Best Selling Books by Wendy Holden

sätter också nytt ljus på en av världens mest kända familjer spännande roman om kärlek och dramatik, lojalitet och försakelser och kungligheter förstås. BTJ helhetsbetyg: 4. En episk berättelse om drottning Elizabeths barndom och kvinnan som fostrade henne. LONDON 1933. Tjugotvååriga Marion Crawford har rest från Skottland för att bli guvernant åt de små prinsessorna Elizabeth och Margaret Rose. Det enda kravet hon har på deras föräldrar, Hertigen och Hertiginnan av York, är att hon ska få tillåtelse att införa en aning normalitet i flickornas skyddade och privilegierade tillvaro. Marion trotsar de gammalmodiga etikettsreglerna genom att ta med prinsessorna på tunnelbaneresor, till offentliga simbassänger och på shoppingturer på Woolworths. Från sin position i kungafamiljens absoluta centrum blir hon vittne till nittonhundratalets stora händelser: Edvard VIII:s abdikation, den glamourösa kröningen av Elizabeth II och andra världskrigets början. Hon lotsar de kungliga flickorna genom allt detta, lika nära som en mor. Men Marion Crawford får göra stora uppoffringar som familjen Windsors nära förtrogna. Äktenskap, barn, egna åsikter allt får hon offra i skuggan av den kungliga glansen. Men kommer det att räcka för att behålla kungafamiljens tillgivenhet när allt rasar? Med inspiration från verkliga händelser och oräkneliga källor har Wendy Holden skrivit en episk roman om kärlek, försakelser och lojalitet.

" Parfois même vivre est un acte de courage. " Sénèque 1944. Trois femmes enceintes. Trois bébés qui naissent à quelques semaines d''intervalle dans les plus épouvantables circonstances, en déportation. Ils pèsent moins de 1.5 kilos, leurs mères une trentaine, et sont orphelins de pères, tués par les nazis. Malgré le froid et la faim, femmes et enfants survivront. Soixante-dix ans plus tard, ces sœurs et frère de cœur racontent l''incroyable histoire de leurs mères qui défièrent la mort pour leur donner la vie.

«La musica di Bach brilla come un faro di speranza su Auschwitz e sulle brutalità del comunismo sovietico» The Financial Times «Uno straordinario memoir... Il commovente racconto di una donna che ha superato ogni ostacolo.» The Sunday Times Ha quindici anni Zuzana Růžičková, ebrea cecoslovacca, quando viene deportata nel ghetto di Terezín con la famiglia. La rau00adgazza, che ha trascorso un’infanzia felice u00adnonostante la salute cagionevole, amatissima dai genitori e con una grande passione per la musica, non ha idea dell’orrore che sta per affrontare. Ma la sua forza interiore, l’intenso legame con la madre e la musica di Johann Sebastian Bach le permetteranno di sopravvivere a Terezín, ad Auschwitz, ai campi di lavoro e a Bergen-Belsen. Non solo, riuscirà anche a partecipare a quel poco di umano che era tollerato, come la coraggiosa scuola organizzata da Fredy Hirsch per i bambini internati. Zuzana alterna il racconto dell’esperienza nei campi a quello degli anni successivi in cui, grazie all’affetto della madre e del marito, il compositore Viktor Kalabis, riesce a intraprendere con successo la carriera di clavicembalista, malgrado le mani rovinate dalla fatica e dagli stenti. Il suo amore per Bach la porterà a diventare una musicista di fama mondiale. Neppure quelli però sono anni facili: il regime comunista impone alla coppia una serie di limiti, ostacolandone la carriera e la vita. In sottofondo scorre infatti la storia della Cecoslovacchia, poi Repubblica Ceca, dalla Primavera di Praga alle repressioni, alla perestrojka, al ritorno della democrazia. Vibra in queste pagine l’appassionato racconto di una donna che ha vissuto l’orrore, ma che ha conservato sempre dentro di sé il senso del miracolo e la speranza di riportare un po’ di bellezza nel mondo attraverso la musica.

Voor lezers van De pianiste van Theresienstadt en De tatoeëerder van Auschwitz: een verhaal over tirannie, hoop, triomf en de kracht van muziek. Als de Tsjechische Zuzana zich in 1942 voor het Jodentransport moet melden, neemt ze in het geheim een flard bladmuziek mee: het begin van de vijfde Engelse suite van Bach. Omdat ze van zichzelf nooit mag vergeten dat er ook nog schoonheid in de wereld is, speelt ze in haar hoofd de suite telkens weer af. Drie concentratiekampen lang wordt het papiertje niet ontdekt. Als Zuzana na de oorlog meer dood dan levend terugkeert naar Praag, probeert ze daar het onmogelijke te bereiken: wereldfaam als klavecimbelist, terwijl het communistische regime fel ageert tegen zowel kunstenaars als Joden. Pas aan het einde van haar leven doet ze haar ontzagwekkende verhaal. Afwisselend vertelt deze grande dame van de Praagse Lente over de kampen en het Tsjechoslowakije van na de oorlog, twee werelden die jarenlang onderbelicht zijn gebleven.

