It was a gun – a sawn-off shotgun.’Featured on ITV's Lorraine with Michael Sheen and Rachel Williams. Darren was funny and attractive, and 21-year-old Rachel fell head-over-heels for him; it wasn’t long before they moved in together, and she fell pregnant with his child. But his inner demons soon surfaced... Weakened and alone, Rachel was beaten and tormented by him for 18 years, until one day, Darren turned up at her place of work with a shotgun and left her for dead. But her ordeal wasn’t over… Devastating yet inspiring, Rachel’s story of hope tells of how you can always find the light, even in the very darkest of times.‘Incredibly poignant and powerful.’ – Victoria Derbyshire ‘Transformative. Life changing.’ – Michael Sheen

    Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). Vasari's works available in Penguin Classics are Lives of the Artists Volume I and Volume II.

    Despite long-term addiction to alcohol and drugs, which contributed to his death in January 2009, he produced a string of matchless albums. Loved by fans and critics, loathed by ex-managers, he survived the music business he despised for forty years. With contributions by Martyn, many of his lovers and over twenty musicians who knew him well, this book documents his upbringing in Glasgow and rise through the Scottish and London folk scene of the 1960s, his many highs and lows, and his friendships with the great lost souls of British rock music—Nick Drake and Paul Kossoff.

    All played out by a cast of memorable characters.Immersive and compelling this is an epic fantasy for the 21st century.

    Betrayal. Hunted.Jayin Ijaad is in hiding. A witch with powerful abilities, she carves out a life for herself in the slums of Pavaal, a city rotting from the inside out. When an old acquaintance tracks her down, Jayin is dragged back into a world she tried to escape -- and is determined to escape again. Maddix Kell is on the run. After two years in prison for crimes he did not commit, Maddix escapes and seeks out a legendary order of witchhunters who are his only chance to find justice. But all is not as it seems and Maddix soon finds himself on the run from the people he sought as allies. When their paths collide, Jayin and Maddix must put aside their prejudices and forge an uneasy alliance that could crumble at any moment. But if they want to survive in Aestos -- a brutal kingdom where magic and corruption lie hand in hand and enemies lurk around every corner -- they must first survive each other.

    He'd been shot at least four times in the head, decapitated, and set on fire. Who could have turned on the ambitious real-estate ace with such bloodthirsty fury? Even before the remains were found, circumstantial evidence was building against Rudin's tempestuous 52-year-old wife, Margaret, who stood to inherit a handsome share of her husband's fortune. Rudin's friends also suspected Margaret, and Rudin himself had thought that his wife was trying to poison him when he was alive. Then a chilling caveat was discovered in Rudin's living trust: that should he die under violent circumstances, an investigation should be conducted. By the time authorities closed in on Margaret Rudin, she'd disappeared. It would take two-and-a-half years to hunt the Black Widow down, and to discover the cold-blooded secrets at the heart of a poisonous marriage....BUT VENGEANCE WOULD COME-FROM THE GRAVE.... Now, reporter Michael Fleeman delivers a startling glimpse into the mind of a woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted as she drove the man who had promised to love and honor her to secretly fear her. Fleeman also details the relentless pursuit of justice that would lead authorities from the glamorous faade of Las Vegas to a squalid apartment on the outskirts of Boston to hold the remorseless wife accountable for her shocking and unfathomable crimes.

    He made the transition to Rugby Union with Sale Sharks in 2000 and was fast-tracked to the England squad. His speed, unpredictability and charisma have ensured that he is now widely acknowledged as one of the most exciting players in the world. His extraordinary turnaround from hard-drinking, deeply troubled teenager to born again Christian and dedicated family man makes his story all the more intriguing.

    Few people can imagine living in a world where such situations are part of everyday life. Yet for London Ambulance Paramedic Lysa Walder, these and thousands of other emergency calls are part of a day's work—scenes of tragedy, loss, and horror—but also stories of triumph and humor, and all the results of an urgent 999 call to the biggest and busiest free ambulance service in the world. Here, she tells the inside story behind the screaming sirens and flashing blue lights of the emergency services and reveals what it's really like to work in a job that frequently brings paramedic teams face-to-face with death—and destiny.

    There were no screams when she was taken, suggesting the culprit was someone familiar to her, and when she turned up again in a nearby village several days later, she was found in perfect health and happiness. No one was ever accused of a crime. The incident quickly faded from her memory, and her parents never discussed it. To the contrary, they deliberately hid it from her, and she did not learn of it for half a century. This was not the only secret her parents kept from her. For many years, while raising her in draconian isolation and protectiveness, they also hid the fact that she’d been adopted, and that shortly after the kidnapping, her name was changed from Grace to Betty. In Five Days Gone, Laura Cumming brilliantly unspools the tale of her mother’s life and unravels the multiple mysteries at its core. Using photographs from the time, historical documents, and works of art, Cumming investigates this case of stolen identity with the toolset of a detective and the unique intimacy of a daughter trying to understand her family’s past and its legacies. Compulsive, vivid, and profoundly touching, Five Days Gone is a masterful blend of memoir and history, an extraordinary personal narrative unlike any other.

