I was supposed to be having the time of my life.When Esther Greenwood wins an internship on a New York fashion magazine in 1953, she is elated, believing she will finally realise her dream to become a writer. But in between the cocktail parties and piles of manuscripts, Esther's life begins to slide out of control. She finds herself spiralling into serious depression as she grapples with difficult relationships and a society which refuses to take her aspirations seriously.The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, was originally published in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. The novel is partially based on Plath's own life and descent into mental illness, and has become a modern classic. Read more

SISTERHOOD. SECRETS. SURVIVAL.Discover the haunting, heart-breaking post-apocalyptic TikTok sensation.Deep underground, thirty-nine women are kept in isolation in a cage. Above ground, a world awaits. Has it been abandoned? Devastated by a virus?Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. But, as the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone an outcast in the corner.Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. The woman who will never know men.WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, BOOKER PRIZE-LONGLISTED AUTHOR OF THE WATER CURE Read more

THE INSTANT NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR'Want makes for addictive reading . . . compelling' Guardian'I just loved reading it. It's exceptional' Fearne Cotton, Happy Place'An empowering project' Stylist'Extremely sexy . . . Want is the horny manifesto your TBR list will thank you for' CosmopolitanWhat do you want when no one is watching?What do you want, when the lights are off?What do you want, when you are anonymous?When we talk about sex, we talk about womanhood and motherhood, infidelity and exploitation, consent and respect, fairness and egalitarianism, love and hate, pleasure and pain. And yet so many of us don't talk about it at all. In this groundbreaking book, Gillian Anderson collects and introduces the anonymous sexual fantasies of women from around the world (along with her own anonymous submission). They are all extraordinary: full of desire, fear, intimacy, shame, satisfaction and, ultimately, liberation. From dreaming about someone off-limits to conjuring a scene with multiple partners, from sex that is gentle and tender to passionate and playful, from women who have never had sex to women who have had more sex than they can remember, these fantasies provide a window into the most secret part of our minds. Want reveals how women feel about sex when they have the freedom to be totally themselves. Read more

*THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER**OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD*Discover the shocking gender bias that affects our everyday lives in this groundbreaking gift of a book.'Nothing delights me more than a well-written and well-researched book that teaches you and never bores you' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie'HELL YES. This is one of those books that has the potential to change things - a monumental piece of research' Caitlin MoranImagine a world where...· Your phone is too big for your hand· Your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body· In a car accident you are 47% more likely to be injured.If any of that sounds familiar, chances are you're a woman.From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, and the media. Invisible Women reveals how in a world built for and by men we are systematically ignoring half of the population, often with disastrous consequences. Caroline Criado Perez brings together for the first time an impressive range of case studies, stories and new research from across the world that illustrate the hidden ways in which women are forgotten, and the profound impact this has on us all.Find out more in Caroline's podcast, Visible Women.'A book that changes the way you see the world' Sunday Times'Revelatory, frightening, hopeful' Jeanette Winterson Read more

An Instant Sunday Times BestsellerOne of the most anticipated books of 2024 according to The Times, Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman, The Independent, The Scotsman, Time and moreShouldn't we know what we're arguing about?From one of the most influential thinkers of our time, an enlightening, essential account of how a fear of gender is fuelling reactionary politics around the world Judith Butler, the ground-breaking philosopher whose work has redefined how we think about gender and sexuality, confronts the attacks on gender that have become central to right-wing movements today. Global networks have formed ‘anti-gender ideology movements’ dedicated to circulating a fantasy that gender is a dangerous threat to families, local cultures, civilization – and even ‘man’ himself. Inflamed by the rhetoric of public figures, this movement has sought to abolish reproductive justice, undermine protections against violence, and strip trans and queer people of their rights.But what, exactly, is so disturbing about gender? In this vital, courageous book, Butler carefully examines how ‘gender’ has become a phantasm for emerging authoritarian regimes, fascist formations and transexclusionary feminists, and the concrete ways in which this phantasm works. Operating in tandem with deceptive accounts of critical race theory and xenophobic panics about migration, the anti-gender movement demonizes struggles for equality and leaves millions of people vulnerable to subjugation.An essential intervention into one of the most fraught issues of our moment, Who's Afraid of Gender? is a galvanizing call to make a broad coalition with all those who struggle for equality and fight injustice. Imagining new possibilities for freedom and solidarity, Butler offers us an essentially hopeful work that is both timely and timeless. Read more

** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER **Discover the dystopian novel that started a phenomenon.Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford – her assigned name, Offred, means ‘of Fred’. She has only one function: to breed. If Offred refuses to enter into sexual servitude to repopulate a devastated world, she will be hanged. Yet even a repressive state cannot eradicate hope and desire. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks, Offred must navigate through the terrifying landscape of torture and persecution in the present day, and between two men upon which her future hangs.'A fantastic, chilling story. And so powerfully feminist' Bernadine Evaristo‘As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it’ Guardian Read more

BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR: AUDIOBOOK WINNER 2024NERO BOOK AWARDS WINNER 2023WINNER, NON FICTION BOOK 2023, BOOKS ARE MY BAG AWARDSSHORTLIST, BOOKSHOP.ORG INDIE CHAMPIONSSHORTLIST, AMAZON NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLIST, GOODREADS CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEARAudible Books of the Year 2023The Times Books of the Year 2023Apple Best Audiobooks of 2023BOOKSHOP.ORG Book of the Month January 2024THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'I tore through this hilarious, smart, sad, revealing book' - Bob Odenkirk'Funny, sharp and has incredible clarity' - Jon Ronson'An absolute riot. I'm literally going to read it again once I've finished, and I'm a miserable bastard...it's a belter' - FRANKIE BOYLE'Strong Female Character is a testament to the importance of self-knowledge.' - Rachael Healy, The GuardianA summary of my book:1. I'm diagnosed with autism 20 years after telling a doctor I had it.2. My terrible Catholic childhood: I hate my parents etc.3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me. I get groomed.4. Homelessness.5. Stripping.6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.7. I hate everyone at uni and live with a psycho etc.8. REDACTED as too spicy.9. After everyone tells me I don't look autistic, I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.'Fern's book, like everything she does, is awesome. Incredibly funny, and so unapologetically frank that I feel genuinely sorry for her lawyers.' - PHIL WANG'Of course it's funny - it's Fern Brady - but this book is also deeply moving and eye-opening'- ADAM KAY'It made me laugh out loud and broke my heart and made me weep...I hope absolutely everyone reads this, and it makes them kinder and more curious about the way we all live' - DAISY BUCHANAN'Glorious. Frank but nuanced, a memoir that doesn't sacrifice voice or self-awareness. And it has brilliant things to say about being autistic and being funny' - ELLE MCNICOLL'A set text for all of us in 2023' - DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE'Fern is a brilliant, beautiful writer with a unique voice and even more unique story. Astute, honest and very, very funny.' - LOU SANDERS'So funny and brilliant' - HOLLY SMALE'Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, Strong Female Character is a necessary corrective. Brady offers a compelling, messy, highly resonant portrait of what masked Autism feels like.' - Devon Price, author of Unmasking Autism Read more

A brilliantly fun and empowering picture book about all the incredible things girls can do!Girls can be scruffy or muddy or smelly.Girls can be fancy, like people on telly.All girls are different...but one thing is true...there's NO other girl on the planet like you!Girls are fantastic! They're strong, brave and proud.They can climb up a mountain, fly a rocket into space, or even explore a hot jungle. Girls can do ANYTHING they put their minds to, just like you!So dive into the colourful pages of this picture book to explore all the wonderful and amazing things girls can do and remember to dream BIG!Bright and bold illustrations to delight you on every pageA perfect gift to empower girls to dream BIG and do anything they want!With lyrical and rhythmic prose from Caryl Hart, this will delight parents, teachers and carers reading it again and againEducational and colourful endpapers at the back showing you lots of famous women, as well as activity sheets and lesson plans to go alongside the book to bring it alive in a classroom Read more

**Winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award**‘A superb portrait of the complex imprint the countryside makes on the life of the mind … A treasure’ Doireann Ní GhríofaIn Rural Hours, Harriet Baker tells the story of three very different women, each of whom moved to the countryside and was forever changed by it. We encounter them at quiet moments – pausing to look at an insect on the windowsill; jotting down a recipe; or digging for potatoes, dirt beneath their nails. Slowly, we start to see transformations unfold: Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Rosamond Lehmann emerge before us as the passionate, visionary writers we know them to be. Following long periods of creative uncertainty and private disappointment, each of Baker's subjects is invigorated by new landscapes, and the daily trials and small pleasures of making a home; slowly, they embark on new experiments in form, in feeling and in living that would resonate throughout the rest of their lives. In the country, each woman finds her path: to convalescence and recovery; to sexual and political awakening; and, above all, to personal freedom and creative flourishing. In graceful, fluid prose, Baker vividly recreates these overlooked episodes, revealing how ‘rural hours’ defined the lives of three pioneering writers. In the end, she shows, their example is an invitation to us all: to recognize the radical and creative potential of rural places, and find new enchantment in the rituals of each day.‘Warm, perceptive, eloquent … Like Baker’s protagonists in their countryside boltholes I felt “socketed” by this book. I know I’ll return to it again and again’ Lauren Elkin‘A meditative exploration of renewal, visionariness, grievous loss, and love – cool and passionate, fragile and enduring’ David Hayden Read more

