Recommendations based on "Seeds of Yesterday"

'An outstanding work' – Philippa Gregory 'A powerful narrative told with frankness and sensitivity' Helen Fry, historian and author of Women In Intelligence

The life of the Egyptian queen who gained and maintained power over her kingdom through her alliance with Julius Caesar and later Marc Antony.

From the celebrated author of the international bestseller The Secret Life of Bees comes an extraordinary novel about two exceptional women.Sarah Grimké is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ...A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, THE INVENTION OF WINGS evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.

Wife. Mother. Politician. Traitor. Fighter. Survivor. CECILY "Rebellion?" The word is a spark. They can start a fire with it, or smother it in their fingertips. She chooses to start a fire. You are born high, but marry a traitor's son. You bear him twelve children, carry his cause and bury his past. You play the game, against enemies who wish you ashes. Slowly, you rise. You are Cecily. But when the King who governs you proves unfit, what then? Loyalty or treason - death may follow both. The board is set. Time to make your first move. Told through the eyes of its greatest unseen protagonist, this astonishing debut plunges you into the blood and exhilaration of the first days of the Wars of the Roses, a war as women fight it.

Dreams of stardom had lured Martyn Tarne from faraway New Zealand to make the dreary, soul-destroying round of West End agents and managers in search of work. The Vulcan Theatre had been her last forlorn hope, and now, driven by sheer necessity, she was glad to accept the humble job of dresser to its leading lady. And then came the eagerly awaited Opening Night. To Martyn the night brought a strange turn of the wheel of fortune - but to one distinguished member of the cast it was to bring sudden and unforeseen death

ANNE LISTER IS THE INSPIRATION FOR GENTLEMAN JACK, THE ACCLAIMED BBC/HBO SERIES BY SALLY WAINWRIGHT, STARRING SURANNE JONES.'The Lister diaries are the Dead Sea Scrolls of lesbian history; they changed everything. By resurrecting them and editing them with such loving attention and intelligence, Helena Whitbread has earned the gratitude of a whole generation' EMMA DONOGHUE'Engaging, revealing, at times simply astonishing: Anne Lister's diaries are an indispensable read' SARAH WATERSWhen Helena Whitbread first published excerpts from Anne Lister's diary, which was written in a complicated, esoteric code, it was hailed as a lost piece of lesbian history. Whitbread has devoted years to researching and transcribing Lister's extensive journals; the 'crypthand' had allowed Lister to record her life in intimate, and at times, explicit, detail. It was the first time her story had been told.This second volume continues the story of one of the most remarkable women of her time: landowner, industrialist, traveller and lesbian. Anne Lister arrives in post-revolutionary Paris in 1824, attempting to recover from a doomed love affair with a married woman. There she becomes emotionally entangled with a young widow. Anne's efforts, firstly to extricate herself from this new 'scrape' and then to make a choice between the two women in her life, provides an absorbing sexual and social drama.We follow Anne Lister to Buxton, Derbyshire, where a husband appears in hot pursuit of his straying wife who has, in turn, followed Anne there; in Halifax, the Yorkshire town of Anne's birth; to London; and to post-revolutionary Paris, a city alive with political intrigue. Anne's descriptive powers bring each scene vividly to life, providing a brilliant, kaleidoscopic background to her story.

'Brighter and better than Thomas Hardy . . . a marvellous writer' Eloise Millar, Guardian Prudence Sarn was born with her 'precious bane', a cleft palate, for which she is persecuted as a witch by her superstitious neighbours. Hiding from daily ridicule, Prue takes refuge in the wild Shropshire countryside, developing a profound love of nature. Furtively, Prue dreams of being desired, of being kissed on the lips, and harbours a hopeless passion for Kester Woodseaves, the weaver. Prue's brother, Gideon, is engaged to her only friend, but in his ambition for wealth at any cost, he incurs the wrath of his would-be father-in-law whose act of vengeance results in Prue being accused of murder. Only Kester, who has perceived her true worth, can defend her from the wrath of her accusers. Winner of the 1926 Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize, Precious Bane is a novel that enchants with its beauty and its timeless truths. 'With the publication of Precious Bane, a substantial readership came to respect Mary Webb's quiet genius . . . When she died at the age of 46, literature lost a voice that promised to speak for Shropshire as poignantly as Thomas Hardy had spoken for Wessex, Emily Bronte for Yorkshire - New York Times, ,

"The Heretic Queen" finds national bestselling author Moran returning to the politically charged world of ancient Egypt, spinning an intriguing story about the orphaned niece of Queen Nefertiti who becomes wife to Rameses the Great.

A classic school series with timeless appeal - and a fun new cover! Elizabeth doesn't want to go to boarding school - so she decides to be as naughty as she can! But she soon finds out it isn't as easy as it seems ...

1204 A.D. The Fools’ Guild is on the run from an increasingly intolerant Church. Arriving too late at the Guildhall to join them, the jester couple Theophilos and Claudia and their newborn daughter Portia must now flee the Papal army, having first risked their lives to steal, of all things, a tavern sign. As they journey across the Alps, Theophilos recounts to his wife a story from the Third Crusade, of the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and her dwarf jester, Scarlet.In 1191, as Richard the Lionhearted leads his forces in an attempt to recapture Jerusalem from the army of Saladin, Theophilos and Scarlet are quietly manipulating events to bring about an end to the bloodshed. Their mission leads them to Tyre, the only city in the Kingdom of Jerusalem to withstand Saladin. Governed by a rogue general, the city is aswarm with refugees, spies, and splintered factions vying for power and position, and even success may only prove fatal. The key chesspiece amidst the swirling intrigues remains Isabelle, the Queen of Jerusalem, desired by many but married against her will to a man decades her senior. But there are forces at work that will stop at nothing, and it is up to Scarlet to protect the interests of the Guild, the lives of the people, and the future of Isabelle.Drawn from actual events, The Widow of Jerusalem is a tale of intrigue and ambition, love fulfilled and love unrequited, and a trio of historical deaths that have never been fully explained. Until now.