Juanita Coulson picks her recent favourites Biography & memoirs
The Queen and The Mistress: The Women of Edward III
by Gemma Hollman (The History Press, £20)
Scandalous women have always moved in the heart of royal circles (often labelled as such because they dared to defy convention). This brilliantly researched double biography examines women’s place in the age of chivalry, and gives colour to their personal lives as it explores universal themes of love, betrayal, power and revenge.
AN UNANCHORED HEART
by Rory Knight Bruce (Mount Orleans Press, £20)
The journalist and former Horse & Hound hunting correspondent looks back on his childhood in rural Devon, boarding school, his student days, travels in Greece and working life in London. He wins readers over with pithy anecdotes, keenly observed characters and timely mots justes.
Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith
by Richard Bradford (Bloomsbury, £12.99)
Best known for her psychological thriller The Talented Mr Ripley (1955), the American writer was as ambivalent, intriguing and malicious as her characters.
Richard Bradford’s compelling biography is the first to closely examine the relationship between Highsmith’s troubled personal life and her daring fiction.
The Soul of a Woman
by Isabel Allende (Bloomsbury, £9.99)
The Chilean author of the worldwide best-seller The House of the Spirits is now in her 80s. Here she looks back on her colourful life and reflects on what women need in a delightful and funny memoir. This pocket-sized read encourages women to live creative, independent and resourceful lives.