Florence's Given new book WOMEN LIVING DELICIOUSLY is out in October!'THE BEAUTY MYTH' FOR THE INSTAGRAM GENERATIONWomen Don't Owe You Pretty is the ultimate book for anyone who wants to challenge the out-dated narratives supplied to us by the patriarchy.Through Florence's story you will learn how to protect your energy, discover that you are the love of your own life, and realise that today is a wonderful day to dump them.Florence Given is here to remind you that you owe men nothing, least of all pretty.WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT (AND A LOAD OF UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS).THE FEMINIST BOOK EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT.'An incredible mouthpiece for modern intersectional feminism.' - Glamour'A fearless book.' - Cosmopolitan 'A hugely influential young woman.' - Woman's Hour 'Rallying, radical and pitched perfectly for her generation.' - Evening StandardSunday Times bestseller in June 2020 Read more

'Groundbreaking research . . . Women Who Think Too Much tells why overthinking occurs, why it hurts people, and how to stop' USA TodayIt's no surprise that our fast-paced, overly self-analytical culture is pushing many people - especially women - to spend countless hours thinking about negative ideas, feelings, and experiences. Renowned psychologist Dr Susan Nolen-Hoeksema calls this overthinking, and her groundbreaking research shows that an increasing number of women - more than half of those in her extensive study - are doing it too much and too often, leading to sadness, anxiety, and depression. In Women Who Think Too Much, Nolen-Hoeksema shows us what causes so many women to be overthinkers and provides concrete strategies that can be used to escape these negative thoughts, move to higher ground, and live more productively. Women Who Think Too Much will change lives, and is destined to become a self-help classic. Read more

BRITISH BOOK OF THE YEAR: AUDIOBOOK WINNER 2024NERO BOOK AWARDS WINNER 2023WINNER, NON FICTION BOOK 2023, BOOKS ARE MY BAG AWARDSSHORTLIST, BOOKSHOP.ORG INDIE CHAMPIONSSHORTLIST, AMAZON NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLIST, GOODREADS CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEARAudible Books of the Year 2023The Times Books of the Year 2023Apple Best Audiobooks of 2023BOOKSHOP.ORG Book of the Month January 2024THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'I tore through this hilarious, smart, sad, revealing book' - Bob Odenkirk'Funny, sharp and has incredible clarity' - Jon Ronson'An absolute riot. I'm literally going to read it again once I've finished, and I'm a miserable bastard...it's a belter' - FRANKIE BOYLE'Strong Female Character is a testament to the importance of self-knowledge.' - Rachael Healy, The GuardianA summary of my book:1. I'm diagnosed with autism 20 years after telling a doctor I had it.2. My terrible Catholic childhood: I hate my parents etc.3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me. I get groomed.4. Homelessness.5. Stripping.6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.7. I hate everyone at uni and live with a psycho etc.8. REDACTED as too spicy.9. After everyone tells me I don't look autistic, I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.'Fern's book, like everything she does, is awesome. Incredibly funny, and so unapologetically frank that I feel genuinely sorry for her lawyers.' - PHIL WANG'Of course it's funny - it's Fern Brady - but this book is also deeply moving and eye-opening'- ADAM KAY'It made me laugh out loud and broke my heart and made me weep...I hope absolutely everyone reads this, and it makes them kinder and more curious about the way we all live' - DAISY BUCHANAN'Glorious. Frank but nuanced, a memoir that doesn't sacrifice voice or self-awareness. And it has brilliant things to say about being autistic and being funny' - ELLE MCNICOLL'A set text for all of us in 2023' - DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE'Fern is a brilliant, beautiful writer with a unique voice and even more unique story. Astute, honest and very, very funny.' - LOU SANDERS'So funny and brilliant' - HOLLY SMALE'Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, Strong Female Character is a necessary corrective. Brady offers a compelling, messy, highly resonant portrait of what masked Autism feels like.' - Devon Price, author of Unmasking Autism Read more

*THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER**OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD*Discover the shocking gender bias that affects our everyday lives in this groundbreaking gift of a book.'Nothing delights me more than a well-written and well-researched book that teaches you and never bores you' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie'HELL YES. This is one of those books that has the potential to change things - a monumental piece of research' Caitlin MoranImagine a world where...· Your phone is too big for your hand· Your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body· In a car accident you are 47% more likely to be injured.If any of that sounds familiar, chances are you're a woman.From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, and the media. Invisible Women reveals how in a world built for and by men we are systematically ignoring half of the population, often with disastrous consequences. Caroline Criado Perez brings together for the first time an impressive range of case studies, stories and new research from across the world that illustrate the hidden ways in which women are forgotten, and the profound impact this has on us all.Find out more in Caroline's podcast, Visible Women.'A book that changes the way you see the world' Sunday Times'Revelatory, frightening, hopeful' Jeanette Winterson Read more

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, SUNDAY POST AND iPAPER BESTSELLERAnd I have done more than just simply get bySo much more than escape or surviveThrough the galvanisation of love, time and patienceI'll take hold of my story and thrive.After life that was seldom what life ought to beThrough laughter and love I'll be wholeThis story is mine from the cover to spineAnd the narrative I will controlWhether she's writing letters to her younger self, advocating for women's rights or adapting fairy tales to process an abusive relationship, Len's voice is bold, unashamedly frank and unmistakably hers. The poems in this collection, both funny and fiercely feminist, announce a formidable new talent. Moving deftly between English and Scots, poyums is as approachable as it is affecting. Read more

'My favourite person on the politics of parenthood' Pandora Sykes'Exhilarating, infuriating, urgent and human' Daisy Buchanan'A blazing, brilliant read ... compassionate, convincing, funny!' Amy Liptrot'Honest, unflinching and necessary' Sara Pascoe'Funny and brisk ... urgent and incisive' Rob Delaney'A timely and important book' Clover StroudIt's time to share the motherload.A memoir culminating in a manifesto, Holding the Baby sets out to understand why we still treat early parenthood as an individual slog rather than a shared cultural responsibility. Tracing her own journey to the nadir of sleeplessness via social retreat and murderous rage, Frizzell draws on the latest research to explore:- What effect does parenting have on your career?- How can we make childcare affordable and fit for purpose?- If parenting is so hard, why does anyone ever do it more than once?Funny, reassuring and radically ambitious, Holding the Baby sheds light on the ways in which we fail new parents, and offers a rallying crying that we fight for a better alternative. Read more

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER‘A lasting work of social history’ THE TIMES‘A genuinely new history of our nation’ DAN JONES‘This celebration of women is a triumph of popular history’ SPECTATOR'Philippa Gregory uses all her bestseller skills to weave a narrative with pace' ANTONIA FRASERFROM THE MULTI-MILLION BESTSELLING HISTORICAL NOVELIST COMES THE CULMINATION OF HER LIFE’S WORKDid you know that there are more penises than women in the Bayeux Tapestry?That the Peasant’s Revolt was started and propelled by women, protesting a tax on women?Or that celebrated naturalist Charles Darwin believed not just that women were naturally inferior to men but that they’d evolve to become ever more inferior?These are just a few of the startling findings you will learn from reading Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women. In this ambitious and ground-breaking book, she tells the story of our nation over 900 years, but for the very first time women – some fifty per cent of the population – are no longer invisible in this history of England, but are at its beating heart.Using research skills honed in her work as one of our foremost historical novelists, Gregory trawled through court records to find highway women, beggars and shepherdesses, through newspapers and diaries to find murderers and brides, housewives and pirates, female husbands and hermits. The ‘normal women’ you will meet in her pages went to war, ploughed the fields, campaigned, wrote, and loved. They rode in jousts, flew Spitfires, issued their own currency and built ships, corn mills and houses as part of their everyday lives They committed crimes, or treason, worshipped many gods, cooked and nursed, invented things and rioted. A lot. They built our society to be as diverse and varied as the women themselves. They are there in the archives – if you look – and they made our history.‘You’ll lose count of the number of things you learn about women and their skewed place in history … the book reframes the past … an essential read’ INDEPENDENT, FIVE-STAR REVIEWPhilippa Gregory's book 'Normal Women' was a No.2 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2024-09-30. Read more

