Biographical Fiction

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food, and girls....

The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and by whom he has been touched. Inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival....

This book is an inspiring tribute to the remarkable life of Sir Sidney Kidman - the Cattle King....

Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again....

Inspired by a true story, two teens kidnapped by an African warlord find salvation through love in a powerful and healing historical novel from the #1 bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky and The Last Green Valley....

This remarkable book is the only novel by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), the greatest German-language poet of his time. It is, in a sense, a true curiosity - dark and intense - and possesses, not surprisingly, strong elements of autobiography. The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (Die...

Set against the sprawling backdrop of 1930s Australia, Anna May Shahan is a wild child raised on a lush farm by the sea, always barefoot and playing in her neighbor’s secret garden. Her Aboriginal nanny teaches her the ways of the land, and she grows up to be a quirky, eccentric, and sweet woman.

In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, a convicted killer becomes the first prisoner to be executed in the United States. The Executioner's Song follows the true story of cold-blooded murderer Gary Gilmore, who, after being tried and convicted, insisted on being executed for his crimes. To do...

The politics of empire-building and the hypocricies, back-stabbings and corruptions of Rome's first family come to light....

In Flora Thompson's semi-autobiographical series Lark Rise to Candleford, she explores the Oxfordshire country life of her protagonist Laura in the 1880s and 1890s.

This program is read by renowned English actor Ben Miles, best known for his narration of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy. “Ben Miles's English accent is perfect for the text of this recent, award-winning translation. He delivers narrative sections in a consistent tone, and his expression is...

Based on the incredible true story of two unsung heroines who defied the odds to save countless lives, this powerful novel reveals how acts of extraordinary courage by ordinary women saved so many in the countdown to WW2.

Also known as Demons, The Possessed is a powerful socio-political novel about revolutionary ideas and the radicals behind them. It follows a political terrorist who leads a group of nihilists....

It’s the turn of the twentieth century and Pamela ‘Pixie’ Colman Smith is a young woman of stark contradictions: plucky yet naïve, artistically gifted despite lacking classical training, fascinated by the esoteric but sceptical of the world around her.

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...

Sometimes you need to delve into the past, to make sense of the present. Alice had not expected to spend most of the twenty-first century writing about Leonard Woolf. When she stood on Morell Bridge watching fireworks explode from the rooftops of Melbourne at the start of a new millennium, she...

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, and The Nightingale comes an emotionally gripping historical novel about extraordinary hope, redemption, and one man’s search for light during the darkest times of World War II....

Sometimes Keeping Your Honor Means Breaking Your Word In England, the Middle Ages are a time for ambitious men to prosper. Before he becomes the father of William Marshal, John FitzGilbert is a man of honor and loyalty, sworn to royal service. When the old king dies, his successor rewards the...

Ebenezer Le Page, cantankerous, opinionated and charming, is one of the most compelling literary creations of the late 20th century....

På den amerikanske vestkyst i Los Angeles arbejder Henry Chinaski for postvæsnet....

A family torn apart. A king with an iron fist. Will their faith be strong enough to survive persecution and reunite? Three books. Lots of harrowing, historical adventure! Listen to find out more....

The stories of two very different women, linked by the secrets and lies of history, merge together as past and present weave together in this stunning story of love, loss and resilience. 2016. Kitty, fleeing from a devastating revelation in her own life, finds herself at her...

Jewish refugee Felix Wolff believes he has found safety in England, but he is arrested and thrown into a British internment camp as a suspected Nazi spy. To clear his name and join the fight against Hitler, he must break free of a system that mistakes him for the very evil he fled.

Dolly Maunder is born at the end of the nineteenth century, when society's long-locked doors are just starting to creak ajar for determined women. Growing up in a poor farming family in rural New South Wales, Dolly spends her life doggedly pushing at those doors.

My name is Elena and I used to be a human being. Now I am a sex slave. If you are reading this diary then I am either dead or I have managed to escape....

‘Oh! How adorable! I didn’t know you had a cat!’ she exclaimed. I am always surprised how many people make this observation. Why should His Holiness not have a cat? ‘If only she could speak,’ continued the actress. ‘I’m sure she’d have such wisdom to share.’ And so the seed was...

Der in der Gepäckabfertigung arbeitende Devlin, der pensionierte Lehrer Walter und die Gutachterin Gabrielle haben nichts gemeinsam, doch als eine einzige Entscheidung ein neues Kapitel in der Geschichte der Geige in Gang setzt, fühlen sie sich endlich als Teil von etwas – etwas, das zählt und das sie bedeutend macht. Denn während ihre Suche nach den Ursprüngen der Geige ein Geheimnis aufdeckt, das sich über Jahrzehnte erstreckt, lehrt das Instrument sie eine Melodie, die sie nie erwartet hätten.

