'Kit Fielding's debut is a triumph. A story told with brutal honesty, underpinned by humour, love, hope and the inestimable power of friendship.' RUTH HOGAN, author of The Keeper of Lost Things In every pub in every town unspoken stories lie beneath the surface. Each week, six women meet at The Bluebell Inn. They form an unlikely and occasionally triumphant ladies darts team. They banter and jibe, they laugh. But their hidden stories of love and loss are what, in the end, will bind them. There is Mary, full of it but cradling her dark secret; Lena - young and bold, she has made her choice; the cat woman who must return to the place of her birth before it's too late. There's Maggie, still laying out the place for her husband; and Pegs, the dark-eyed girl from the travellers' site bringing her strangeness and first love. And Katy: unappreciated. Open to an offer. They know little of each other's lives. But here they gather and weave a delicate and sustaining connection that maybe they can rely on as the crossroads on their individual paths threaten to overwhelm. With humanity and insight, Kit Fielding reveals the great love that lies at the heart of female friendship. Raw, funny and devastating, all of life can be found at the Bluebell.

'Shocking and searing. This is a devastating book about harm' Sunday Times

Throughout her childhood and adolescence, the anonymous author of The Incest Diary was raped by her father. Beneath a veneer of normal family life, she grew up in and around this all-encompassing secret. Her sexual relationship with her father lasted, off and on, into her twenties. It formed her world, and it formed her deepest fears and desires. Even after she broke away - even as she grew into an independent and adventurous young woman - she continued to seek out new versions of the violence, submission and secrecy she had struggled to leave behind.

In this graphic and harrowing memoir, the author revisits her early traumas and their aftermath to explore the ways in which her father's abuse shaped her, and still does. As a matter of psychic survival, she became both a sexual object and a detached observer, a dutiful daughter and the protector of a dirty secret. And then, years later, she made herself write it down.

With lyric concision, in vignettes of almost unbearable intensity, this writer tells a story that is shocking but that will ring true to many other survivors of abuse. It has never been faced so directly on the page.

SHORTLISTED FOR TWO IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2021 'Something they don't tell you about getting older is that you fall. Oh, you hear about it in passing, of course, "She had a fall, poor thing". Falling is not something you ever think about as a younger woman. You think about falling in love . . .' At 20 Londoner Ann Ingle fell madly in love with an Irish fellow she met on holiday in Cornwall. At the church to arrange their shotgun wedding she discovered that he hadn't even told her his real name. Sixty-odd years later Ann looks back on that first glorious fall and in a series of essays considers what she has learned from the life that followed - bringing eight children into the world, their father's years of mental illness and tragic death at 40, being a cash-strapped single mother in 1980s Dublin, coming into her own in her middle years - going to college, working and writing, and continuing to evolve and learn into her ninth decade, even as she accepts the realities of being 'old'. Candid about everything that matters - love, sex, heartbreak, money, class, religion, mental health, rearing children (and letting them go), reading and writing, ageing - Openhearted is a compelling story about living life in a spirit of curiosity and delight and with a willingness to look for good in others. ___________________ 'By some distance the most courageous, most poignant, most life-affirming memoir I've read in the last twenty years and more' Paul Howard 'Genuinely inspirational. I LOVE ANN INGLE' Marian Keyes 'What a beautiful openhearted, at times broken-hearted memoir ... honest, funny, searingly direct, a wonderful voice ... remarkable' Joe Duffy 'Really beautiful. Searingly honest, astonishingly frank and very, very funny' Maia Dunphy

It's 1983 and best friends Vicky and Lucy swear that they will always be there for each other, that they'll never let anyone come between them. But fast forward 4 years and life on the Canterbury Estate has gotten very messy. Lucy has fallen for local policeman's son, Jimmy. And Vicky is madly in love with Paddy, the charming but ruthless local bad boy. The boys are bitter enemies and determined to keep the two girls apart. But then Vicky is accused of murder, and even her drug-dealer boyfriend wants her mouth shut, permanently. Maybe Lucy is the only one who can save her... Love, murder, revenge. Who can you really trust when there's blood on your hands?

Mapping out a "family constellation," explains Dr. Joy Manne, encompasses exploring previous powerful life events from accidents to adoptions and accessing the deepest dynamics in that family system. This process helps us recognize and then resolve deeply seated family patterns. For example, in order to understand a person's inability to trust, the family history of betrayal must be uncovered and released. These insights replace resentment with respect, pain with understanding.
Dr. Manne uses the knowledge gained from her own practice as well as her educational experiences with Bert Hellinger, the founder of Family Constellations therapy, to clearly describe this technique. Most family constellation sessions are carried out in a group setting, with the facilitator first seeking clarity regarding the issue or problem the client has come to work out. Representatives are then chosen from among the group and the constellation is set up and worked in until it comes to resolution. This may be followed by a closing ritual and advice about how to integrate what the constellation has revealed. Through the use of real-life examples of family constellations, Dr. Manne makes this increasingly popular practice understandable and relatable.