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER‘A lasting work of social history’ THE TIMES‘A genuinely new history of our nation’ DAN JONES‘This celebration of women is a triumph of popular history’ SPECTATORFROM THE MULTI-MILLION BESTSELLING HISTORICAL NOVELIST COMES THE CULMINATION OF HER LIFE’S WORKDid you know that there are more penises than women in the Bayeux Tapestry?That the Peasant’s Revolt was started and propelled by women, protesting a tax on women?Or that celebrated naturalist Charles Darwin believed not just that women were naturally inferior to men but that they’d evolve to become ever more inferior?These are just a few of the startling findings you will learn from reading Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women. In this ambitious and ground-breaking book, she tells the story of our nation over 900 years, but for the very first time women – some fifty per cent of the population – are no longer invisible in this history of England, but are at its beating heart.Using research skills honed in her work as one of our foremost historical novelists, Gregory trawled through court records to find highway women, beggars and shepherdesses, through newspapers and diaries to find murderers and brides, housewives and pirates, female husbands and hermits. The ‘normal women’ you will meet in her pages went to war, ploughed the fields, campaigned, wrote, and loved. They rode in jousts, flew Spitfires, issued their own currency and built ships, corn mills and houses as part of their everyday lives They committed crimes, or treason, worshipped many gods, cooked and nursed, invented things and rioted. A lot. They built our society to be as diverse and varied as the women themselves. They are there in the archives – if you look – and they made our history.‘You’ll lose count of the number of things you learn about women and their skewed place in history as you read Philippa Gregory’s stunning Normal Women … the book reframes the past … an essential read’ INDEPENDENT, FIVE-STAR REVIEWPhilippa Gregory's book 'Normal Women' was a No.2 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2024-09-30. Read more

The international classic and bestseller, Maya Angelou's memoir paints a portrait of 'a brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman' (BARACK OBAMA).'I write about being a Black American woman, however, I am always talking about what it's like to be a human being. This is how we are, what makes us laugh, and this is how we fall and how we somehow, amazingly, stand up again' Maya AngelouIn this first volume of her seven books of autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. Loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. As a Black woman she has known discrimination, violence and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement and celebration. 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity' JAMES BALDWIN'She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds' OPRAH WINFREY'She was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate' TONI MORRISON Read more

'So great I am struggling to find the words to do it justice' Marian KeyesA Book of the Year for The Times, Observer, Independent and Good Housekeeping'A rare pleasure' Sunday Times'Riveting' Elizabeth Day'A perfect, funny, insightful, novel about women, friendship, and ageing' Nina Stibbe'A lovely, lively, intelligent, funny book' Tessa Hadley'Glorious . . . Charlotte Wood joins the ranks of writers such as Nora Ephron, Penelope Lively and Elizabeth Strout' GuardianSylvie, Jude, Wendy and Adele have been friends for decades, but when Sylvie dies, the ground shifts dangerously for the remaining three.These women couldn't be more different: Jude, a once-famous restaurateur with a long-standing affair with a married man; Wendy, an acclaimed feminist intellectual; Adele, a former star of the stage, now practically homeless. Struggling to recall exactly why they've remained close all these years, the grieving women gather for one last weekend at Sylvie's old beach house. But fraying tempers, an elderly dog, unwelcome guests and too much wine collide in a storm that threatens to sweep away their friendship for good. Read more

'Truly wonderful... Anna Funder has written another brilliant human portrait.' - Claire Tomalin A BLAZING, GENRE-BENDING MASTERPIECE FROM ONE OF THE MOST INVENTIVE WRITERS OF OUR TIMELooking for wonder and some reprieve from the everyday, Anna Funder slips into the pages of her hero George Orwell. As she watches him create his writing self, she tries to remember her own . . .When she uncovers his forgotten wife, it's a revelation. Eileen O'Shaughnessy's literary brilliance shaped Orwell's work and her practical nous saved his life. But why - and how - was she written out of the story?Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells' marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WW II in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell's private life she is led to question what it takes to be a writer - and what it is to be a wife.Compelling and utterly original, Wifedom speaks to the unsung work of women everywhere today, while offering a breathtakingly intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the 20th century. It is a book that speaks to our present moment as much as it illuminates the past.'Simply, a masterpiece. Here, Anna Funder not only re-makes the art of biography, she resurrects a woman in full. And this in a narrative that grips the reader and unfolds through some of the most consequential moments - historical and cultural - of the twentieth century.' Geraldine Brooks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Read more