Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar removed the spectre of invasion and England is now free to seek conquests and colonies in the furthest reaches of the world. Captain Kydd joins an expedition to take Dutch-held Cape Town, a strategic imperative to secure the rich trade-route to India. But even if the British can defeat the enemy and take possessio...

Brought to you by Penguin.**Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022**Glory is an energy burst, an exhilarating ride. A bold, vivid chorus of animal voices calls out the dangerous absurdity of contemporary global politics, and helps us see our human world more clearly.A long time ago, in a bountiful land not so far away, the animal denizens lived quit...

Dawn thinks she knows everything there is to know about dying. As a death doula, she helps her clients fix what is left undone so they can peacefully make the final transition. But when her plane plummets from the sky and she thinks she is experiencing the last moments of her life, she is shocked to find that she isn't thinking of her husband or te...

Who will steal the greatest prize of Empire? South America's Spanish colonies are in a ferment of popular unrest. Rumors of a treasure hoard of Spanish silver spur Thomas Kydd's commander-in-chief, Commodore Popham, to assemble a makeshift invasion fleet and launch a bold attack on Buenos Aires. The British invasion force wins a battle against impr...

It is 1797 and Thomas Kydd is now master's mate on Achilles. Kydd sails for England, but his joy at returning home is soon forgotten when he finds himself at the centre of one of the most extraordinary events in English history- the Mutiny at the Nore. Ten thousand men and scores of ships hold the country to ransom. Kydd is faced with a terrible ch...

As the captain of a useful frigate, Kydd is claimed by the Leeward Islands station, exchanging the harsh situation in South America for the warmth and delights of the Caribbean. It's a sea change for Kydd, who revisits places and people that figured in his time as a young seaman. Some are nostalgic and pleasing, while others bring challenges of a p...

It is two years since Thomas Kydd was spirited away in the night aboard the old ship Duke William. Now, he and the other members of the ill-fated Artemis are shipwrecked sailors, back in London to be summoned as court martial witnesses. Then, in a political act to shield an officer's reputation, they are shipped out in haste to the Caribbean - wher...

Thomas Paine Kydd is in Halifax enjoying the recognition and favour of his fellow officers when Tenacious is summoned to join Horatio Nelson's taskforce on an urgent reconnaissance mission. Intelligence suggests the French Revolution is about to set the Mediterranean ablaze, but Bonaparte's fleet is nowhere to be found. Nelson and his 'Ba...

Thomas Kydd was promoted to acting lieutenant at the bloody Battle of Camperdown in October 1797. Now, he must sit an examination to confirm his rank - or face an inglorious return before the mast.But this is only the first of many obstacles for a man who was pressed into the King's Service and discovered a calling for the sea. Kydd is from humble...

As the only female cabinet maker in the valley in 1935, Frankie Redfern is unusual. She faces prejudice even from her own mother. But she's content working for her father and is unwilling to give up her independence or the work she loves for marriage. When her husband falls gravely ill, Frankie's mother takes over, causing serious trouble for her d...

From the award-winning author of My Name Is Leon comes a childhood memoir set to become a classic: stinging, warm-hearted and true. Kit de Waal grew up in a household of opposites and extremes. Her haphazard mother rarely cooked, forbade Christmas and birthdays and believed the world would end in 1975. Meanwhile, her father stuffed barrels full of...

Diana O'Toole's life is going perfectly to plan. At 29, she's up for promotion to her dream job as an art specialist at Sotheby's, and she's about to fly to the Galápagos, where she's convinced her surgeon boyfriend, Finn, is going to propose. But then the virus hits New York City and Finn breaks the news: the hospital needs him, he has to s...

Lancashire 1934. Three years after her husband's sudden death, Stella comes into some money unexpectedly and decides to make a new start in the country. She settles on Ellin Valley, where she quickly begins to make friends. She falls in love with a cottage in Birch End, but an unscrupulous man wants it too. Will she be able to buy her dream home? L...

The Tulip Tea Rooms is a heartwarming and poignant saga from Pam Evans, set in London just after the Second World War. Perfect for listeners of Kitty Neale, Katie Flynn and Dilly Court. The Second World War is finally over when Lola Brown meets Harry Riggs at a dance. It is love at first sight, but when Harry tells Lola that he is a policeman, her...

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping New York Times best-selling debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city in the grip of chaos. At...

Three unlikely friends. A lot of scones. And one chance to save the community.... The Marjorie Marshall Memorial Cafeteria is at the heart of St Jude's Hospital. Staffed by successive generations of dedicated volunteers, for over 50 years, the beloved cafeteria has been serving up a kind word and sympathetic ear along with tea and scones. Hilary, t...

“They called her Water Claire.” When the young girl washed up on their shore, no one knew she had been a Vessel. That she had carried a Product. That it had been carved from her belly. Stolen. Claire had had a son. She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. When he was taken from their community, she knew she had to f...

Summer, 2021. Nell has come home at her family's insistence to celebrate an anniversary. Fifty years ago, her father wrote The Golden Bones. Part picture book, part treasure hunt, Sir Frank Churcher created a fairy story about Elinore, a murdered woman whose skeleton was scattered all over England. One by one, the tiny golden bones were dug up unti...

With the Great War raging, can they keep Britain going? 1915. On Beth Healey's eighteenth birthday, she hopes that she will be able to forget the ghastly war and celebrate. But that evening, her twin brother Ned announces that he has signed up to fight. No longer able to stand working in her parents' village shop while others are doing their bit, B...

Can they deliver hope and friendship this Christmas? 1915. After the recent dramatic events at the Home Depot, Milly Woods is looking forward to spending as much time as possible with her post office girls, Nora and Beth - known as Liza to her friends. With Christmas fast approaching, their job of getting millions of letters and parcels to the troo...

The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution. The heart-stopping follow-up to These Violent Delights, an imaginative, alluring retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1920s Shanghai. After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cous...