In this important sequel to Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, author Lindsay Gibson offers powerful tools to help you step back and protect yourself at the first sign of an emotional takeover, make sure your emotions and needs are respected, and break free from the coercive control of emotionally immature parents. Growing up with emotionally immature parents (EIPs) can leave you feeling lonely and neglected. You may have trouble setting limits and expressing your feelings. And you may even be more susceptible to other emotionally immature people as you establish adult relationships. In addition, as your parents become older, they may still treat your emotions with mockery and contempt, be dismissive and discounting of your reality and try to control and diminish your sense of emotional autonomy and freedom of thought. In short, EIPs can be self-absorbed, inconsistent and contradictory. So, how can you recover from their toxic behaviour? Drawing on the success of her popular self-help book, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, author Lindsay Gibson offers yet another essential resource. With this follow-up guide, you'll learn practical skills to help you recognize the signs of an EIP, protect yourself against an emotional takeover, reconnect with your own emotions and needs and gain emotional autonomy in all your relationships. This is a how-to book, with doable exercises and active tips and suggestions for what to say and do to increase emotional autonomy and self-awareness. If you're ready to stop putting your own needs last, clear the clutter of self-doubt, and move beyond the fear of judgment and punishment that's been instilled in you by emotionally immature parents, this book will help you find the freedom to finally live your life your way.

When children grow up and become adults we often assume, as parents, that our job is done. In fact it's just the beginning of a whole new stage in our lifelong connection. Relationships with adult children are an aspect of parenting that is rarely discussed, yet they require thoughtfulness and empathy, and can bring many new challenges. - How can you avoid conflict when your adult child returns to live with you? - What if you don't get on with their partner? - How should you suppoer your child through a divorce, or mental health challenges later in life? - Do you have mixed feelings about looking after your grandchildren? - What if you adult children don't get along? All Grown Up draws on the personal experiences of parents, as well as advice from leading experts in the filed, to offer support and guidance on working through these common dilemmas to develop and maintain a close bond with your adult child. Discover how to create family harmony and a strong, enduring connection. Praise for Celia Dodd's Not Fade Away 'Optimistic and clever, this handbook for how to flourish in your sixties - and beyond - may be the wisest book on reaching a pensionable age' - The i newspaper 'As a child of the 60's, ambitious and career driven, I needed to read this book. I now no longer fear life's next chapter but instead I'm shouting "Bring it on!"' - Jo Good, BBC Radio London 'Retirement is not about "giving up". This book shows us how to discover the positives and relish every moment of this major life transition'. - Aggie MacKenzie, broadcaster and journalist.

Harry Abley was a nightmare of a father: depressive, self-absorbed, unpredictable, emotionally unstable. He was also a dream of a father: gentle, courageous, artistically gifted. Mark Abley, his only child, grew up in the shadow of music and mental illness. How he came to terms with this divided legacy, and how he learned to be a man in the absence of a traditional masculine role model, are central to this beautifully written memoir. This extraordinary story will speak to all those who love music, who struggle with depression, or who wrestle with the difficult bonds of love between a parent and a child. Praise for The Organist: "A wise and haunting book." -Martha Baillie, author of The Search for Heinrich Schloegel "The Organist is a rich and wonderful book, a deeply insightful and moving story of a family's journey through the 20th century....Abley's tale is fearless in its revelations, yet also loving, funny, and beautifully told." -Ronald Wright, author of A Scientific Romance and A Short History of Progress "'What does a life add up to?' This question is central to Mark Abley's haunting family memoir, The Organist. Both expansive in the themes it raises and intimate in details required to bring those themes to life, it's a question that draws on Abley's talents as a remarkably clear and thoughtful writer. In The Organist, he ventures bravely into territory that is, for almost everyone, mysterious: what our parents were like before we, their children, became (so we like to imagine) central to their lives. What this compelling book makes clear is that what we don't know about them is often what we don't know about ourselves." -David Macfarlane, author of The Danger Tree "Beautiful, tender, and raging, The Organist comes from where the best writing usually does-deep emotion affirmed by hard-won experience of how humans are in their relationships, and in their own hearts. It has taken Mark Abley nearly a lifetime to produce the book of his life. Not a moment too late, or too soon" -Charles Foran, author of Mordecai: The Life & Times

For readers of The Stranger in the Woods and H Is For Hawk, a beautifully written and emotionally rewarding memoir about a father, his three sons, and a scrappy 100-acre piece of land in Upper Michigan.

