Patrick Donovan

During his 1920s heyday, Arnold Bennett was one of Britain’s most celebrated writers. As the author of The Old Wives’ Tale and Clayhanger he was a household name, writing just as much for the common man as London’s literati. His face was plastered over theatre hoardings and the sides of West End omnibuses. His life represents the ultimate rags-to-riches story of a man who ‘banged on the door of Fortune like a weekly debt collector’ as one of his obituaries so vividly put it. Yet for all his success, few were aware how cursed Bennett felt by his life-long stutter and other debilitating character traits. In the years running up to his death in 1931, his affairs were close to collapse as he fought a losing battle on three fronts: with his estranged wife; with his disenchanted mistress; and from a literary perspective with Virginia Woolf. As the first full length biography of Bennett since 1974, the work draws on a wealth of unpublished diaries and letters to shed new light on a personality who can be considered a ‘Lost Icon’ of early Twentieth Century Britain.

Scion of the great Quaker chocolate dynasty, Adrian Cadbury (1929-2015) was educated at Eton and Cambridge, yet never quite fitted into the mould of the British establishment. As one of the most influential business personalities of the later 20th-century, he was a committed capitalist, but championed workers’ rights and backed numerous social causes. By his death, he had given most of his fortune away. To most people, however, his private life remained a closed book, overshadowed by a string of family tragedies and the eventual hostile take-over of his world famous family-owned business. The Cadbury Report, his pioneering work on corporate governance remains his greatest legacy, but Adrian Cadbury’s career ranged far wider. With 2024 marking Cadbury’s 200th anniversary, this is his first biography, and one drawn from interviews with the family and those who knew him. He was a huge public figure of his era – but few at the time understood the tragedy in his life, or how hard-won were the successes he achieved.

A daring urban fantasy adventure through the rough roads of Asheville perfect for fans of Jim Butcher and M.D. Massey.Magic: To some, it's spectacle. To Jonah, it's pure profit.A shaman for hire, Jonah can tap into his powers as easily as turning on a light switch, but the real money is in putting on a show. And after putting himself in debt to the Carver brothers, Asheville's version of a mafia, in order to save his father's business, he's in need of some real money. Then a mysterious woman makes Jonah a staggering offer: $20,000-to find and deliver the Ledberg runestone, a legendary artifact of Norse myth. He's suspicious of the case and the buyer, but when the Carvers threaten Jonah's father if they don't get their payment within the month, Jonah starts his investigation. As he explores Asheville's seedy magical underbelly, Jonah discovers he's not alone on the hunt. Will Jonah survive long enough to save his father, or will his past of swindling mortals and dodging debt collectors finally catch up with him?