Recommendations based on "The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister"

Discover untold secrets with this extraordinary memoir of drama and tragedy by Anne Glenconner—a close member of the royal circle and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret.Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed "the greatest disappointment" and unable to inherit. Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive court life with her sense of humor intact.A unique witness to landmark moments in royal history, Maid of Honor at Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and a lady in waiting to Princess Margaret until her death in 2002, Anne's life has encompassed extraordinary drama and tragedy. In Lady in Waiting, she will share many intimate royal stories from her time as Princess Margaret's closest confidante as well as her own battle for survival: her broken-off first engagement on the basis of her "mad blood"; her 54-year marriage to the volatile, unfaithful Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who left his fortune to a former servant; the death in adulthood of two of her sons; a third son she nursed back from a six-month coma following a horrific motorcycle accident. Through it all, Anne has carried on, traveling the world with the royal family, including visiting the White House, and developing the Caribbean island of Mustique as a safe harbor for the rich and famous-hosting Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Raquel Welch, and many other politicians, aristocrats, and celebrities.With unprecedented insight into the royal family, Lady in Waiting is a witty, candid, dramatic, at times heart-breaking personal story capturing life in a golden cage for a woman with no inheritance.New York Times BestsellerUSA Today BestsellerThe Sunday Times BestsellerThe Globe and Mail BestsellerABA Indie BestsellerThe Times (UK) Memoir of the YearOne of Newsweek's Most Anticipated Books of 2020

"Engaging . . . Pope Joan has all the elements: love, sex, violence, duplicity, and long-buried secrets."--Los Angeles Times Book ReviewFor a thousand years men have denied her existence--Pope Joan, the woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to rule Christianity for two years. Now this compelling novel animates the legend with a portrait of an unforgettable woman who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept.When her older brother dies in a Viking attack, the brilliant young Joan assumes his identity and enters a Benedictine monastery where, as Brother John Anglicus, she distinguishes herself as a scholar and healer. Eventually drawn to Rome, she soon becomes enmeshed in a dangerous mix of powerful passion and explosive politics that threatens her life even as it elevates her to the highest throne in the Western world."Brings the savage ninth century vividly to life in all its alien richness. An enthralling, scholarly historical novel."--Rebecca Fraser, Author of The Brontës

For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Kate Furnivall comes a gritty tale of courage, betrayal and love in the most unlikely of places. Also published as The German Midwife.

The Grddha Mullicks take pride in the ancient lineage they trace from four hundred years before Christ. They burst with marvellous tales of hangmen and hangings in which the Grddha Mullicks figure as eyewitnesses to the momentous events that have shaped the history of the subcontinent. In the present day, Chetna, the youngest member of the family, is appointed the first woman executioner in India. Thrust suddenly into the public eye, Chetna's life explodes under the harsh lights of television cameras. As the day of her first execution approaches, she breaks out of the shadow of a domineering father and the thrall of a brutally manipulative lover, transforming into a charismatic performer in her own right. Meera's spectacular imagination turns the story of Chetna's life into an epic and perverse coming-of-age tale. Will the ardent young woman be able to escape the love that binds her? Will she add lustre to the illustrious name of Grddha Mullick? Or will she succumb to the dazzle of celebrity and the thrill of power over life and death? The lurid pleasures of voyeurism and the punishing ironies of violence are kept in agile balance as the drama hurtles to its inevitable climax.

Lucia Lucas, the eternally effervescent dowager, continues to consternate and beguile friends and antagonists alike in the English countryside where she becomes embroiled in high finance, buried treasure, politics, and love

From the internationally bestselling author of The Porcelain Moon comes a haunting Gothic novel set in 1911 China. Two young women living in a crumbling, once-grand Shanghai mansion face danger as secrets of their pasts come to light, even as the mansion’s own secret threatens the present. Shanghai, 1911. Lisan Liu is elated when she is hired as secretary to wealthy American Caroline Stanton, the new mistress of Lennox Manor on the outskirts of Shanghai’s International Settlement. However, the Manor has a dark past due to a previous owner’s suicide, and soon Lisan’s childhood nightmares resurface with more intensity and meld with haunted visions of a woman in red. Adding to her unease is the young gardener, Yao, who both entices and disturbs her. Newly married Caroline looks forward to life in China with her husband, Thomas, away from the shadows of another earlier tragedy. But an unwelcome guest, Andrew Grey, attends her party and claims to know secrets she can’t afford to have exposed. At the same party, the notorious princess Masako Kyo approaches Lisan with questions about the young woman’s family that the orphaned Lisan can’t answer. As Caroline struggles with Grey’s extortion and Thomas’s mysterious illness, Lisan’s future is upended when she learns the truth about her past, and why her identity has been hidden all these years. All the while, strange incidents accelerate, driving Lisan to doubt her sanity as Lennox Manor seems unwilling to release her until she fulfills demands from beyond the grave. 

Brenda Joyce has enthralled millions of readers with her New York Times bestselling novels. Now, join us in the next chapter of her unforgettable storytelling: the Francesca Cahill novels. Step into the glittering world of New York City's high society at the turn of the last century, where murder and pleasure are one and the same, and love becomes the ultimate weapon...Francesca Cahill comes from one of New York's best families. Her mother is a leading socialite, her father, a millionaire. Their expectations for their daughter are simple-- marry well, and soon. But the intrepid and self-styled "Crime-Solver Extraordinaire" has other plans...Francesca discovered she had a penchant for sleuthing when she met Rick Bragg, New York City's powerful and enigmatic Police Commissioner. Together, they solved what was known as the crime of the century. Now, their paths are destined to come together once again, but this time far more dangerously and fatefully. For Francesca is tempted to give in to the desire she and Rick have been resisting. And when Bragg's arch-rival Calder Hart arrives in town, a respectable man is suddenly found dead, and now murder is the name of the game...

An inspirational true story of a 4 year old girl who fell into the power of a man whose evil knew no bounds. She encountered terrifying mental and physical torture from her psychopathic stepfather for a period of 17 years until she managed to break free, her spirit still unbrokenJane Elliott fell into the hands of her sadistic and brutal stepfather when she was 4 years old. Her story is both inspiring and horrifying. Kept a virtual prisoner in a fortress-like house and treated to daily and ritual abuse, Jane nonetheless managed to lose herself in a fantasy world which would keep her spirit alive. Equally as horrifying as the physical abuse Jane suffered, were the mental games her tormentor played -- getting his kicks from seeing Jane humiliated, confused, crushed and defeated at every turn. Her family and neighbourhood were all terrified of Jane's stepfather so no-one held out a rescuing hand. So Jane had to help herself. When she was 21 she ran away with her baby daughter and boyfriend to start a new life in hiding. Several years on she found the courage to go to the police. A court case followed where Jane bravely stood up against the unrepentant aggressor she so feared. He was j

After scaring off the first governess, Miss Norrie, Martha is faced with Miss Crow. It takes some unusual expeditions for the spirited Scottish girl to realize that there "are" things you can learn from governesses besides sewing and manners.

A gripping story of courage in the face of a world in turmoil. Previously published as A Measure of Peace.Born into a repressive Victorian household, Hannah Watson learns early of the need for courage and dignity – in the face of her father’s tyranny.She soon follows her own path, to become a teacher and campaigner for women's rights. But standing up for her ideals brings Hannah savage penalties – and conflicts of loyalty.With the outbreak of war in 1914 Hannah is faced with new pressures: the joy of discovering the man she passionately loves, but the strains of knowing that his life is in constant danger.