Category Archives: Travel Guides
The lady in the Palazzo
When Marlena moves with her husband to the small town of Orvieto, a large and ancient city in Umbria, to renovate a dilapidated sixteenth-century palazzo, she realises that the fastest way into the hearts and homes of her new neighbours is through their stomachs. In her third memoir about life in Italy, Marlena de Blasi
Mozambique Mysteries
MOZAMBIQUE MYSTERIES is about turning fifty and finding a new direction. Lisa St Aubin de Teran travelled to Mozambique and, for the first time in her much-travelled life, felt at home – in a place `so remote that few have visited it since the time of Vasco da Gama`. After three marriages and various affairs,
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont
On a rainy Sunday in January, the recently widowed Mrs Palfrey arrives at the Claremont Hotel where she will spend her remaining days. Her fellow residents are magnificently eccentric and endlessly curious, living off crumbs of affection and snippets of gossip. Together, upper lips stiffened, they fight off their twin enemies: boredom and the Grim
A View Of The Harbour
She let herself out of the large, untidy house and into her own beautiful, hyacinth-scented one. She sat down in the bay-window of her bedroom and combed her hair before the mirror. She took it all down and built it up again, but there was no one to see what she had done.In the faded
The Angel of Grozny
In the early hours of New Year`s Eve 1994, Russian troops invaded the Republic of Chechnya, plunging the country into a prolonged and bloody conflict. ?sne Seierstad reported regularly on the war, describing its effects on those trying to live their daily lives amidst the violence. In 2006 and 2007 she returned, travelling in secret,
The Night Watch
Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked out streets, illicit liaisons, sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch is the work of a truly brilliant and compelling storyteller. This is the story of four Londoners – three women and a young man with a past, drawn with absolute
The Cave Of The Yellow Dog
Davaa, a young filmmaker, returns to her native country and to the region where she grew up to show us life among the nomadic people. Through the touching story of the young girl Nansaa and her little dog Zochor, she depicts the freedom of life on the steppes, as well as the spirituality of the
Living in the Maniototo
All I had experienced, all the stories I had read or dreamed came to me the moment I, a stranger, turned the key in the lock of the unknown house.` In a sweltering basement in downtown Baltimore, Mavis Halleton, writer, ventriloquist and gossip, is struggling to write her novel when an unexpected invitation arrives. The
The Bookseller of Kabul
For more than twenty years, Sultan Khan defied the authorities to supply books to the people of Kabul. He was then arrested, interrogated and improsooned, and watched illiterate soldiers burn piles of his books in the street.Award-winning Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad spent four months living with him and his family in 2002. This is their
The Scapegoat
By chance, two men – one English, the other French – meet in a provincial railway station. Their physical resemblance is uncanny, and they spend the next few hours talking and drinking – until at last John, the Englishman, falls into a drunken stupour. It`s to be his last carefree moment, for when he wakes,
A Hundred And One Days – A Baghdad Journal
In January 2003 Asne Seierstad entered Baghdad on a ten-day visa. She was to stay for over three months, reporting on the war and its aftermath. A Hundred and One Days is her compelling account is her account of life in Baghdad in the lead up to, during and aftermath of the American invasion, and
My Kind Of Girl
Four middle-aged men, strangers to one another, await a train in Tundla station, Uttar Pradesh. Struck by the bliss and obliviousness of a passing young couple, they while away the long December`s night by telling of the secret loves of their own pasts. As night draws towards dawn, the station`s waiting room forms the backdrop
Skating to Antarctica
This strange and brilliant book recounts Jenny Diski`s journey to Antarctica last year, intercut with another journey into her own heart and soul…a book of dazzling variety, which weaves disquisitions on indolence, truth, inconsistency, ambiguousness, the elephant seal, Shackleton, boredom and over and over again memory, into a sparse narrative, caustic observation and vivid description
Breakfast at The Wolseley
Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day and nowhere is that fact more appreciated than at the Wolseley restaurant in London`s Piccadilly. The brainchild of Jeremy King and Chris Corbin – celebrated restaurateurs and founders of three of London`s most iconic dining destinations: The Ivy, The Caprice and J Sheekey
A Thousand Days in Tuscany
`A Thousand days in Tuscany` by Marlena de Blasi is the story of Marlena and her Venetian husband, Fernando, as they make a life for themselves on a forgotten patch of Earth where Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio collide. Amongst the many people they befriend is Barluzzo, an old sage who takes the couple under his
Pastry
New in paperback, this book from master chef Michel Roux dispels the myth that pastry making is complicated and beyond the reach of most cooks. Designed in an easy-to-follow format, this chunky compilation presents all of the classic pastries in the simplest possible way, along with an inspiring collection of superb recipes. Divided into 10
Orchards In The Oasis
Winner of the Guild of Food Writers Kate Whiteman Award for Work on Food and Travel 2011 Celebrated cookery writer Josceline Dimbleby is widely credited with introducing new ways of using spices to the domestic kitchen. This enchanting memoir explores the food influences of her rich and varied life and provides an outstanding collection of
1001 Whiskies You Must Try Before You Die
1001 Whiskies You Must Try Before You Die takes you on a fascinating global whisky tour – from Scotland and Ireland through North America, Japan, India, and the rest of the world, providing insight into the 1001 best and most exciting whiskies ever made. Fully updated for 2017, this is an invaluable resource for whisky
1001 Bikes To Dream of Riding Before You Die
Never before have so many bicycles been profiled within one beautifully illustrated volume. 1001 Bikes to Dream of Riding Before You Die explores in detail the greatest bikes of all time and from across the globe: from the early historic velocipedes of the 1890s to the arrival of today`s standard upright bikes that dominate the
For the Love of London: What Makes London Great by the People Who Make it Great
Londoners share their favourite aspects of the capital – featuring Sir Paul Smith, Dame Zaha Hadid, Stephen Fry, Martine Wright, Dom Joly, Don Letts, Henry Holland and many more. London is an epic story, with glorious locations that make your heart race and your head think. And, like all the best stories, it has wonderful
