An East End mother and daughter travel from London to work the hop fields of Kent in this gripping saga of love and loss on the eve of the Great War. The annual migration from London to the hop fields of Kent is normally a longed-for escape from the dust and grime of the East End. But this year Rose Fairleigh worries their departure will interrupt the slow-blossoming romance between her daughter Jess and postman Jack Barnes. Jack promises to visit and assures Rose he will keep an eye on her three sons, who are staying behind. Before he knows it, though, one of the boys is in trouble and it’s up to Jack to bring him home. Meanwhile in Kent, Jess’ life grows increasingly confusing as, full of promises and charm, the son of suffragette Lady Worlington turns his attentions to her . . . A heart-wrenching East End family drama, perfect for fans of Sheila Newberry and Downton Abbey.

Cockney Girl is a second-generation Jewish-British child's eyewitness account of tumultuous East London and her eccentric family in England 1934-1950. The writer was then aged 5-20. This zeitgeist, before, during and after World War Two, is based on memor

A gripping saga of love and loss on the eve of the Great War. The annual migration from London to the hop fields of Kent is normally a longed-for escape from the dust and grime of the East End. But this year Rose Fairleigh worries their departure will interrupt the slow-blossoming romance between her daughter Jess and postman Jack Barnes. Jack promises to visit and assures Rose he will keep an eye on her three sons, who are staying behind. Before he knows it, though, one of the boys is in trouble and it's up to Jack to bring him home. Meanwhile in Kent, Jess' life grows increasingly confusing as, full of promises and charm, the son of suffragette Lady Worlington turns his attentions to her... A heartwrenching East End family drama, perfect for fans of Sheila Newberry and Downton Abbey.

London is in flux. The clop of the hansom cab has given way to the madness of the motorcar. And Sherlock Holmes, safe in the bee-loud glades of the Sussex downs, is lured back to London when a problem is posed to him by Dr. Watson and Watson’s friend, Col. Higgins. Is the transformation of Eliza Doolittle from girl of the streets to duchess more than it seems? Is it really the work of Henry Higgins’s phonetics lessons or has another girl been substituted for her, and why? Has the original girl been murdered? Even Eliza’s father can’t say for sure. Posing as a rich American gangster, Holmes infiltrates the Higgins household. He meets Freddy, a seemingly ubiquitous suitor, and the mysterious Baron Von Stettin, Bavarian attaché. He brushes up against a doctor whose potions can turn Eliza from a spitfire into a kitten. And he faces a deadly enemy who had been thought dead for twenty years. The world of Sherlock Holmes will never be the same.

Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw, named after a Greek mythological figure. It was first presented on stage to the public in 1913.

A crime and a six-decade cover-up: the death of a fashion designer in the cesspit of vice and violence that was 1950s London. In 1954, Jean Mary Townsend was strangled with her own scarf and stripped of her underwear but not sexually assaulted. The subsequent police investigation was bungled, leading to a six-decade cover-up, ensuring that this twenty-one-year-old fashion designer was effectively killed twice: first bodily, and then as her significance and her memory were erased. Fred Vermorel's forensic, troubling (and trouble-making) investigation digs deep into Jean Townsend's life and times, and her transgressive bohemian milieu. It disentangles the lies and bluffs that have obscured this puzzling case for over half a century and offers a compelling solution to her murder and the official secrecy surrounding it. More than just a true crime story, Vermorel's investigation deploys Townsend's death as a wild card methodology for probing the 1950s: a cesspit of vice and violence, from coprophiles to bombsite gangs and flick knives in the cinema. Densely illustrated with archival material, Dead Fashion Girl is a heavily researched, darkly curious exposé of London's 1950s society that touches on celebrity, royalty, the postwar establishment, and ultimately, tragedy.

The quintessential A to Z guide to British English—perfect for every egghead and bluestocking looking to conquer the language barrier Oscar Wilde once said the Brits have "everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language." Any visitor to Old Blighty can sympathize with Mr. Wilde. After all, even fluent English speakers can be at sixes and sevens when told to pick up the "dog and bone" or "head to the loo," so they can "spend a penny." Wherever did these peculiar expressions come from? British author Christopher J. Moore made a name for himself on this side of the pond with the sleeper success of his previous book, In Other Words. Now, Moore draws on history, literature, pop culture, and his own heritage to explore the phrases that most embody the British character. He traces the linguistic influence of writers from Chaucer to Shakespeare and Dickens to Wodehouse, and unravels the complexity Brits manage to imbue in seemingly innocuous phrases like "All right." Along the way, Moore reveals the uniquely British origins of some of the English language’s more curious sayings. For example: Who is Bob and how did he become your uncle? Why do we refer to powerless politicians as “lame ducks”? How did “posh” become such a stylish word? Part language guide, part cultural study, How to Speak Brit is the perfect addition to every Anglophile’s library and an entertaining primer that will charm the linguistic-minded legions.

"William Hogarth: The Cockney's Mirror" is a book about one of the greatest artists of England. The book is split into four parts. The first gives the background of William Hogarth's life and pictures, the second recounts his career and character and his attitude to his own genius, the third gives the stories, actors (real or imagined) of the principal pictures and prints, and the fourth describes and analyses the work from the point of view of aesthetics.

By the author of the international bestseller The Snow Goose and Mrs Harris Goes to Paris.