You'll be wincing in recognition and scratching your head in incredulity, but like Marian herself you won't be able to stop laughing at the sheer delightful absurdity that is modern life - because each and every one of us is clearly making it up as we go along. She has wonderful and tickling words of advice for those fast approaching fifty.

1967. Vietnam. Susan Gifford is one of the first female correspondents on assignment in Saigon. Son is a Vietnamese photographer anxious to get his work into the American press. Together they cover every aspect of the war. Then one morning they find themselves the prisoners of three Vietcong soldiers. Under constant threat from American air strikes...

It is 1932 and the remains of a young American are found in a former battlefield in France. It is the body of missing cartographer Michael Clifton, and when it's clear he was murdered, his wealthy parents turn to Maisie for help. While tracking down the nurse who wrote a series of love letters to Michael, Maisie must wrestle with memories of servin...

At 28, Lucy is doing well for herself. She's got a great job, her boss loves her, and her friends think she's great. The only problem is she does feel the need to lie outrageously on dates- often with hilarious results. But when Lucy decides that her flatmate, and oldest friend, Henry is in need of a makeover, but nothing can prepare them for the s...

From Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, Isabella, Lady Trent is known to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation and her prospects to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccen...

1984 is the year in which it happens. The world is divided into three great powers: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Throughout Oceania 'The Party' rules by the agency of four ministries whose power is absolute. In The Ministry of Truth, which deals in propaganda, Winston Smith's job is to edit the past. Over time, the impulse to escape the machine t...

Ben is still desperately trying to forget that Katy had a one-night stand just before she announced she was pregnant. Nine months later a new baby explodes into their lives, creating utter chaos. Being a stay-at-home dad isn't as simple as it seems, in fact it's a disaster. Then help arrives, in the most unlikely form: the wife of Katy's ex-lover....

Three sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. The house is full of memories of their childhood and their past, but now they may have to sell it. And under the idyllic surface, there are tensions. Secrets are uncovered and passions erupt as a way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - win...

Weakened by the loss of Normandy, King John faced insurrection by his disgruntled barons. With the assistance of the Archbishop of Canterbury, they drew up a list of their demands. Dan Jones' vivid account of the vicissitudes of feudal power politics and the workings of 13th century government is interwoven with an exploration of the lives of ordin...

Rachel and Becca are stepsisters, living far apart, with little in common. Rachel is the successful one: happily married with three children and a big house. Becca, meanwhile, lurches from one dead-end job to another and has given up on love. The two of them have lost touch, but when Rachel doesn't come home one night, Becca is called in to help. A...

Brighton, 1951. Pantomime season is in full swing with Max Mephisto starring in Aladdin. But Max's headlines have been stolen by the disappearance of two children. With fairy tales in the air, it's not long before the press have a nickname: 'Hansel and Gretel'. DI Edgar Stephens has plenty of leads to investigate. Does the clue lie in the missing g...

Tamsin and her best friend Michelle have been inseparable since they were teenagers. Even now they spend all their time together, along with Patrick, Michelle's handsome husband. So when Tamsin hears a rumour that Patrick is having an affair, she is furious and plots a scheme to catch him in the act, using her assistant Bea as live-bait. It should...

It's not unusual for spies to have secrets, but Henry Hunter has more than most and after he is stopped by British Intelligence at Croydon airport on the eve of the Second World War, he finds he has even more. In March 1941 in Berlin, haunted by a dark episode from his past, he makes a fateful decision, resulting in a dramatic journey to the Swiss...

In 1887, Elizabeth Berry found notoriety throughout the nation after the death of her daughter, perceived by many to be the cruellest of murders. There were many who protested her innocence in the affair, but there were also suspicions surrounding another death related to the nurse; that of her mother. Suddenly Elizabeth Berry's dark story began ap...

Three years after her journey through Vystrana, the illustrious (and occasionally scandalous) Lady Trent defies convention to embark on an expedition to the war-torn continent of Eriga, home of the legendary swamp-wyrm. Accompanied by an old associate and a runaway heiress, Isabella must brave oppressive heat and other hazards in order to satisfy h...

At the height of the Cold War, officials at the Ministry of Defence conducted a highly secret investigation into unusual events that occurred along a strip of rugged Pembrokeshire coastline. The events made national headlines: objects hovering in the sky, ghostly figures peering into windows and poltergeists plaguing a terrified family. Thirty year...

Wonders terrestrial and aquatic, ancient ruins, near drownings, and more kinds of dragon than you can shake a wing at... Six years after her perilous exploits in Eriga, Lady Trent embarks on her most ambitious expedition yet: a two-year trip around the world aboard the Royal Survey Ship Basilisk, to study all manner of dragons. She must cope with s...

New South Wales, 1837: Settlers in search of fertile country are venturing far outside the colony. Cutting a swathe through the bush with their bare hands, they lay claim to territory beyond government jurisdiction - and the reach of the law. As she accepts a position on one such farm, seventeen-year-old Kate Carter is unaware she is entering a lan...

Like no other cycling book, from no other rider. Sit back or saddle up as double Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion Geraint Thomas gives you a warts and all insight into the life of a pro cyclist. Along the way he reveals cycling's clandestine codes and secret stories, tales from the peloton, the key characters like Wiggins, Hoy and...

He is a record collector and a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. His business card describes him as the Vinyl Detective and some people take this more literally than others. For example, the beautiful, mysterious woman who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording on behalf of an extremely wealth...

What happens when the man of your dreams starts dating your best friend? Lily is a producer on a morning television show and has sworn off men for the time being. But when a new chef starts on her daily cooking segment, Lily falls head over heels. Before she can make her feelings known, her flatmate Simone starts dating Jack, and Lily has to make s...