Stell dir vor, du entdeckst eine Vorfahrin, die dir ähnlicher ist, als du je gedacht hättest. Zum 100. Geburtstag von Henriette kehrt die Familie ins alte Ferienhaus im Havelland zurück – zwischen Flussläufen und weiter Landschaft. Für Enkelin Antonia ist schnell spürbar: Der Tod ihres Vaters hat sich tief in das Familiengefüge eingegraben, und auch das Wiedersehen mit ihren drei Schwestern ist schmerzhafter, als sie gehofft hatte. Als ein Familienstammbaum verschenkt wird, stößt Antonia auf Jeanne Beauvais – eine Ahnin, die im 17.

Benedicto XIII, el afamado papa Luna, era menudo, extremadamente culto y sofisticado y, sobre todo, terco como buen aragonés —es a su irreductible negativa a abdicar que debemos la expresión popular «seguir en sus trece»—. Fue el último santo padre de Aviñón al que el concilio de Constanza de 1414 depuso y declaró antipapa. Pero ¿qué secreto esconde su trayectoria? ¿Por qué nunca quiso hablar de esa aciaga primavera de 1378 en la que nació el gran cisma de Occidente que perturbó durante treinta años la cristiandad y anticipó la escisión definitiva, un siglo después, de la Reforma?

An autobiographical novel, long out of print, continues Sanora Babb's story as begun in her memoir, An Owl on Every Post. Set in Kansas in the early 1930s, it is a rich character study of a classic American individualist and his family. The father, a gambler, is a complex and magnetic man, portrayed from the perspective of his brave and proud daughter, Robin. Against the dark background of his declining fortunes stand Robin's high spirits and intelligence as she experiences the turbulent emotions of first sexual love and rebels against the circumstances of the gambler's rambling life.

She has the money to live like a lady . . . but there are plenty who want it from her. When an enigmatic stranger steals her heart, can she know he wants her for the right reasons? Widowed at the age of twenty, Ann has no optimism for the future. At the beck and call of her domineering mother...

Inspired by a true story, this is a moving reimagining of loss, legacy and the fragile truth between memory and myth… She was never meant to be a symbol, but the world made her one In 1912, fourteen-year-old Helen ‘Melville’ Smith loses her father, Captain Edward J. Smith of the Titanic...

Jewish refugee Felix Wolff believes he has found safety in England, but he is arrested and thrown into a British internment camp as a suspected Nazi spy. To clear his name and join the fight against Hitler, he must break free of a system that mistakes him for the very evil he fled. Fresh off his ruthless campaign in Poland, Sicherheitsdienst agent Karl Vogt is sent on a chilling mission: to devise a system for controlling the growing Jewish population within the Reich. His cold efficiency lays the groundwork for a coming horror the world has yet to comprehend.

Le petit Wolfgang adore son père, Léopold Mozart, son guide, son modèle, son dieu vivant. Mais vient le temps où l'enfant prodige s'élève plus haut que le maître, et l'admiration se mue en dédain. L'un rompt, s'émancipe, grisé de passions nouvelles ; l'autre souffre, se résigne, cède sa place, contraint d'inventer des liens différents. Un drame silencieux qui, peut-être bien, s'immisce dans toute relation entre père et fils.

England, 1605 Anne of Denmark, Queen of England, gives birth to her daughter, her first child since coming to England in 1603 when her husband James succeeded to the English throne. Although they would have preferred a son, both parents are pleased, and their courtiers are thrilled with the...

The air is the first thing. For a solitary archivist on the fourth floor of a vast library, the world is not measured in sight or sound, but in scent. This is a life lived in the stacks, a world contained by the fire door and the heavy, metal-plated threshold. Inside, the air is honest. It is the dry, stable smell of paper fibers, acidic ink, and the sweet, vanilla-like decay of lignin. It is the smell of preservation, of time held still.

À une époque où la liberté des femmes semble impossible, Gaby Deslys choisit de vivre selon ses propres règles. Sur scène, elle éblouit : les plumes, le rythme, l'audace. Dans la vie, elle brûle tout aussi fort, refusant d'obéir ou de s'effacer derrière les hommes. Paris, Londres, New York, rien ne lui résiste. Aux côtés de Harry, son partenaire de danse, Gaby devient une légende vivante. Puis, en 1920, au sommet de sa gloire, elle meurt.

Und sonst nichts: Eine wahre Geschichte über Mut, Neuanfang und die Suche nach sich selbst. Was bleibt, wenn das Leben plötzlich nicht mehr funktioniert? Rosi ist 52. Sie hat vier Kinder großgezogen, im Geschäft ihres Mannes gearbeitet und sich selbst dabei immer weiter hinten angestellt. Bis ein Burnout sie zum Innehalten zwingt.

