A heartbreaking story of love, loss and survival following the unforgettable Daniel Pitt. From the multi-million copy bestselling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin.Returning from life as a fighter pilot in the First World War, Daniel Pitt is struggling to put the trauma of the Western Front behind him.As the 1920s dawn, he and his wife Rosie move to a tea plantation in Ceylon with their small daughter to make a fresh start. Yet navigating their new world could test their marriage to its limits.Back in England, Rosie's sisters are dealing with impossible challenges in their searches for family, purpose and happiness. These are precarious times, and taking unconventional means may be the only way to get what they want. Around them the world changes, and events in Germany take a dark and forbidding turn. And soon there is no going back...For more adventures with flying ace Daniel Pitt, see The Dust That Falls From Dreams and The Autumn of the Ace. Read more

'There is no one on earth quite so wonderful' STEPHEN FRY'As outrageously entertaining as you'd expect' Daily ExpressBAFTA-winning actor, voice of everything from Monkey to the Cadbury's Caramel Rabbit, creator of a myriad of unforgettable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, MIRIAM MARGOLYES, OBE, is the nation's favourite (and naughtiest) treasure. Now, at the age of 80, she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary life story - and it's well worth the wait.Find out how being conceived in an air-raid gave her curly hair; what pranks led to her being known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had; how she ended up posing nude for Augustus John as a teenager; why Bob Monkhouse was the best (male) kiss she's ever had; and what happened next after Warren Beatty asked 'Do you fuck?' From declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave to being told to be quiet by the Queen, this book is packed with brilliant, hilarious stories. With a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, a cross-dressing Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin, This Much Is True is as warm and honest, as full of life and surprises, as its inimitable author. Read more

With a Preface by Reni Eddo-Lodge and an Introduction by Sara Ahmed Audre Lorde (1934-92) described herself as 'Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet'. Her extraordinary belief in the power of language of speaking to articulate selfhood, confront injustice and bring about change in the world remains as transformative today as it was then, and no less urgent. Your Silence Will Not Protect You brings Lorde's poetry and prose together for the first time. Read more

Is music really the food of love?When a tiny lie to her crush leaves barmaid Jules Hawthorne needing to learn to play the piano in just six weeks, she’s determined to get the job done. She’s got a prophecy to fulfill, after all.Enter Billie Brooke, Whitebridge’s most famous resident, a professional musician who’s just mysteriously returned home with her tail between her legs and more baggage than a moving truck can handle.Billie’s the only piano teacher in town. Which is unfortunate, since Jules can’t stand the sight of her. Agreeing to lessons with Billie is like signing a deal with the devil. A very sexy devil. One with luscious curves, piercing eyes, and the self-confidence of jell-o. One that Jules finds herself thinking about far more often than she should…As it turns out, Jules is just what Billie needs. And Billie? Well, she’s got a few hidden talents of her own… Throw in a loquacious four year old musical genius, a get-rich-quick entrepreneur sister (and her best friend), a scheming grandfather, a noticeably absent clairvoyant mother, and a few familiar faces and this could just be a love story for the ages. If Jules and Billie can stop sniping long enough to realize their true feelings, that is...Play it Again, Ma’am is a lesbian romance featuring a very happy ending from bestselling Sapphic writer Sienna Waters, author of The Wrong Date, Crossing the Pond, and Teaching Hope. It is part of the Whitebridge series, but all novels can be read as stand-alones. Read more

