Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Biographical Fiction

Ana is a rebellious young woman, a gifted writer with a curious, brilliant mind, who writes secret narratives about the neglected and silenced women around her. Raised in a wealthy family in Galilee, she is sheltered from the brutality of Rome's occupation of Israel. Ana is expected to marry an elderly widower to further her father's ambitions, a prospect that horrifies her. A chance encounter with the 18-year-old Jesus changes everything: his ideas and his passion are intoxicating.

Poland, 1942: seventeen-year-old Maya Schulze is struggling to survive in a brutal Nazi labour camp. But despite days filled with hunger, fear, and despair, she is able to find courage and beauty in dancing–it is only then that she feels free. One day, a camp guard watches Maya perform, and both their destinies are changed for ever. Jan falls in love with Maya and promises to protect her; Maya lives for their stolen moments together, when her heart can dance again. Jan ultimately plots Maya’s escape and promises to find her when the war is over, but fate cruelly intervenes.

Known as the "Wizard of the Kremlin," the enigmatic Vadim Baranov was a TV producer before becoming a political advisor to Putin, aka "The Czar." After his resignation from this position, legends about him multiply, with no one able to distinguish truth from fiction. Until one night, when he tells his story to the narrator of this book. He immerses us in the heart of the Russian state, where sycophants and oligarchs have been engaging in open warfare, and where Vadim, now the regime's main spin doctor, turns an entire country into an avant-garde political stage.

This year Christmas will be PERFECT. This is the year when all dreams come true, carol singers will carol the Wassail would Wass, or possibly Sail, children will frolic, extended family will get on and behave normally and not fall out and just eat the effing mince pies without questioning their organic/ gluten free/ vegan/ fairtrade status. Everyone will be delighted by their thoughtfully chosen presents and not surreptitiously rifle through the wrapping paper looking for the gift receipt, and the dogs will give the impression that Ellen is in charge of them and not the other way around.

The politics of empire-building and the hypocrisies, back-stabbings, and corruptions of Rome's first family come to light. First published in 1934, the book retains a marvelously modern and often comic tone, and is written in the form of Claudius' autobiography. This is gripping stuff, read by one of our finest actors, who also starred as Claudius in the classic television series.

Michelangelo. Saint Helena. A Catalan politician. A dying Irish banker, an aboriginal tribesman. A Benedictine Oblate nun, a homeless beggar, French soldiers, Mark Antony, Capuchin monks, Dominican friars... and a nondescript 21st century man. Lost in a feedback loop of life, he travels the world searching for something more than he was being told. At various places from Sydney to Dublin, Paris to Rome, and points in between, the world has something to show him. His imagination fills in the blanks.

Venezia, 1700. Una musica dolce e lieve si diffonde tra le calli. Qualcuno suona un violino con grazia e maestria... È da un po' che Antonio Vivaldi, il Prete Rosso, insegna presso l'Ospedale della Pietà, uno dei grandi orfanotrofi femminili della città, dove bambine e ragazze senza famiglia vengono istradate alla musica. Una su tutte dimostra un talento straordinario: Anna Maria della Pietà. L'archetto, tra le sue mani, si muove con un virtuosismo che incanta il maestro stesso. Ma Anna Maria sa che non basta il talento: la Storia la scrivono gli uomini, e della sua musica non è rimasta traccia.

1918: As the Great War rages, Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to work for the American Committee for Devastated France, a group of women determined to rebuild devastated French communities just miles from the front. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen - children's libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.

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?

Autumn 1192. With Jerusalem still in the Saracens' hands, and a peace treaty agreed with their leader Saladin, Richard the Lionheart is free at last to travel back to his strife-ridden kingdom. By his side at every turn is the loyal knight Ferdia, also known as Rufus. Together they will face not just Richard's archenemy Philippe Capet of France, but also the king's treacherous younger brother, John.

Read in the style of a secret diary, this famous sequel to I, Claudius gives a wry and human view of the Roman world, bringing to life some of the most scandalous and violent times in history. Claudius has survived the murderous intrigues of his predecessors to become, reluctantly, Emperor of Rome. He recounts his surprisingly successful rule; how he cultivates the loyalty of the army to repair the damage caused by his nephew Caligula; his friendship with the Jewish King Herod Agrippa; and his invasion of Britain.

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. A husband and two children do not deter her from searching for love and independence.

London, 1942. Despite the raging war, spirited 18-year-old Nellie Morris lives a quiet life in the tight-knit East End community of Bethnal Green. Her family and friends all tease that she will marry air raid warden Billy, the boy next door who’s always been sweet on her. The arrival of Ray, a handsome American airman stationed nearby, causes Nellie to question everything she thought she knew about her future. Nellie’s newfound happiness is short-lived when a tragic accident occurs during an air raid.

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home? Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that Hamnet will not survive the week. Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright: a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

Born into the factious world of war-torn Arabia, Muhammad's life is a gripping and inspiring story of one man's tireless fight for unity and peace. In a world where greed and injustice ruled, Muhammad created change by affecting hearts and minds. Just as the story of Jesus embodies the message of Christianity, Muhammad's life reveals the core of Islam. Deepak Chopra shares the life of Muhammad as never before, putting his teachings in a new light.

In 1831, Charles Darwin set off in HMS Beagle under the command of Captain Robert Fitzroy on a voyage that would change the world. This is the story of a deep friendship between two men and the twin obsessions that tear them apart, leading one to triumph and the other to disaster.

Raised in New York's Gilded Age, pampered heiress Sara Wiborg dreams of a more creative life than the rigid future prescribed for her.

In una Seoul rovente e febbrile, una donna cerca di recuperare la parola che ha perso in seguito a una serie di traumi. Nell'aula semideserta di un'accademia privata incontra lo sguardo dell'insegnante di greco, che sta perdendo la vista. Tra di loro nasce un'intimità intessuta di penombra e di perdita, grazie alla quale la donna riuscirà forse a ritornare in contatto con il mondo.

Hendrik Groen is 83¼ years old, and he has decided that it is time to make something of his life. He may be rich in years, but he refuses to give in to all the trappings of old age just yet. Hendrik's hilarious and touching diary documents his life as an OAP living in a care home. When he recruits some similarly young-at-heart friends to join his Old but Not Dead Club, Hendrik proves that love can blossom, rules can be broken and fun is within reach, even at their age.

An account of the first major military campaign embarked upon by the future Emperor of the Roman Empire, Marcus Ulpius Traianus, commonly known as Trajan. Follow Trajan and his detachment of the Seventh Legion from Hispania to Germania, meeting friend and foe as they clash and collaborate to save the Empire from rebellion.