Showing titles in Biographical Fiction

There’s a story out there buried in the muck, and Jordan Walsh, coming from a family of esteemed reporters, wants to be the one to dig it up. But it’s 1955, and the men who dominate the city room of the Chicago Tribune have no interest in making room for a female cub reporter. Instead Jordan is relegated to society news, reporting on Marilyn Monroe sightings at the Pump Room and interviewing secretaries for the White Collar Girl column. Of course, that all changes the moment she establishes a secret source inside Mayor Daley’s office.

At the height of the Middle Ages in the 14th century, King Edward III of England is determined to use any means necessary to expand his power and gain control of England's bitter rival, France. His own son, Edward, prince of Wales, is far from immune from his political plans. And when Joan of Kent, now free from exile, sees her chance for revenge, she takes it. A calculated plot to scandalize the royal family for revenge for her father's downfall and execution soon turns into the most surprising thing: love.

In the throes of crisis, Rome braces for change. Caesar, Rome’s greatest general and conqueror of Gaul, now faces being stripped of his command and dragged back to Italy for prosecution by his enemies. His former ally, Pompey, has sided with his opponents in the Senate and frustrates all efforts to find peace. With no alternatives, Caesar crosses the Rubicon and spearheads an invasion of Rome with Mark Antony at his side, throwing the empire into civil war. Will Antony rise to the heights of power or be executed as a traitor?

As the struggle between York and Lancaster continues, Margaret Beaufort fights for admittance to the court of the victorious Edward IV of York and his unpopular queen, Elizabeth Woodville. The old king and his heir are dead, leaving only Margaret's son, the exiled Henry Tudor, with a tenuous claim to the throne. The royal nursery is full, with two small princes securing York's continuing rule. But Edward and Elizabeth's magnificent court hides a dark secret, a deception that threatens the security of the English throne...and all who lust after it.

Born into poverty and raised in a brothel, Nell Gwynne sells oranges in the pit at London's King's Theater, newly reopened after the plague and the Great Fire devastated the city. Soon, her quick sense of humor and natural charm get her noticed by those who have the means to make her life easier. But the street-smart Nell knows a woman doesn't get ahead by selling her body. Through talent, charm, intelligence, and sheer determination, Nell works her way out of the pit and onto the stage to become the leading comedic actress of the day.

The Water and the Wine is set on the Greek island of Hydra in a '60s artistic community. The author lived there as a child. The main focus is on Leonard Cohen and his lover/muse, Marianne Ihlen. Each night, the artists and writers meet and discuss their ideas about life, art, philosophy, and religion. The Silver family (loosely based on the author's own family) arrive on the island and are drawn into a world of creativity and excitement but also infidelity, jealousy, and dysfunctional relationships. Ultimately, the novel asks the question: What is the price of creativity?

Christmas, 1983. In the aftermath of yet another furious argument, seven-year-old Andrev’s mother lets him in on a secret: his father is, in fact, not his father. And so begins a new kind of childhood, in which fathers come and go, arriving in red Volvos and sweeping his mother off her feet. Fathers can be magicians or murderers, artists or canoe enthusiasts, and, like growing pains, or the weather, they appear uninvited and leave without warning. Fathers are drawn to his mother like moths to a flame – but even she can’t control how they behave.

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.

James, Lord of Douglas, known to his foes as the Black Douglas, leads a flank of the Scottish army in crushing a vast invading English force at the waters of the Bannockburn. Fresh from battle, James revels in honors heaped on him by the Scots and in the hatred of the enemy. When King Robert the Bruce orders him to push their advantage and force the English to the peace table, they both know the only way James can do so is by fire and the sword - the only language King Edward of England understands.

It's 1926. Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Hadley, travel to a villa in the south of France. They swim, play bridge and drink gin. But wherever they go they are accompanied by the glamorous Fife. Fife is Hadley's best friend. She is also Ernest's lover. Over the ensuing decades, Ernest's literary career will blaze a trail, but his marriages will be ignited by passion and deceit. Four extraordinary women will be forced to ask themselves how far they will go to remain his wife....

Elizabeth of York, her life already tainted by dishonour and tragedy, now queen to the first Tudor king, Henry the VII. Joan Vaux, servant of the court, straining against marriage and motherhood and privy to the deepest and darkest secrets of her queen. Like the ravens, Joan must use her eyes and her senses, as conspiracy whispers through the dark corridors of the Tower.

