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My Truth Might Not Be Yours
‘Anoscetia’ – The anxiety of not knowing ‘the real you’ (John Koenig).
McCabe never really knew her ‘real Anna’, going in search of this when she decided to go on the journey enclosed within these covers. A tale so common, yet so unfortunately rarely shared, McCabe details her life to share with those who might walk in similar (or not) shoes to her. McCabe’s poignant yet unfussy account of abuse at the hands of her guardians deals with this ‘taboo’ subject in ways that will open the eyes of those who have never experienced it yet, allow those who have, to find their own voice.
What will McCabe reveal? The taboo must be broken.
£12.99 -
The People -V- The Mercedes Benz Looter
The July 2021 South African civil unrest was a wave of chaos that plagued the provinces of KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng. Political contempt and social outrage sparked unprecedented violence, lawlessness, mistreatment, and a devastating communal divide. It cost South African citizens lives, safety, jobs, and pride.
During this time Mbuso Moloi’s once unheard-of name would be headlined alongside the infamous ‘Mercedes-Benz Looter’ after he was caught on camera allegedly looting a Woolworths store in Durban. The nine-second video featuring him emptying goods into his silver Mercedes-Benz would go viral overnight on all social media platforms, radio, news broadcasts and print media. The ‘Mercedes-Benz Looter’ would seemingly ignite a match to the prepared firewood that was set up all over South Africa and its people.
Public opinion, political games, honesty, and humanity are questioned in this biography following this personal yet excruciatingly public case of the ‘State v Mbuso Moloi’, but as it would become: The People v The Mercedes Benz Looter.
£7.99 -
Mimi’s Memoirs
Having been inundated with fan-mail and questions for nearly three decades, actress and director Sue Hodge decided it was time for everyone to know the truth behind the making of the internationally known hit comedy series ’Allo ’Allo!
Told with heart and honesty through the eyes of that madcap, pocket dynamo character Mimi Labonq, Sue gives a hilarious and no-holds-barred insight into things you would only know about if you’d been there. How did she fly across a cornfield as the flying nun? (Or maybe she didn’t.) Did she really get inside a grandfather clock? What was her true relationship with René? What did he really do to her when he was pushing her along as a baby in the pram?
To find out the answers to these questions plus much much more, read Mimi’s Memoirs, and you will understand why ’Allo ’Allo! became one of the biggest BBC smash-hits of all time.
£14.99 -
Mongrels versus Pedigrees
There is no such thing as endings—only new beginnings. Life is all about perspective: the positive, the negative and how we respond to the challenges that life throws at us. Being diagnosed with cancer can really change your perspective on things! Cancer is a test of your patience, your strength, your courage and your faith.
This book is one woman’s reflections on her own diagnosis and her own personal outlook on her fight against cancer. From diagnosis, through to treatment with chemotherapy and targeted therapies, to the possibility of surgery, this book is an honest account of the experiences of an individual determined to fight and survive, and the positive changes that her diagnosis brought.
What could have been the beginning of the end, was actually the start of a new beginning.
£8.99 -
My Kaleidoscopic Life
My Kaleidoscopic Life is an account of the life during a century of upheaval and social change. It is a record of adaptation to circumstances and potential opportunities, rather than any burning ambition to become rich or famous.
However, the frequent changes in direction and necessary adaptation are certainly unusual. They provide unique and intimate glimpses into rarely described aspects of social history from before World War Two to post-Brexit Britain.
£10.99 -
No Room to Breathe
This is the personal story of a psychologist living with an emotionally abusive partner and her struggles, both personal and institutional, in leaving. No Room to Breathe: A Memoir of Emotional Abuse, Motherhood, and Resilience is a cautionary tale that reveals the often publicly unseen and underestimated dynamics and patterns of emotionally-abusive relationships. It also highlights their potentially far-reaching consequences, particularly when attempts are made to leave the relationship, and children are used as pawns.
As a licensed therapist for more than 30 years, Dr Coha worked with many challenging people. When it came to her personal life however, her professional credentials as a clinical psychologist and clinical social worker did not help her to avoid entering into an emotionally-controlling relationship. Loretta’s experience speaks to many people’s lives. Her story covers many complicating factors and powerful forces, such as health, children, the involvement of the judicial system, and the fact that her partner was a public figure. Although her significant other was a woman, the life-impacting results are the same for anyone who has ever been involved with a controlling partner. No Room to Breathe is ultimately an inspiring account of a woman using her personal strength to break away and create a new, healthy life for herself and her children.
