Great British books fiction and nonfiction
Discover the finest Great British books with our curated list of top fiction and nonfiction titles. Explore classic and contemporary works by renowned UK authors for every reader.
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Toast
by Nigel Slater
An evocative memoir by the noted food writer and cookbook author shares the story of growing up in 1960s suburban England, remembering his childhood through the food in his family's pantry and the development of his own culinary talents. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.
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How to Be Good
by Nick Hornby
A wise and hilarious novel morality and what it means to be a "goof person" from the bestselling author of Dickens and Prince, Just Like you, Funny Girl and High Fidelity. A brutally truthful, compassionate novel about the heart, mind, and soul of a woman who, confronted by her husbandâs sudden and extreme spiritual conversion, is forced to learn âhow to be goodââwhatever that means, and for better or worse⌠Katie Carr is a good personâŚsort of. For years her husbandâs been selfish, sarcastic, and underemployed. But now Davidâs changed. Heâs become a good person, tooâreally good. Heâs found a spiritual leader. He has become kind, soft-spoken, and earnest. Katie isnât sure if this is deeply felt conversion, a brain tumorâor Davidâs most brilliantly vicious manipulation yet. Because sheâs finding it more and more difficult to live with Davidâand with herself.
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The Light Years
by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Three generations of Cazalets spend each summer in their family houseHome Place, Sussex. For two unforgettable summers they are safe from the advancing storm clouds of the Second World War. These are sunlit days of childish games, lavish family meals and picnics on the beach.
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Jemima J
by Jane Green
Jemima Jones is overweight. About one hundred pounds overweight. Treated like a maid by her thin and social-climbing roommates, and lorded over by the beautiful Geraldine (less talented but better paid) at the Kilburn Herald, Jemima finds that her only consolation is food. Add to this her passion for her charming, sexy, and unobtainable colleague Ben, and Jemima knows her life is in need of a serious change. When she meets Brad, an eligible California hunk, over the Internet, she has the perfect opportunity to reinvent herselfâas JJ, the slim, beautiful, gym-obsessed glamour girl. But when her long-distance Romeo demands that they meet, she must conquer her food addiction to become the bone-thin model of her e-mailsâno small feat. With a fast-paced plot that never quits and a surprise ending no reader will see coming, Jemima J is the chronicle of one woman's quest to become the woman she's always wanted to be, learning along the way a host of lessons about attraction, addiction, the meaning of true love, and, ultimately, who she really is.
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Matilda
by Roald Dahl
From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It'll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it!"Matilda will surely go straight to children's hearts." âThe New York Times Book Review Cover may vary.
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Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (rack)
by Louise Rennison
The delightful story told by British teen Georgia Nicholson through her journals--a Michael L.
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Ballet Shoes
by Noel Streatfeild
Three orphan girls. A pair of pink slippers. A lifetime in the spotlight. Read the classic that has captivated generations! Pauline, Petrova, and Posy love their quiet life together. They are orphans who have been raised as sisters, and when their new family needs money, the girls want to help. They decide to join the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training to earn their keep. Each girl works hard following her dream. Pauline is destined for the movies. Posy is a born dancer. And Petrova? She finds she'd rather be a pilot than perform a pirouette. This beautiful children's classic is perfect for girls who love to dream about ballet, friendship, and finding their own special talents. Adult readers may remember them as the "Shoes" books from You've Got Mail!
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by J. K. Rowling
Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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A Bear Called Paddington
by Michael Bond
Paddington first charmed American audiences forty years ago. Now a new generation will surely be won over by Paddingtonâs particular brand of preposterous humor and gentle satire. The Browns first meet Paddington on a railway platform in London. He is sitting on a battered suitcase, wearing an odd-looking hat and a sign around his neck that reads, "Please look after this bear. Thank you.â And that is just what they do, unaware that home will never be the same once Paddington becomes a member of the family.
