Showing titles in Biographical Fiction

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The author of The Aviator’s Wife returns with a triumphant new novel about New York’s “Swans” of the 1950s—and the scandalous, headline-making, and enthralling friendship between literary legend Truman Capote and peerless socialite Babe Paley. People’s...

Morocco, 1968. As she stands at the window, Mathilde reflects on the opportunities before her. Looking out at her garden, the roses - brought in from Marrakech - have bloomed and their sweet, fresh scent pervades the garden. Anything feels possible, and she is determined to celebrate it. Don't they have the right to enjoy life, after dedicating their best years to the war and then to this farm?

Brought to you by Penguin. A masterful and eerie collection of ghost stories from Sunday Times bestselling author Jeanette Winterson Our lives are digital, exposed and always-on. We track our friends and family wherever they go. We have millennia of knowledge at our fingertips. We know...

Del Wensley, wife of the most celebrated preacher in Harlan County, tries to mind her place. Until her husband’s infidelity pushes an already strained marriage to a breaking point. Clinging to her last hope for self-respect, Del turns her back on the rigid life she’s known. A coal train is rolling through the valley. With her eyes wide open to the unfamiliar, and to the freedom she craves, Del takes to the rails.

In this novel about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s wife, Lidian, Amy Belding Brown examines the emotional landscape of love and marriage. Living in the shadow of one of the most famous men of her time, Lidian becomes deeply disappointed by marriage, but consigned to public silence by social conventions and concern for her family’s reputation. Drawn to the erotic energy and intellect of close family friend Henry David Thoreau, she struggles to negotiate the confusing territory between love and friendship while maintaining her moral authority and inner strength.

From the author of Confessions of the Fox comes a novel in which a yenta on her deathbed gives an unrepentant account of all her failures—including her child. “A rant of comedic genius . . . [Jordy Rosenberg] writes with an enchanting command of language and satire.”—Melissa Broder, The...

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, read by Jeff Woodman and Scott Shina. THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING NOVEL ADAPTED INTO A FEATURE FILM WITH ELIJAH WOOD From the bestselling author of Here I Am, Extremely Loud...

Jane Seymour has risen to become a lady in waiting to Queen Katherine, wife of King Henry VIII, but Jane has joined the household of the true Queen at a time most dangerous, as the King seeks to end his marriage to Katherine, and take Anne Boleyn as his Queen. Through years of struggle, Jane will watch as the England she knows, and the faith she honours are torn apart by the King's wish to take a new wife, and to break from the power of Rome. Devoted to her beloved mistress, Queen Katherine, Jane makes an oath to do all she can, to save England and its King.

In 1909, Clementine steps off a train with her new husband, Winston. An angry woman emerges from the crowd to attack, shoving him in the direction of an oncoming train. Just before he stumbles, Clementine grabs him by his suit jacket. This will not be the last time Clementine Churchill will save her husband. Lady Clementine is the ferocious story of the ambitious woman beside Winston Churchill, the story of a partner who did not flinch through the sweeping darkness of war, and who would not surrender either to expectations or to enemies.

In the early hours of Saturday, December 17th, 2011, Zoe Nolan, a 19-year-old Manchester University student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months. She was never seen again.

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.

The spirited daughter of England's greatest knight, Mahelt Marshal, lives a privileged medieval life. But when her beloved father falls out with the volatile and dangerous King John, her world is shattered. The king takes her brothers hostage and Mahelt's planned marriage to Hugh Bigod, heir to nobility, takes place sooner than she expected.

The New York Times bestseller from Margaret George—a captivating novel about history's most enthralling queen, the legendary Elizabeth Tudor. England’s greatest monarch has baffled and intrigued the world for centuries. But what was the Virgin Queen really like? Lettice Knollys—Elizabeth's...

Rome, AD 67. Vespasian is tasked with the impossible: should he quell the revolt in Judaea, as the emperor Nero has instructed? If his conquest succeeds, he risks becoming the sole object of the emperor's jealousy. If he fails, then his punishment will be severe. But Nero has committed suicide. Sabinus, Vespasian's brother, is caught between the warring factions of Aulus Vitellius, a cruel opportunist, and the noble Marcus Salvius Otho, who finds himself severely outnumbered.

The National Book Award finalist and national bestseller exploring the life and legend of Marilyn Monroe Soon to be a Netflix Film starring Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson In one of her most ambitious works, Joyce Carol Oates boldly reimagines the inner, poetic...

Attractive, wealthy, and influential, Katherine Willoughby is one of the most unusual ladies of the Tudor court. A favourite of King Henry VIII, Katherine knows all his six wives, his daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and his son Edward, as well as being related by marriage to Lady Jane Grey. She marries Tudor knight, Sir Charles Brandon, and becomes Duchess of Suffolk at the age of 14. Her Spanish mother, Maria de Salinas, is Queen Catherine of Aragon’s lady in waiting, so it is a challenging time for them all when King Henry marries the enigmatic Anne Boleyn.

The epic story of Rani Jindan Kaur, one of the most fierce and fearless women of the nineteenth century. An inspiration for our times. 'I am Rani Jindan, Mother of the Khalsa. That is my identity. That is my fate.' While we have all heard tales of Rani Lakshmi Bai and Padmavati, not many of us...

Before there was Meghan Markle, there was Consuelo Vanderbilt, the original American Duchess. Karen Harper tells the tale of Consuelo Vanderbilt, her “The Wedding of the Century” to the Duke of Marlborough, and her quest to find meaning behind “the glitter and the gold.” On a cold...

Artist Hans Holbein is summoned to the house of Sir Thomas More to receive the commission of a lifetime. He will leave with a secret that could cost him his life. He will learn the truth about the life of King Richard III, the man that the Tudor dynasty has been at great pains to villify. From his return from exile with his brother, King Edward IV, to his rise to become the king's most loyal, most trusted, and most powerful subject. From his flourishing personal life to his seizure of the throne from his nephew.

A bestselling tale of passion and belief, magic and adventure from the author of The Secret Chord and of March, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Bethia Mayfield is a restless and curious young woman growing up in Martha's Vineyard in the 1660s amid a small band of pioneering English Puritans. At...