Laura Lake longs to be a journalist. Now she’s an unpaid intern at a glossy magazine – sleeping in the fashion cupboard and living on canapés. And she’s just got her first big break: infiltrate three society weddings and write a juicy exposé. Security will be tighter than a Kardashian pencil skirt, but how hard can it be? She’ll don a ball-gown for the aristocrats, a festival headdress for the artisan jewellery makers, and a glitter moustache for the Shoreditch hipsters. But Laura hasn’t prepared for disappearing brides and secret royal orgies. Or the fact that her jealous office enemy will do anything to bring her down...

A leading male model offers a glimpse inside the decadent world of high fashion during the 1980s and 1990s, revealing the sex, drugs, extravagance, intense competition, and indulgence of the era while chronicling his own experiences.

John Downing was the pre-eminent press photographer of his generation: he led a life of adventure in wars and hotspots around the world. His memoir, Aperture, offers a unique and first hand insight into life behind the Fleet Street lens during one of the most interesting periods of world history and a golden age of photojournalism.

The only official biography of fashion and film icon and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn, with the actress’s personal history, insights from her family about her philosophy of life, and an intimate picture of how she lived outside of the public eye. There are few celebrities of yesterday or today as iconic as Audrey Hepburn. From humble beginnings, growing up in the Netherlands and nearly dying of malnutrition while assisting the Dutch resistance during World War II, she would go on to be one of the biggest movies stars in history. Best known for her work in classic and renowned films such as Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany''s, Charade, and My Fair Lady, Audrey won just about every award in show business, earning the coveted EGOT designation. Offscreen, she became a darling of the public with her unique, trendsetting fashion sense (for which she also won awards), then later in life, she became the most high-profile Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her humanitarian work. More than thirty years after her death, this aspirational, inspirational, and hugely talented woman is still revered as the epitome of style, sophistication, and beauty. But while more than 300 books have been published about the phenomenon that was Audrey Hepburn, none have truly gotten under the skin of the woman who emerged from the rubble of war to become a symbol for female emancipation, resilience, and authenticity. Ranked as one of the greatest screen legends of all time, she was so much more than that and her legacy of feminism and compassion is what would have made her most proud. INTIMATE AUDREY will take the reader behind the camera to meet the real woman, the survivor, as told by those who knew and loved her.

Als de Tsjechische Zuzana zich in 1942 voor het Jodentransport moet melden, neemt ze in het geheim een flard bladmuziek mee: het begin van de vijfde Engelse suite van Bach. In haar hoofd speelt ze de suite telkens weer af, die haar eraan herinnert dat er nog schoonheid in de wereld is. Drie concentratiekampen lang wordt het papiertje niet ontdekt. Als Zuzana na de oorlog meer dood dan levend terugkeert naar Praag, probeert ze daar het onmogelijke te bereiken: wereldfaam als klavecimbelist, terwijl het communistische regime fel ageert tegen kunstenaars én Joden. Pas aan het einde van haar leven doet ze haar ontzagwekkende verhaal. Afwisselend vertelt deze grande dame van de Praagse lente over de kampen en het Tsjechoslowakije van na de oorlog, twee werelden die jarenlang onderbelicht zijn gebleven.

Levensverhaal van drie joodse vrouwen die tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog samen met hun baby''s de concentratiekampen overleefden.

Het levensverhaal van Wallis Simpson, de vrouw voor wie Edward, de koning van Engeland zijn troon opgaf.

Marion Crawford was 22 when she became governess to the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in 1933. A working-class girl with progressive ideas, she had intended to teach children in the Edinburgh slums. Instead, she had a ringside seat at some of the most seismic events of the 20th century. The castles and palaces housed a family frozen in time. But outside the royal gates, poverty and unemployment were breeding unrest in 1930s Britain. Hitler was on the rise in Europe. If royalty was to survive, it must draw closer to the people. And so Marion took the princesses on tubes and buses, swimming at public baths, Christmas shopping at Woolworth''s. Marion''s devotion meant personal sacrifices. Her passionate affair with a socialist ended tragically. The royals refused to let her leave to marry and start a family. But 17 years of dedication counted for nothing once she published The Little Princesses, a loving, harmless account of life as a royal governess. It earned Marion the Windsors'' lasting fury. Basing her fiction on Marion''s own accounts, plus a wide range of historical sources and her own imagination, Wendy Holden shines a captivating light into the childhood of the world''s longest reigning monarch. This is a story of conflict and contradiction, of state dinners and hunger marches, of a left-winger amongst the ultimate conservatives, of a modern woman in an ancient institution. And the divided Britain of the 1930s: the unemployment, the opportunity gap, the rise of the far right. All of this resonates with our own troubled times.

"Scheming social climber Alexa is a class-hopping cruise missile. She''s aimed at the very top of the gold-digging tree. But will she get the title, towers and tiara of her dreams? Beautiful, penniless student Polly is in love. But is there more to dashing vet Max than his animal instincts? Passionate love, eye-widening snobbery and more-than-naked ambition abound in this tale of contemporary Cinderellas"--Back cover.