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Winnie the Pooh
by A. A. Milne
Happy 90th birthday, to one of the world's most beloved icons of children's literature, Winnie-the-Pooh! The adventures of Pooh and Piglet, Kanga and tiny Roo, Owl, Rabbit, and the ever doleful Eeyore are timeless treasures of childhood. In this beautiful edition of Winnie-the-Pooh, each of Ernest H. Shepard's beloved original illustrations has been meticulously hand painted. Bright in color and elegant in design, this lovely volume of Milne's classic tales welcomes friends old and new into the most enchanted of places, the Hundred Acre Wood.
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Peter Pan (100th Anniversary Edition)
by J. M. Barrie
The adventures of Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up.
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Babyface
by Fiona Gibson
When journalist Nina meets Jonathan through the personals, she doesn't expect it to lead to an unplanned pregnancy, gossipy new-mommy groups and a dull-as-dishwater partner.
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Farm Fatale: A Comedy of Country Manors
by Wendy Holden
From the bestselling author of "Simply Divine": two city couples converge on the quaint village of Eight Mile Bottom and are soon swept up in romantic entanglements, mix-ups, slipups, and unlikely seductions in their search for ever-greener pastures.
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I Don't Know How She Does It
by Allison Pearson
Delightfully smart and heartbreakingly poignant, Allison Pearsonâs smash debut novel has exploded onto bestseller lists as âThe national anthem for working mothers.â Hedge-fund manager, wife, and mother of two, Kate Reddy manages to juggle nine currencies in five time zones and keep in step with the Teletubbies. But when she finds herself awake at 1:37 a.m. in a panic over the need to produce a homemade pie for her daughterâs school, she has to admit her life has become unrecognizable. With panache, wisdom, and uproarious wit, I Donât Know How She Does It brilliantly dramatizes the dilemma of every working mom.
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Good Night, Mr. Tom
by Michelle Magorian
London is poised on the brink of World War 11. Timid, scrawny Willie Beech -- the abused child of a single mother -- is evacuated to the English countryside. At first, he is terrified of everything, of the country sounds and sights, even of Mr. Tom, the gruff, kindly old man who has taken him in. But gradually Willie forgets the hate and despair of his past. He learns to love a world he never knew existed, a world of friendship and affection in which harsh words and daily beatings have no place. Then a telegram comes. Willie must return to his mother in London. When weeks pass by with no word from Willie, Mr. Tom sets out for London to look for the young boy he has come to love as a son.
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84, Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff
Correspondence between Helene Hanff and agents of Marks & Co., chiefly Frank Doel.
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Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro
A reunion with two childhood friends draws Kathy and her companions on a nostalgic odyssey into their lives at Hailsham, an isolated private school in the English countryside, and a confrontation with the truth about their childhoods.
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The Post-Birthday World
by Lionel Shriver
American children's book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a secure, settled life in London with her smart, loyal, disciplined partner, Lawrenceâuntil the night she finds herself inexplicably drawn to kissing another man, a passionate, extravagant, top-ranked snooker player. Two competing alternate futures hinge on this single kiss, as Irina's decisionâto surrender to temptation or to preserve her seemingly safe partnership with Lawrenceâwill have momentous consequences for her career, her friendships and familial relationships, and the texture of her daily life.
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Diana
by Sarah Bradford
With the authority missing from previous accounts, as well as remarkable new sources and firsthand accounts, acclaimed royal biographer Sarah Bradford delivers a complex and explosive study of one of the most popular figures of the 20th century.
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Case Histories
by Kate Atkinson
The first book in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie Mysteries series, called "The best mystery of the decade" by Stephen King, finds private investigator Jackson Brodie following three seemingly unconnected family mysteries in Edinburgh Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night. Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack. Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape. Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .
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Face
by Benjamin Zephaniah
A teenage boy's face is disfigured in an automobile accident, and he must learn to deal with the changes in his life.