Four artists are drawn into a web of rivalry and desire at an elite art school and on the streets of New York in this "gripping, provocative, and supremely entertaining" (BuzzFeed) debut National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree - "Captures the ache-inducing quality of art and desire . . . a deeply relatable and profoundly enjoyable read, one drenched in prismatic color and light."--Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of With TeethFINALIST FOR THE MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Glamour, PopSugar, DebutifulIt's 2011: America is in a deep recession and Occupy Wall Street is escalating. But at the elite Wrynn College of Art, students paint and sculpt in a rarefied bubble. Louisa Arceneaux is a thoughtful, observant nineteen-year-old when she transfers to Wrynn as a scholarship student, but she soon finds herself adrift in an environment that prizes novelty over beauty. Complicating matters is Louisa's unexpected attraction to her charismatic roommate, Karina Piontek, the preternaturally gifted but mercurial daughter of wealthy art collectors. Gradually, Louisa and Karina are drawn into an intense sensual and artistic relationship, one that forces them to confront their deepest desires and fears. But Karina also can't shake her fascination with Preston Utley, a senior and anti-capitalist Internet provocateur, who is publicly feuding with visiting professor and political painter Robert Berger--a once-controversial figurehead seeking to regain relevance. When Preston concocts an explosive hoax, the fates of all four artists are upended as each is unexpectedly thrust into the cutthroat New York art world. Now all must struggle to find new identities in art, in society, and among each other. In the process, they must find either their most authentic terms of life--of success, failure, and joy--or risk losing themselves altogether. With a canny, critical eye, Sirens & Muses overturns notions of class, money, art, youth, and a generation's fight to own their future. Read more

‘there is a certain skill in delusion.in burying your head into the sand,or into the shoulder of whoever will let you.it might not be art,but it is damn near close-to take a few, spared words as gospel promisesand an unbothered body as a lover.if that is not talent, i do not know what is.’an unfortunate story of love, oranges, delusion and hatred. Read more

Every heart has a melody. Following it—or ignoring it—is the difference between an ordinary love and an extraordinary one. Tabitha Brickly should be happy. A nursing career she adores, beautiful children, a husband who loves her… she has it all. But lately, she can’t shake the feeling that something is missing. She’s tired. Emotionally drained. Empty. And her husband, the man who should be her rock, couldn’t care less. Then a chance encounter with an older—and distractingly sexy—woman changes everything… Jennifer Jennison wasn’t looking for a new love that day at the medical center, but fate clearly had other plans. Tabby is everything she shouldn’t want in a partner—young, inexperienced, married. And none of that seems to matter when they’re in each other’s arms. All that remains to be seen is if their affair will heal her broken heart, or destroy it... Overwhelming attraction brought them together. A world of obstacles, fears, and secrets stands between them. Can they overcome it all to claim their happily ever after? Or are they destined to remain star-crossed forever?Melody In Her Heart, book 1 in the Healing Hearts series, is a spicy, contemporary, lesbian, age-gap medical romance. Download today and get ready to lose yourself in Tabby and Jenni’s story. Read more

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL CHRISTOPHER BLAND PRIZE 2023**SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2023*'I read the book in one go. I laughed and cried like a baby, and was transported back to a time of innocence, clouded by the enormity of the harsh reality . . . Just amazing' CATHERINE ZETA JONES'As it happens, I was also a Jill in the eighties - but not half as good a Jill as real Jill' DAWN FRENCH'Jill met the crisis head on . . . She held the hands of so many men. She lost them, and remembered them, and somehow kept going' RUSSELL T DAVIESA heartbreaking, life-affirming memoir of love, loss and cabaret through the AIDS crisis, from IT'S A SIN's Jill NalderWhen Jill Nalder arrived at drama school in London in the early 1980s, she was ready for her life to begin. With her band of best friends - of which many were young, talented gay men with big dreams of their own - she grabbed London by the horns: partying with drag queens at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, hosting cabarets at her glamorous flat, flitting across town to any jobs she could get.But soon rumours were spreading from America about a frightening illness being dubbed the 'gay flu', and Jill and her friends now found their formerly carefree existence under threat.In this moving memoir, IT'S A SIN's Jill Nalder tells the true story of her and her friends' lives during the AIDS crisis -- juggling a busy West End career while campaigning for AIDS awareness and research, educating herself and caring for the sick. Most of all, she shines a light on those who were stigmatised and shamed, and remembers those brave and beautiful boys who were lost too soon.'Thank God for people like [Jill] . . . I cannot recommend this book highly enough' MICHAEL BALL'An engaging, moving account' TIMES SATURDAY REVIEW'Simultaneously devastating and uplifting' GRAZIA'Engrossing, heart-breaking and inspiring' MATT CAIN Read more

