life in every gossip column. Jean Shrimpton tells the story of...

Born into a wealthy New England family, Edie Sedgwick became, in the 1960s, both an emblem of, and a memorial to, the doomed world spawned by Andy Warhol. Edie was...

The diary of Jean-Dominique Bauby who, with his left eyelid (the only surviving muscle after a massive stroke) dictated a remarkable book about his experiences locked inside his body. A...

The diary of Jean-Dominique Bauby who, with his left eyelid (the only surviving muscle after a massive stroke) dictated a remarkable book about his experiences locked inside his body. A...

'Locked-in syndrome: paralysed from head to toe, the patient, his mind intact, is imprisoned inside his own body, unable to speak or move. In my case, blinking my left eyelid...

This is a startling memoir of a successful journalist's journey from the deserted and dusty mining towns of the American Southwest, to an antique filled apartment on Park Avenue. Jeanette...

Why would a good person commit a terrible act?Fifteen years ago, Jeannie's relationship with a close friend ended in rape. With the rise of the #MeToo movement, recurring nightmares of...

My Father's Glass Eye is Jeannie's struggle to honour her father, her larger-than-life hero, but also the man who named her after his daughter from a previous marriage, a daughter...

The house on Mary Street, Carson City, Nevada is the only place five-year-old Jennifer Lauck will ever call home. It's where the sky is deep blue, forever blue, and there...

Separated from her brother Bryan, and passed from caretaker to caretaker, Jenny discovers -- as she rebels her way through high school and into adulthood -- that the past can...

The last collection of true-life nursing stories from the No.1 bestselling author of the CALL THE MIDWIFE series, soon to be a major BBC TV series.Jennifer Worth's bestselling memoirs of...

'A new book from Jenny Lawson is always cause for celebration, and Broken is the party of the year . . . I loved it' - Sarah Knight, bestselling author...

Jenny Mollen is an actress and writer living in Los Angeles. She is also a wife, married to a famous guy (which is annoying only because he gets free shit...

'This is a rip-roaring read, full of derring-do and sometimes comic, often foolhardy bravery. [Jenny] sounds an absolute hoot, and her book is never anything less' - Daily Mail 'A...

'Magical' MINDY KALING'Funny and poignant and beautiful' JOHN MULANEY 'It made me remember I was alive' GEORGE SAUNDERS To see the world through Jenny Slate's eyes is to see it...

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...

Journalist Jenny Valentish takes a gendered look at drugs and alcohol, using her own story to light the way. Mining the expertise of 35 leading researchers, clinicians and psychiatrists, she...

A WATERSTONES BEST BIOGRAPHY OF 2024My son's death will never make sense to me. But it has taught me that it's possible to find meaning, collectively and individually, in the...

This is a riveting memoir by the popular veteran BBC correspondent, examining his desire to become a war reporter and how the nature of the job has changed. Having joined...

Hackers know everything about us. We know almost nothing about them. Until now.The hacker now known as Alien entered MIT in 1998, intending to major in aerospace engineering. Almost immediately,...