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One Tear at a Time
When Natalie’s mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of just 54, she didn’t realise the devastation it was going to cause and the changes she was going to face. She faced numerous challenges; from memory loss, incontinence, confusion and accusations to paranoia, relationship breakdowns, a loss of physical capabilities and being sectioned. Her journey with her mum was anything but easy and she reveals her struggles and challenges when faced with caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.
This book is a real eye opener but also very informative for those facing an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. One Tear at a Time will most certainly make you understand the heartache caused by Alzheimer’s and the devastating consequences it has on family and friends. It aims to raise awareness, help people understand and inform those who need answers about their journey after their loved one is given a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Follow Natalie’s journey from early symptoms, diagnosis and the heartache she endured while caring for her mum. Join the emotional rollercoaster and brace yourself for this tear-jerking page turner.
£10.99 -
Only a Yorkshire Lass
Only a Yorkshire Lass is an account of a woman born in South Yorkshire in the 1950s. It follows her life from birth to her late fifties, events which occur in her hometown and in many other countries of the world. It details the high and low points of her life, the people she has met and the people who shaped her destiny for better or worse. It is a story full of emotion, joy, happiness, sadness, anger, hope and despair. It keeps the reader wondering and waiting for the next chapter and what will the outcome be. It also forces the reader to look at their own life and both sympathise and empathise with the writer’s different situations.
In parts, it is humorous and will bring a smile to the reader’s face and in others, one can’t help but shed a tear for the writer.
It is a book that will appeal as there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
£8.99 -
Red, Autobiography of Ou Chaoquan
Pride and prejudice, war and peace, crime and punishment all feature in this autobiography of an ordinary person in China. The account spans eight turbulent decades, with love struggling through a torrent of change.
The author’s boyhood name was Red. He grew up in a Dong-minority village in remote southwestern mountains, where most people were rice farmers.
Red supported the 1949 transition to communist rule, accompanied research expeditions into minority areas, and in 1959 completed his Beijing-based research studies. In 1965, he was sentenced to re-education through labour.
On being rehabilitated in 1979, Red spent 16 more years as a university lecturer, becoming professor of anthropology. After retirement in 1995, he kept writing, and over the following 16 years, he published several academic books.
Red has lived by the slogan ‘study to death, die to study, die studying’. This book documents Chinese society in the period 1930–2011 from his personal perspective.
£12.99 -
Rose's Children
When a young woman promises her dying mammie that she will keep her seven siblings together in the family home, she has no idea of the huge responsibility this would become. 1940s' Ireland was a cruel and unforgiving country to abandoned and orphaned children. Notoriously run by Religious Orders of Nuns and Brothers, orphanages and church homes were a final bitter resort. Devoutly religious, Rose McGorry's one obsession as she approached her death was praying to her Heavenly Father that her beloved children never suffer the pain of being separated or the shame of succumbing to the poverty that surrounded them. How these eight young people managed to stay close and survive is a tribute to the mother who loved them and the strength with which she imbued all her children.
£8.99 -
Tank to Tower
Tank to Tower is the story of a young woman’s transition from childhood to womanhood, through the many facets of life. It takes the reader on that journey with the writer from the heat of the Arabian desert, the dust and flies of Western Australian farmland to lush New Zealand bush and beyond. For instance how does a young bride, fresh from the city, cope with the starkly different challenges of rural life, or from having very limited culinary skills to catering for a number of healthy appetites with several hearty meals every day?
This is the record of an interesting and everchanging life full of fascinating places and of interesting but unremarkable people living full but very normal lives.
It is a story of challenge and resilience, lack and abundance, sadness and joy, and all the other ingredients that go into building a tale of ordinary people with ordinary lives that will resonate with many, perhaps encourage a few and hopefully entertain them all.
£9.99 -
Teaching In Chongqing
Today, China is so important. We need to understand why this empire (it is not a country) acts as it does. What are its intentions? This book is not a political analysis, but simply a record of one westerner’s experiences teaching English in Chongqing. Nevertheless, being part of the daily life of ordinary people has given rise to valuable insights. Chongqing is a major city with some 17 million people: it is not a backwater and was China’s wartime capital. But it is important for another reason. The popular mayor when the author began his time there was Bo Xilai, a rival to Xi Jinping; his subsequent removal and imprisonment says a lot.
The author’s daily experiences were fascinating, a real privilege to visit such interesting places and to meet so many wonderful people. These should be shared, which is what this book does.
£27.99