Kim Richmond is a 5’0” sassy blonde bombshell with a love of vintage dresses and killer heels. She is also a woman on the edge of losing her mind after her boyfriend cancels their holiday again. Accepting a two-week trip to the south of France courtesy of her best friend is the just what she needs. Staying at the five-star luxury Sapphire Hotel and Spa is like a dream come true. That is, until it all comes crashing down. Helene DuBois has been dumped again! The cosmos really has it out for her, well that’s how she sees it. There’s only one thing for it, she needs a holiday. A break away from her messy life. Sun, sea, scuba diving and absolutely NO women. A trip to Saint Tropez should do the trick. Rest and relaxation with no drama, perfect! What could go wrong? Seeing Kim Richmond sobbing in the hotel lobby would be one clue. Offering to share her suite with the blonde beauty would be the second. Read more

The real Anne Lister, and the official companion to the hit BBC series created by Sally Wainwright and starring Suranne Jones.In Gentleman Jack, historian and series consultant Anne Choma draws from the explosive diaries of Anne Lister to recreate the life and times of one of the most fascinating figures of the 19th century. Anne’s remarkable diaries, partly written in a secret code, detailed her innermost thoughts on everything from sex, menstruation and money to relationships, politics and society. As Choma shows, they have opened up a previously unknown world to us.Fearless, charismatic and determined to explore her lesbian sexuality, Anne forged her own path in a society that had no language to define her. This is the real Gentleman Jack, following Anne from her crumbling ancestral home in Yorkshire to the glittering courts of Denmark as she resolves to put past heartbreak behind her and find herself a wife. The official companion to the first series, it also features unpublished journal extracts decrypted for the first time, as well as a foreword by series creator Sally Wainwright. Read more

Piercing the shadows of the naked stage was a single shaft of rosy limelight, and in the centre of this was a girl: the most marvellous girl - I knew it at once! - that I had ever seen. 'Erotic and absorbing . . . Written with startling power' New York Times Book ReviewNan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins. Read more

Tim and Rachel Hendon are riding high on an ideal marriage and growing political success. Tim is already in the Cabinet, and as they celebrate yet another election victory, they have no idea that they are on the eve of a nightmare that's going to totally devastate their lives. After a high-profile murder, Katherine Sumner has disappeared. Is she the killer? Or will the information she has on top government officials make hers the next body to turn up on the coroner's table?Certain that Katherine is alive and in hiding, acclaimed reporter Laurie Forbes joins forces with Rachel Hendon to search out the truth behind one of the world's most secretive and dangerous organisations. . . Read more

There are three things that Sam Chambers knows to be fact. One, her heart is broken, two, her career is sinking, and three, she hasn’t a clue how to turn any of it around.When her new boss shakes things up at the photography company she works for, the last thing she expects is to be sent to Paris on a career changing project. Unbeknown to Sam, the brief glimpse of a dark-haired beauty at St Pancras is about to tip her world upside down.Anna Holland has the life she worked hard for. She’s successful, she lives in the city of love and she is in a steady relationship with a nice guy. The problem? Her nights are filled with the vision of a red haired woman. Nothing makes sense when the woman of her dreams shows up in Paris and her office.Together, they start a journey of exquisite discovery. Is there something more to their chance meeting? The unfathomable connection between them would suggest so. Read more

