Dilys Lloyd's life has long been a whirlwind of emotions and unanswered questions. But once your husband leaves you and then your daughter runs off to Australia with your best friend's husband, things get a little…messy.Thankfully best friend Gail didn't desert Dilys and their cleaning business is still going from strength to strength. Amidst Gail's own bustling life, juggling romance, family, and her spirited mother, Dilys can't help but yearn for a slice of that happiness.

For fifty-something Gail Lockwood the new millennium starts with redundancy. Her to-do list reads,'Get a job.Pay off the suite.Do roots and nails.Get a man and get laid.'Not easy when her boss, the flamboyant Bradley Jones, has jetted off to Spain, and the job centre has nothing for a woman whose only qualification is a Brownie badge. Gail finds herself unemployed and firmly sandwiched between her eccentric mother and her problem daughter, Tamsin, a ...

Joe Astley is thirteen, undersized and useless at football. His father, an ex-professional footballer, would like Joe to follow in his footsteps but Joe wants to become a racing cyclist. He needs to prove to his dad that he is good at cycling and, at the same time, defeat the school bully.Joes life turns around when he meets Sid, coach to the local cycling club. With a little help and a lot of determination Joe sets out to achieve his dreams but its not easy with the school bully as his bigge...

This book will show you how your own personal experiences can provide you with an endless supply of ideas for your writing - whether fiction or non-fiction. You will learn how to write about what you know - and you certainly know a lot. The good news is that the older you are, and the older you get, the more experiences you have had - so you'll always have something to write about. The author, Lynne Hackles, will show you how to make your own 'Raking up your past' file - using memories, li...

THE HILARIOUS DIARY BY MRS STEPHEN FRY - THE WIFE YOU NEVER KNEW HE HAD'Hilarious' - Daily Express'Buy the wife's book or I'll never hear the end of it' Stephen FryStephen Fry's secret wife speaks out at last...Enjoyed a nice cuppa this morning with a HobNob and Jeremy Kyle. There was a woman on there who'd been married 16 years without realising her husband was gay. Extraordinary! Which reminds...

Imagine not drinking a bottle of wine before making a pass; not moving in like a starving cat when someone is at the bar; not apologising for something you don't remember doing. Once upon a time, Tania Glyde couldn't imagine living any other way. She wondered whether she had a problem, but so many people drank more and as a clock-watching 6pm-er who hardly ever threw up in public, by general standards she was fine - despite the constant hangover and the bottle of vodka stashed in her handb...

'DEEPLY HONEST, SURPRISINGLY HILARIOUS AND UPLIFTING' The Pool'HEART-WARMING: UNMISSABLE' Damian Barr, MetroSusan Calman is a much-loved comedian and writer who has appeared on countless radio and television programmes from The News Quiz and Just a Minute to Armchair Detectives and Secret Scotland. She's hosted th...

LEARN HOW TO WRITE WONDERFUL AND VARIED SHORT STORIES AND SHARE THEM WITH THE WORLD.Written by one of the country's leading experts on the short story, this book is ideal if you want to write creatively in a genre that is increasingly attracting attention from publishers, and which offers plenty of competition and festival opportunities for you to showcase your work.This new edition includes uptodate material on web resources and outlets and provides new in...

Have you ever wondered why even the truly stylish find it hard to do smart casual? Why all men look like James Bond in dinner jackets? Why all four-year-old girls are obsessed with pink? Why fashionable people always wear black? Why blondes have less fun? Or why some people will spend $6000 on a handbag? This book will explain all of these mysteries and many more. And even if you've never pondered any of these issues, Maggie Alderson will amuse and entertain you with her finely tuned obser...

A wonderfully frank and funny memoir by Britain's greatest and most ferocious interviewer, Lynn Barber.**'**Packed full of incredible stories' Glamour**'**Funny, bold, incisive, clever and interesting' Independent***'***Candid, unsentimental and extremely funny. I read it in one glorious go, laughing and crying throughout' Zoe HellerLynn Barber, by her own admission, has alwa...

MAGGIE ALDERSON, novelist, philosopher of fashion and arbiter of style, brings us a new collection of her much-loved Style Notes column.Find out why men hate shopping and why women love wearing clothes men hate. Share the frustration of the search for the perfect Walkable Heeled Shoe and consider whether a size 'large' item of clothing is acceptable as a gift.Learn why it's good if your child is too embarrassed to be seen with you, and how to harness your l...

The loss of a parent is an experience that we all face without any training - relating to a parent through old age and illness; going through the actual death in different circumstances and whether we can help parents to have a good death; the emotional aftermath - shock, grief, relief, the effect on families; funerals, wills and other rituals; clearing out the house and keeping memories alive; recovery and carrying on with life; the longer-term changes in us and our relationship with our ...