Literary Criticism

Dickens brought life to some of our favourite characters: his rogues' gallery includes the Artful Dodger and his avaricious boss, Fagin, the miserly Mr Scrooge, and the spiteful Miss Havisham. During Dickens's lifetime, his novels sold in their thousands, and his touring one-man show was an inter...

So what was it like to live in Shakespeare's time? What do we actually know about him? And how does someone become that famous? These are just a few of the questions addressed in this lively and accessible book on the life and works of William Shakespeare by award-winning author Michael Rosen. Id...

How to find an outlet for a love that demands expression? Single, in her mid-forties and having experienced a sudden early menopause, the realisation comes to Peggy quietly, and clearly; she decides to adopt a child. But the preparation is arduous and the scrutiny is intense. There are questions ...

‘You’ll be the woman of this house, next, miss. And you’ll like it.’1947Governess Alice Miller loves Winterbourne the moment she sees it. Towering over the Cornish cliffs, its dark corners and tall turrets promise that, if Alice can hide from her ghosts anywhere, it’s here.And who better to play ...

Get inspired with 50 fascinating stories of powerful female figures from mythologies around the world. From heroines and deities to leaders and mythical creatures, this collection explores figures of myth who can inspire modern readers with their ability to shape our culture with the stories of t...

'Untold Stories', Alan Bennett's first major collection of prose since his bestselling 'Writing Home', brings together the finest and funniest of his writing over the last ten years. After 'Untold Stories: Part 1: Stories', 'Part 2: The Diaries' and 'Part 3: Written on the Body', 'Part 4: A Commo...

'Untold Stories', Alan Bennett's first major collection of prose since his bestselling 'Writing Home', brings together the finest and funniest of his writing over the last ten years. Following on from 'Untold Stories: Part 1: Stories' and 'Part 2: The Diaries', 'Part 3: Written on the Body' is bo...

How did the first forty years of H. G. Wells' life shape the father of science fiction?From his impoverished childhood in a working-class English family, to his determination to educate himself at any cost, to the serious ill health that dominated his twenties and thirties, his complicated marria...