Jane Parker never dreamed that her marriage into the Boleyn family would raise her star to such dizzying heights. Before long, she finds herself as trusted servant and confidante to her sister-in-law, Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second queen. On a gorgeous spring day, that golden era is cut short by the swing of a sword. Jane is unmoored by the tragic death of her husband, George, and her loss sets her on a reckless path that leads to her own imprisonment in the Tower of London.

The Hague, 1882, a howling winter's night, Sien and her daughter are on the brink of surrendering to the bitter cold, their exhaustion, their hunger, when a good Samaritan appears. Vincent van Gogh, a struggling artist, provides them with warmth and shelter for the night. Fascinated by Sien - her face, her struggles, her life lived - Vincent offers Sien work sitting for him. From model to muse, the two soon become lovers.

Irvin D. Yalom, einer der angesehensten Psychotherapeuten Amerikas, wurde am 13. Juni 2021 neunzig Jahre alt. Er gilt als Klassiker der existentiellen Psychotherapie, seine Lehrbücher und Romane erscheinen weltweit und erreichen Millionen. Seine Frau Marilyn Yalom, eine renommierte Kulturwissenschaftlerin und Autorin, starb im letzten Herbst nach 65jähriger Ehe. Als klar war, dass ihre Krankheit zum Tode führen würde, begannen beide ein Buch zu schreiben - das am Ende Irvin D. Yalom alleine fertigstellen musste.

This stunning novel tells the true story of the woman behind one of the world’s greatest artists, Vincent Van Gogh. In 1890, Vincent Van Gogh dies penniless, unknown, a man tortured by his own mind. Eleven years later his work is exhibited in Paris and his unparalleled talent finally recognised. The tireless efforts of one woman gave the world one of its greatest creative minds. But twenty-eight-year-old Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger, Vincent’s sister-in-law and the keeper of his immense collection of paintings, sketches and letters, has, until now, been written out of history.

Britannia, 45 AD: Vespasian's brother, Sabinus, is captured by druids. The druids want to offer a potent sacrifice to their gods – not just one Roman Legate, but two. They know that Vespasian will come after his brother and they plan to sacrifice the siblings on midsummer's day. Vespasian must strive to save his brother whilst completing the conquest of the south-west of the haunted isle, before he is drawn inexorably back to Rome and the heart of Imperial politics.

Paris in the 1920s: It is a city of intoxicating ambition, passion, art, and discontent, where louche jazz venues like the Chameleon Club draw expats, artists, libertines, and parvenus looking to indulge their true selves. It is at the Chameleon where the striking Lou Villars, an extraordinary athlete and scandalous cross-dressing lesbian, finds refuge among the club's loyal denizens, including the rising photographer Gabor Tsenyi, the socialite and art patron Baroness Lily de Rossignol, and the caustic American writer Lionel Maine.

Since dropping out of school three years ago with no qualifications, no pals, and no ambition, Jamie Skelton spends most of his days asleep and most of his nights wanking, playing video games with his online friend, Lee, and occasionally making the journey downstairs to the kitchen. When Fiona, Jamie's maw, tries to get Jamie to apply for a job, he sees her as the cause for all of his problems. Then Lee tells Jamie he's realised there's a name for what they are - incels - and that there's a guy he's met through the forums they can go stay with in London, to get away from their nagging mams.

As friends, relatives, and foes trickle in to pay their final respects to his mother, Eleanor, Patrick Melrose finds himself questioning whether a life without parents will be the liberation he has so long imagined. Yet as the memorial service ends and the family gathers one last time, amidst the social niceties and the social horrors, the calms and the rapids, Patrick begins to sense a new current: the chance of some form of safety - at last.

Ein Schicksal, das über eine halbe Million Russland-Deutsche teilten. Nummer-1-Bestseller-Autorin Hera Lind erzählt die wahre Geschichte der Schwarzmeer-Deutschen Lydia, die erst 16 Jahre alt ist, als sie in einen sibirischen Gulag verschleppt wird. 1944 beginnt für die 16-jährige Lydia ein Alptraum, der nicht enden will: Als die Rote Armee auf ihr kleines Dorf bei Odessa in der Ukraine vorrückt, flieht die Familie. Sie schaffen es sogar bis nach Deutschland, doch sie werden zurückgeholt. Mit Mutter und vier Geschwistern wird Lydia bei minus 50 Grad nach Sibirien verschleppt.