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Astonishing Splashes of Colour
by Clare Morrall
Taking its title from a description of Peter Pan's Neverland, Astonishing Splashes of Colour follows the life of Kitty, a woman who, in a sense, has never grown up. As her moods swing dramatically from high to low, they are illuminated by an unusual ability to interpret people and emotions through colour. Kitty struggles to come to terms with her life, including the loss of her mother, a miscarriage, and an unconventional marriage to her husband, who lives in the apartment next door. And when her father and brothers reveal a family secret long hidden, it overwhelms Kitty's tenuous hold on reality and propels her on an impetuous journey to the brink of madness. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
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ODD GIRL OUT
by Elizabeth Jane Howard
From Simon & Schuster, Odd Girl Out is Elizabeth Jane Howard's latest masterpiece. Anne and Edmund Cornhill lead idyllic existence all just outside of London -- until they open their hearts to Arabella, the "lost little rich girl" whose self-indulgent mother -- once married to Edmund's father -- wants a holiday from her burdensome twenty-two-year-old daughter. But what begins as a propitious arrangement spirals into a bewildering tangle of love, loneliness, and longing.
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The Perfect Summer
by Juliet Nicolson
Chronicling four months during 1911, a portrait of an English society on the brink of change describes such events as the crowning of a new king, strikes that paralyzed industry, and the first London appearance of the Ballets Russes.
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The Royals
by Kitty Kelley
The #1 New York Times bestselling, controversial portrait of the British royal family -- as told from behind the palace walls -- for fans of Netflix's The Crown and all royal watchers They are the most chronicled family on the face of the globe. Their every move attracts headlines. Now Kitty Kelley has gone behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Kensington Palace to raise the curtain on the men and women who make up the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Diana...here are the scandals of the last decades: the doomed marriages and the husbands, wives, lovers and children caught in their wake and damaged beyond repair. No one is spared.
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Game Over
by Adele Parks
Cas Perry wants nothing to do with love -- her dad walking out on her mother was quite enough romantic drama, thank you very much. And why should she bother with relationships when she can manipulate just about any man for sex? The steely-hearted TV producer plays with other people's love lives and orchestrates unscripted fireworks on the edgy reality show Sex with an Ex -- a ratings blockbuster that is sending her already-hot career skyrocketing. Now, the woman who has all the answers meets the man who, for the first time, poses questions other than "buy you a drink?". Stunningly handsome Darren would be a sensation on Sex with an Ex -- and Cas needs him to ensure the show's success. So why is she wining and dining the sexiest man she's ever met -- and talking about family values, marriage, and fidelity? Darren's principles are changing the rules of attraction. And this may be one game Cas won't mind losing....
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Do Try to Speak as We Do
by Marjorie Leet Ford
It seems like the perfect job: an upper middle class English family desperately needs a nanny. The father is an aspiring novelist, the children are well-heeled, and the mother's accent radiates with charm over the transatlantic phone. So young Melissa jumps at the chance to travel overseas and live an aristocratic life of tea and crumpets. But her romantic notions are shattered when she becomes an unwitting target of the family's genteel snobbery, icy wrath, and ridiculous misunderstandings. Melissa's letters home cast a sharp eye and quick wit on the family's bizarre cast of friends and relatives, but she eventually learns that a little bit of understanding and tolerance can go a long way - and can even teach her more about herself.
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Wonderful Tonight
by Pattie Boyd
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ⢠For the first time, rock musicâs most famous muse tells her incredible story âA charming, lively and seductive book . . . The appeal of Wonderful Tonight is as self-evident as the seemingly simple but brash opening chord of âA Hard Dayâs Night.âââThe New York Times Book Review Pattie Boyd, former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, finally breaks a forty-year silence and tells the story of how she found herself bound to two of the most addictive, promiscuous musical geniuses of the twentieth century and became the most legendary muse in the history of rock and roll. The woman who inspired Harrisonâs song âSomethingâ and Claptonâs anthem âLayla,â Pattie Boyd has written a book that is rich and raw, funny and heartbreakingâand totally honest.
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Having It and Eating It
by Sabine Durrant
Intelligent and funny, this novel is about how having young children can overturn an educated, middle-class woman's identity--like Bridget Jones with husband and kids.
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Cobwebs and Cream Teas
by Mary MacKie
When Mary Mackiešs husband became Houseman at Felbrigg Hall, one of the stately homes of Britain's National Trust, she suddenly found herself Assistant Drain-Clearer, Doorbell-Answerer, Flower Arranger, and Rodent Exterminator. But balancing all the hard work were the exciting discoveries and the certainty that life would never be dull again.