When dreams collide with war, survival becomes the ultimate performance. In October 1916, eighteen-year-old Josephine Therese Marzynski leaves Boston for Berlin to pursue her dream of studying opera at Germany's most prestigious music conservatory. Living with family friends and immersing herself in German culture, she finds unexpected beauty and friendship in the heart of enemy territory. But when America enters the Great War in April 1917, Josephine's world transforms overnight-from welcomed student to enemy of the state.

Nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter verliert die Schauspielerin Nina ihre Stimme. Das Schweigen ihrer Mutter schnürt ihr die Luft ab. Zu viele Fragen sind noch offengeblieben: Was hat Irma so erschüttert, dass sie der ältesten Tochter nie die ersehnte Wärme geben konnte? Was geschah damals, in jenem...

He was called many things—outlaw, poet, killer, gentleman. But in the dying light of the Arizona Territory, Johnny Ringo was simply a man trying to outrun his own shadow. From the dusty backroads of Texas to the lawless streets of Tombstone, Ringo follows one of the West’s most haunted figures—a man torn between faith and fury, poetry and the pistol. As the world around him bleeds into legend, Ringo searches for something the frontier can’t give him: peace.

Hanna lebt in Freiheit auf Zeit: Nur für die Dauer ihres Studiums darf sie die streng religiöse Gemeinschaft verlassen, in die sie hineingeboren wurde. Jetzt trägt sie Jeans anstatt der verhassten langen Röcke, geht mit ihrer Mitbewohnerin zum Tanzen und spürt zum ersten Mal, was ein Leben ohne Fesseln bedeutet. Und sie lernt Noah kennen, der mit seiner Abenteuerlust unbekannte – verbotene – Gefühle in ihr weckt. Er bewundert Hanna für ihre innere Kraft und bestärkt sie, ihre eigenen Entscheidungen zu treffen.

¿Es posible ser bueno cuando todo alrededor te empuja a dejar de serlo? En Villa Paso del Hombre, un pueblo marcado por la pobreza extrema, Fernando hace lo necesario para sostener a su familia. A los catorce años aprende que sobrevivir no siempre va de la mano con hacer lo correcto. En ese lugar, hay gente que ve en la necesidad ajena una oportunidad. Benito, el tabernero, usa el miedo para conseguir lo que quiere y convierte cada encuentro en un recordatorio de lo vulnerables que son quienes viven con poco.

Esta historia es un viaje sin retorno por la memoria, la libertad y el deseo de Josefa, una mujer que vivió fuera de tiempo, con demasiada lucidez y ningún margen para rendirse.

Esta novela recrea la fascinante vida de Irene de Atenas, la emperatriz que gobernó Bizancio durante más de veinte años. La historia de una joven de extraordinaria belleza, que pasó de crecer en la miseria a regir el destino del imperio más poderoso de su tiempo. El retrato de alguien que logró atesorar un poder inconcebible para una mujer en el siglo VIII de nuestra era.

The Yellow Pinto straddles the line between memoir/narrative and transgressive fiction by combining themes of identity, addiction, and complicated familial relationships. Written in a unique, unconventional, pulse raising style, B. WalterWill uses essay and storytelling in an inventive fashion. He intertwines stories within stories to detail his personal struggle with gambling addiction – a hidden addiction not well understood. B.

“Violaine Huisman explores and contests the myths surrounding the great men of her family, using fiction where the official archives fall silent. The Monuments of Paris is a moving elegy for her accomplished, mercurial, outrageous father—and a beautiful act of disobedience.” —Ben Lerner...

The frigate Astrea leaves Spain for the Philippines in the late 1770s. Captain Alejandro Malaspina must bring the entering governor and his family to Manila. Lucia, the Governor's daughter is promised to the son of the exiting Governor. Astrea's Second Officer, Carlos is gravely wounded during a storm, and Pedro, Lucia's older brother and a student of medicine in Granada, heals his wounds. Lucia nurses Carlos. They fall in love. In Manila, the Franciscan sisters care for Carlos, and Lucia joins the convent rather than marry the despicable son of the exiting Governor.

What happens when the life you’ve built perfectly is the one you can no longer live? Sean was good at his job. He knew how to pace a slide deck, read a boardroom, and make a twenty-million-pound renewal sound like a foregone conclusion. But in the middle of a high-stakes meeting in London, the practiced mask of corporate competence finally cracked. In a single moment of uncontrolled laughter, he walked out of his career, left his laptop glowing on the table, and didn't look back.

Des rives de la baie d’Hudson aux paroisses de Sainte‑Thérèse et de Saint‑Jérôme, en passant par la Rivière Rouge de Saint‑Boniface et la rivière des Mille‑Îles, ce récit nous entraîne sur les traces de Jean Guénet. À travers un territoire immense et une époque où s’imposent la Charte royale de 1670 et l’essor de la Compagnie de la Baie d’Hudson, se dessine une quête de mémoire où routes, ponts et toponymes racontent l’élan des pionniers.