Showing titles in Biographical Fiction

Waking in the small hours, Marcel Proust embarks on a retrospective journey, endeavouring to capture the elusive moments that shaped his life. A sip of tea and the taste of a madeleine prompt further recollections, and the floodgates of memory open, pouring forth a torrent of vivid reminiscences.

The story of a writer's singular journey - from one place to another, from the British colony of Trinidad to the ancient countryside of England, and from one state of mind to another - is perhaps Naipaul's most autobiographical work. Yet it is also woven through with remarkable invention to make it a rich and complex novel.

Brought to you by Penguin. SELIN IS THE LUCKIEST PERSON IN HER FAMILY: the only one who was born in America and got to go to Harvard. Now it's her second year, 1996, and Selin knows she has to make it count. The first order of business: to figure out the meaning of everything that happened over...

For readers of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir comes a dramatic novel of the beloved Empress Maria, the Danish princess who became the mother of the last Russian tsar. “This epic tale is captivating and beautifully told.”—Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were...

Daughter of the nobility, cousin to a fallen Queen, Catherine Howard rose from the cluttered ranks of courtiers at the court of Henry VIII to become the King's fifth wife. But hers is a tale that starts long before the crown was placed on her head. A tale of tragedy and challenges, predators and prey; the story of a young girl growing up in a perilous time, facing dangers untold. The fifth wife of Henry VIII would end her life on the block, like her cousin Anne Boleyn...but where did her story begin?

Brought to you by Penguin. FROM THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF CECILY 1461. Through blood and battle Edward has gained England’s throne – king by right and conquest – eighteen years old and unstoppable. Cecily has piloted his rise to power and stands at his shoulder now, first to claim...

A New York Times Bestseller Winner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize Winner of the 2014 New England Book Award for Fiction A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award One of Kirkus Reviews’s Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) A Best Book of the Year for: The New York Times Book Review...

Brought to you by Penguin. THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! From Number One bestselling author Sophie Kinsella, an unforgettable story – by turns heartbreaking and life-affirming – of a renowned novelist facing a devastating diagnosis and learning to live and love anew. ‘What Does It...

Brought to you by Penguin. For fans of BBC TV's hit series HARLOTS My tale is not for the faint of heart. Born illegitimate in eighteenth-century England, Henrietta Lightfoot reveals the truth about the events that shaped her in this candid confessional of a wide-eyed girl's journey to...

Over one million copies sold! The Instant New York Times Bestseller! A Good Morning America* Book Club Pick! Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR! Named a Notable Book of the Year by the Washington Post! “Historical fiction at its best!”* A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal...

*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Discover the “captivating, absorbing, and beautifully told” (Kathleen Grissom) love story of Sisi, the Austro-Hungarian empress and wife of Emperor Franz Joseph—perfect for fans of the Netflix series The Empress! The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are...

THE New York Times BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE MULTI-MILLION-COPY-SELLING The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings 'Superlative . . . From a writer at the top of her game . . . A practically perfect historical novel' New York Journal of Books 'A bold, imaginative reworking'...

Salisbury, 1226. A mysterious poacher claims to be a long-lost heir - to a man found crushed by his own cart wheel. Ela Longespée is determined to find the truth, even though the king has coldly appointed another sheriff in her place. Ela takes pity on the man - an injured knight who once saved her husband’s life - and convinces the sheriff to release him from jail while she investigates. Will it turn out to be a deadly mistake?

A 2026 Audie Awards finalist for Best Mystery! This program is read by actor Bessie Carter, best known for her role as Prudence Featherington on the Netflix series Bridgerton. "Narrator Bessie Carter...captures the personalities of the most famous women novelists of the golden age of detective...

In confident Edwardian Britain, the Asquith family rose to the top of politics and society, only for their world to unravel in the killing fields of the Great War. Their story bears all the hallmarks of a 20th-century Shakespearean tragedy, with Prime Minister H.H. Asquith and his mercurial, charismatic wife, Margot, at its heart. Four children from his first marriage also play central roles in this sweeping family saga.

The comical tales of a new mum on her journey from postnatal depression to the dawning of her self-worth as she discovers adventure, friendship, and the healing power of horses. Join Grace as she battles her negative thought patterns and fears among a backdrop of eccentric characters, pampered farm animals, and the glorious Yorkshire countryside.

November, 1939. A conscription officer arrives in the peaceful farming village of Rautjärvi. The Soviet Union has invaded, and for the first time in its history as an independent country, Finland is at war. Setting off into the depths of winter to face the Red Army, the small group of childhood friends recruited from Rautjärvi have no idea whether any of them will ever return home. But their unit has a secret weapon: the young sniper Simo Häyhä, whose lethal skill in the snow-bound forests of the front line will earn him the nickname 'The White Death'.

Amsterdam, 1640. Un homme est excommunié de la communauté juive portugaise pour avoir remis en question les Saintes Ecritures. Le jeune Bento de Espinosa assiste à la scène et l'épisode fait germer en lui un doute. Et si tout ce qui est écrit dans la Bible était faux ? Le soupçon va lancer Bento dans la plus grande quête intellectuelle qui soit. Qui a écrit les textes sacrés ? Qui est vraiment Dieu ? Qu'est-ce que la nature ? Toutes ces questions sont extrêmement dangereuses et le jeune Spinoza va bientôt en payer le prix. Juifs et chrétiens l'accusent d'hérésie et commencent à le persécuter.

Flora Thompson is best known as the author of Lark Rise to Candleford, a semi-autobiographical, bestselling series exploring Oxfordshire country life in the late 19th century. Heatherley picks up the story a year after her central character, Laura, left Candleford Green, moving on to Grayshott on the Hampshire/Surrey border, and with it, finding a new world. Through Laura, the book explores Flora’s experience working in a post-office, where to her surprise her customers included the authors Arthur Conan Doyle and George Bernard Shaw.

Wife and mother to a dynasty of kings, crusader, prisoner and formidable political operator, Eleanor of Aquitaine is a thoroughly modern woman, despite living almost 900 years ago. Intelligent, witty and independent, she is tough enough to forge her own destiny—and subtle enough to shape the world to her will.