Showing titles in Biographical Fiction

Emily looked like the perfect mom. Inside, she was breaking. She had a career, a family, and two children she adored. But one glass of wine became many, and soon alcohol was the one thing that could take it all away. The night police knocked on her door, she faced a choice: lose her children or fight for them and for herself. Inspired by Howard Kane’s own sobriety journey, this memoir-style novel exposes the raw truth of addiction and the long road back. Courtrooms. Custody battles. Sleepless nights. And the fragile strength it takes to rebuild from rock bottom.

Bloomsbury presents The Paris Muse by Louisa Treger, read by Amy Noble. ‘Living with him was like living at the centre of the universe. It was electrifying and humbling, blissful and destructive, all at the same time.’ Paris, 1936. When Dora Maar, a talented French photographer, painter and...

England, 1065: The Saxon kingdom is under threat of invasion at both ends. From the north comes Harald Hardrada of Norway intent on pillage, while across the Channel, Duke William of Normandy is about to enforce his claim to the throne. Between the two lie the villages and townships defended only by part-time armies maintained by the Earls of Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria, barely united under King Harold Godwineson. It falls to brave and determined young men like Will Riveracre and Selwyn Astenmede to stand firm against whichever marauding invader reaches them first.

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...

Smart, diligent and a bit plain, that’s the general consensus. Then Hillary goes to college and her star rises. At Yale Law School, she continues to be a leader - and catches the eye of driven, handsome and charismatic Bill. But when he asks her to marry him, Hillary gives him a firm 'no'. The rest, as they say, isn’t history. How might things have turned out for them, for America, for the world itself, if Hillary Rodham had really turned down Bill Clinton? 

Brought to you by Penguin. A darkly funny account of family life from the author of The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery 'Sometimes, in my capacity as a mother, I find myself sitting open-mouthed and terrified before my own children' As well as being a master of the macabre, Shirley...

Originally published in 1965, this autobiographical novel covers a key year in Jack Kerouac’s life—the period that led up to the publication of On the Road in September of 1957. After spending two months in the summer of 1956 as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak in the North Cascade Mountains of Washington, Kerouac’s fictional self Jack Duluoz comes down from the isolated mountains to the wild excitement of the bars, jazz clubs, and parties of San Francisco, before traveling on to Mexico City, New York, Tangiers, Paris, and London.

Sent into exile once more, Don Rodrigo de Vivar has just Will Redbeard and two warriors for companions. Over the next years, he creates the legend of El Cid, defeating enemy after enemy. Fighting overwhelming odds, he succeeds every time until, at last, he has his fiefdom of Valencia. This is the final chronicle in the series and details the last 18 years of the life of the man known as El Cid. Although this is the last in the series, it is a standalone book. Forget the film and listen to the reality of the man who was the greatest knight of his age - some would say, any age!

Bloomsbury presents The Great Passion by James Runcie, read by Pip Torrens. A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A masterpiece' SCOTSMAN 'A wise, refreshing novel, and a touching human story ... Runcie has an expert imagination' HILARY MANTEL Love and Death. Grief and Joy. Music that lasts forever...

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?

He became a best-selling novelist while still in college, immediately famous and wealthy. He watched his insufferable father reduced to a bag of ashes in a safety-deposit box. He was lost in a haze of booze, drugs and vilification. Then he was given a second chance. This is the life of Bret Easton Ellis, the author and subject of this remarkable novel. Confounding one expectation after another, Lunar Park is equally hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking. It’s the most original novel of an extraordinary career - and best of all: it all happened, every word is true. 

Dublin, 1904. Nora Barnacle is a 20-year-old from Galway, working as a maid at Finn’s Hotel. On June 16th, Bloomsday, her life is changed when she meets Dubliner James Joyce - a fateful encounter that turns into a lifelong love. Despite his hesitation to marry, Nora follows Joyce in pursuit of a life beyond Ireland. But as their life unfolds, Nora finds herself in conflict between their intense desire for each other and the constant anxiety of living in poverty throughout Europe.

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...

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.

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...

George and Weedon Grossmith's The Diary of a Nobody paints a detailed picture of life in 1892. Pooter's diary notes his daily business, parties, embarrassments, and his agitated relationship with son Lupin - a strikingly familiar world, brought to life by Keith Wickham, which provides continual amusement.

La Reine Margot is a novel of suspense and drama which recreates the violent world of intrigue, murder, and duplicity of the French Renaissance. Dumas fills his canvas with a gallery of unforgettable characters, unremitting action, and the engaging generosity of spirit which has made him one of the world’s greatest and best-loved storytellers.

Michael Frayn's classic is set in the crossword and nature notes department of an obscure national newspaper during the declining years of Fleet Street, where John Dyson dreams wistfully of fame and the gentlemanly life—until one day his great chance of glory at last arrives.

Germany, 1942. Franciscan friar Anton Starzmann is stripped of his place in the world when his school is seized by the Nazis. He relocates to a small German hamlet to wed Elisabeth Herter, a widow who seeks a marriage - in name only - to a man who can help raise her three children. Anton seeks something too - atonement for failing to protect his young students from the wrath of the Nazis. But neither he nor Elisabeth expects their lives to be shaken once again by the inescapable rumble of war.

Brought to you by Penguin. 'Life without her would be death' The lost novel from the author of The Second Sex. The compulsive story of two friends growing up and falling apart. INTRODUCED BY DEBORAH LEVY. When Andrée joins her school, Sylvie is immediately fascinated. Andrée is small for her...