    Don't Laugh, It'll Only Encourage Her is the endearingly honest and hilarious memoir from the creator and star of award-winning BBC comedy This Country.____ When things were really bad, Mum would always say to me: 'Don't worry, it will be a good read for your memoir one day.' 'Mum, I auditioned to be a stripper by snogging a pole and was laughed off the stage by a bunch of topless dancers.' 'Well that can go in the memoir.' 'Mum, I spent all my student loan accidently on a penthouse suite in a fancy hotel in Marble Arch, now I face getting kicked out of drama school.' 'That's a good one for the memoir.' 'Mum, sorry I'm late for dinner, I had to work late at my cleaning job because someone balanced a Quaver packet full of piss on the radiator in the boy's toilets, and I didn't realise until I picked it up, so I had to wash the piss off me in the sink while trying to learn my lines for that Call the Midwife audition I have in London tomorrow.' 'Memoir...' I have lived the most humiliating, ridiculous, screw-up of a life but Mum was right, you've just got to remember, sometimes the worst experiences make the most entertaining stories. _____

    Beginning with the accession to the English throne of Henry VII, the author guides the reader through a succession of monarchs, who also included the infamous King Henry VIII, Mary I, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Identifying the key moments of their reigns, from insurrections to their handling of foreign policy to their many marriages, Alex Woolf clarifies the way in which these kings and queens governed their realm and what they had to deal with. It's the perfect companion for anyone who enjoys historical drama and wants to know more about one of the most intriguing royal dynasties.

    And yet that's exactly what he's achieved, winning plenty of awards (and hearts) along the way. But how did a young musician go from selling CDs from his rucksack to becoming the millennial record-breaking international stadium act?Tracing his story from his bohemian childhood in Yorkshire and Suffolk to the release of his third album Divide, music journalist David Nolan chronicles Sheeran's musical life and times. Featuring exclusive interviews with friends, relatives, musical collaborators and key figures in his rise to stardom, Divide and Conquer tells the story of how Ed Sheeran went from school drop-out to one of the world's most successful musicians.

    In this compelling memoir, his first wife, Jane Hawking, relates the inside story of their extraordinary marriage. As Stephen's academic renown soared, his body was collapsing under the assaults of a motor neuron disease. Jane's candid account of trying to balance his 24-hour care with the needs of their growing family reveals the inner strength of the author, while the self-evident character and achievements of her husband make for an incredible tale presented with unflinching honesty. Jane's candor is no less apparent when the marriage finally ends in a high-profile meltdown, with Stephen leaving Jane for one of his nurses and Jane marrying an old family friend. In this exceptionally open, moving, and often funny memoir, Jane Hawking confronts not only the acutely complicated and painful dilemmas of her first marriage, but also the relationship's fault lines exposed by the pervasive effects of fame and wealth. The result is a book about optimism, love, and change that will resonate with readers everywhere.

    This collection gathers together the works by William Shakespeare in a single, convenient, high quality, and extremely low priced Kindle volume!The Comedies of William ShakespeareA Midsummer Night's DreamAll's Well That Ends WellAs You Like ItLove’s Labour ’s LostMeasure for MeasureMuch Ado About NothingThe Comedy of ErrorsThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Taming of the ShrewThe Two Gentlemen of VeronaTwelfth Night; or, What you willThe Romances of William ShakespeareCymbelinePericles, Prince of TyreThe TempestThe Winter's TaleThe Tragedies of William ShakespeareKing LearRomeo and JulietThe History of Troilus and CressidaThe Life and Death of Julius CaesarThe Life of Timon of AthensThe Tragedy of Antony and CleopatraThe Tragedy of CoriolanusThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkThe Tragedy of MacbethThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of VeniceTitus AndronicusThe Histories of William ShakespeareThe Life and Death of King JohnThe Life and Death of King Richard the SecondThe Tragedy of King Richard the ThirdThe first part of King Henry the FourthThe second part of King Henry the FourthThe Life of King Henry VThe first part of King Henry the SixthThe second part of King Henry the SixthThe third part of King Henry the SixthThe Life of King Henry the EighthThe Poetical Works of William ShakespeareThe SonnetsSonnets to Sundry Notes of MusicA Lover's ComplaintThe Rape of LucreceVenus and AdonisThe Phoenix and the TurtleThe Passionate Pilgrim

    'Wasn't that enough of a break?' 'I don't mean that kind of break.' There's nothing worse than the last day of holiday. Oh wait, there is. When what should have been a proposal turns into a break, Liv and Adam find themselves on opposite sides of the life they had mapped out. Friends and family all think they're crazy; Liv throws herself into work - animals are so much simpler than humans - and Adam tries to get himself out of the hole he's dug. But as the short break becomes a chasm, can they find a way back to each other? Most importantly, do they want to?