"Must-Read Poetry: October 2019" by Nick Ripatrazone, The Millions “Best Books of 2019,” Book RiotThis astonishing, self-assured debut leads us on an exploration to the stars and back, begging us to reconsider our boundaries of self, time, space, and knowledge. The speaker writes, “…the universe/is an arrow/without end/and it asks only one question;/How dare you?” Zig-zagging through the realms of nature, science, and religion, one finds St. Francis sighing in the corner of a studio apartment, tides that are caused by millions of oysters “gasping in unison,” an ark filled with women in its stables, and prayers that reach God fastest by balloon. There’s pathos: “When my new lover tells me I’m correct to love him, I/realize the sound isn’t metal at all. It’s not the coins rattling/ on concrete, but the fingers scraping to pick them up.” And humor, too: “…even the sun’s been sighing Not you again/when it sees me.” After reading this far-reaching, inventive collection, we too are startled, space struck, our pockets gloriously “filled with space dust.”"Online, month by month, I watched it happen: a new genre of poem was emerging, but I had no clue who was responsible. These brainy poems didn't wait to spout off trivia, historical and scientific—'Pavlov Was the Son of a Priest' (a characteristically quotable title) recalls that 'the moon smells like spent gunpowder,' then divulges some smoldering self-knowledge: 'I'm sorry/I couldn't hide my joy when you said lonely.' . . . [T]hese poems were fluent in funniness, retweetably jokey: 'I'm//the vice president of panic, and the president is/missing.' But once the play subsided, you found yourself moved—unaccountably, almost, until you discovered, reading back up the poem, that even the zaniest elements had several parts to play. What looked like a genre, I soon realized, was all the handiwork of one poet. Their name is Paige Lewis. . . . Don't doubt them."-—Christopher Spaide, Poetry Read more

Wyoming, 1963. A wild, unforgiving land where people live simple, unforgiving lives.When ranch hands Ennis and Jack take seasonal jobs on the isolated Brokeback Mountain, they find companionship in each other. And then they find something more.Brokeback Mountain tells the heartbreaking tale of an irresistible and hidden love spanning twenty years, and its tragic consequences. Based on a short story by Annie Proulx, this stage adaptation by Ashley Robinson, with songs by Dan Gillespie Sells, opened at @sohoplace in London’s West End in 2023. It was directed by Jonathan Butterell, and featured Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges as Jack and Ennis, with Eddi Reader performing the songs. As Annie Proulx said of the adaptation, ‘Brokeback Mountain has been recreated in several different forms, each with its own distinctive moods and impact. Ashley’s script is fresh and deeply moving, opening sight lines not visible in the original nor successive treatments.’ Read more

**WINNER** 2023 Lesfic Bard Awards, Category: RomanceCharlie Baxter has it all. A beautiful house, successful company and a set of tattoos that light women on fire at the mere sight of them. Not to mention, she’s tall and gorgeous! Life is good… Well, that is until her old music teacher calls insisting she return to her old school to take part in their annual charity ball. Charlie left Pickerton Academy behind twenty years ago. She also left behind the heartache caused by the only girl she ever loved.Emilie Martin is an international superstar. She’s had fame and fortune for the past two decades, but what she really wants now is a break. Maybe a couple of weeks in the English countryside and a visit to her old school is just what she needs. Sounds perfect, and it would be if it weren’t for the fact it meant seeing the one person Emilie has pined over for twenty years. The girl that got away. No, the girl Emilie threw away.With both women on a collision course with their past, can they put all the hurt behind them and start again? Can they keep their hands off each other long enough to really figure out what they want? Read more

“You’re beautiful, talented, and smart. Do you have what it takes to compete with me?”In the glittering world of Hollywood, Charlotte Adams reigns supreme as the owner of Iconic California Estates, a boutique real estate agency. With her towering height, svelte frame, and striking violet eyes, she is the epitome of an ice queen. Her employees are intimidated by her, but few know that beneath her icy exterior lies a frightened girl who escaped a family of abusers.When a rival realtor, Juliana Wilkinson, steals a client from ICE, Charlotte hires her as an agent. She sees potential in Juliana's ambition and knows that she can bring more money to the company. As Juliana settles into her new role, she finds herself drawn to Charlotte's mysterious demeanor. Despite their age gap and the fact that Juliana has never been with a woman before, they embark on a fake relationship to ward off the advances of a powerful client. Can Juliana break through the icy facade of Charlotte, or will their fake relationship be doomed to be just that- fake.ICE is the first novel in the Properties Of Love series. Indulge in the allure of Hollywood's most tantalizing love stories, where ice queens find their hearts thawed by the power of love. Read more