Bruce Kuipers had never been much of a father or husband. Distant, angry, and a serial cheater, he shoved away his three sons--journalist Dean, forester Brett, and troubled Joe--and alienated his wife. But Bruce did succeed in imparting to his sons his love of the outdoors and the fishing and hunting skills involved in that passion.

In 1989, Bruce purchased a 100-acre property as a way to lure his sons back after a divorce that had done further damage to an already damaged family. The land was the perfect bait, but the moment the sons arrived, conflicts arose over whether the land--which had been degraded and reduced to a few stands of pine and blowing sand--should be left alone or be actively restored. After an impasse of years, Bruce acquiesced, and his sons proceeded with their restoration plan. What happened next was a miracle of nature.

Dean Kuipers weaves a beautiful and surprising story about the restorative power of land and of his own family, which so desperately needed healing. Heartwarming and profound, The Deer Camp is the perfect story of fathers, sons, and the beauty of the natural world.

Chatting with colleagues at the coffee machine is easy enough. Talking to a new colleague is a little less easy. Having an in-depth conversation with someone you do not know, is anything but easy. And, if that someone is either half your age or twice as old, it becomes difficult. This game turns that task into a joyful experience. Lay Your Cards on The Table consists of 60 cards with conversation starters. Choose questions from 3 different categories and you will be having great conversations in no time. You can play this game with 2 people or more. You can start the conversation by randomly asking or answering some of the questions or, if you need some more guidance, you can use the game rules. Although in the end, there really is just one rule: Whatever is discussed on the table, stays there!

Some people don't believe in heroes, but they haven't met my dad Celebrate all the things that make your dad the best with this little book, packed with top-quality quotes and statements to show him how much you love him. It is the perfect keepsake that will remind him again and again that he really is the best dad ever.

A deeply felt account of the relationship between a mother and son, and an exploration of what care for the dying means in contemporary society.

The book is emotionally complex – funny, sad and angry – but above all, heartfelt and honest. It speaks boldly of challenges faced by all of us, challenges which are often not spoken about and hidden, but which deserve urgent attention. This is first and foremost a work of the heart, a reflection on what relationships mean and should mean.

There is much in the book about relationships of care and exploitation in southern Africa, and about white Jewish identity in an African context. But despite the specific and absorbing references to places and contexts, the book offers a broader, more universal view.

All parents of adult children, and all adults who have parents alive, or have lost their parents, will find much in this book to make them laugh, cry, think and feel.

A few years after packing for London, teenager Debbie Barham was writing the funniest lines for the top names in British comedy. But her genius belied a darker, destructive side that slowly span out of control. By 26 she had died of anorexia. This powerful memoir is her father's search to understand his daughter and make sense of her troubled end. In this poignant memoir of his daughter's short life, Peter Barham sets out to discover the powerful force that drove Debbie to anorexia, whilst inspiring her to write some of the best lines in British comedy. Drawing on her copious e-mails and scripts, and featuring contributions from some of the UK's most famous comedians, including Rory Bremner, Clive Anderson, Ned Sherrin and Bob Monkhouse, Peter takes you from the heady excitement of Debbie's mid-teen years to her troubled, solitary end. 'The Invisible Girl' is a father's remarkable journey to discover what went wrong in the mysterious and very private world of his daughter. It is a powerful and moving story that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.

'A hugely impressive achievement.' - Hadley Freeman, author of House of Glass At 8.00am on Monday 18th June 2001, Danielle Jones left home dressed in her school uniform - and promptly vanished. The 15-year old's body was never recovered, but Danielle's parents soon learned that her 'Uncle Stuart', a close family friend, had concealed a decades-long history of sexual violence against teenage girls. Despite the absence of a body, Stuart Campbell was sentenced to life in prison for Danielle's abduction and murder. But what set him on his path as a violent sexual predator? And how do you come to terms with his actions if he's your own flesh and blood? In My Brother the Killer, Stuart's older brother Alix Sharkey chronicles the violent childhood and troubled teens that helped shape a bright and handsome little boy into one of Britain's most notorious killers, and led to one of the UK's most unusual murder trials. Sharkey also poses several terrifying questions: what happens when you discover a deadly sexual predator in your family? Is it possible to trace the root of his heinous crimes? And with the clock ticking towards his possible parole, can Stuart Campbell be convinced to reveal the location of Danielle's remains? A devastating hybrid of true crime and family memoir, My Brother the Killer examines the true cost of keeping dark family secrets.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATE O'BRIEN AWARD 2022 'A stunning debut from this new Irish talent' STELLAR A young woman comes of age in the shadow of her family's tragic past When Beth Crowe starts university, she is shadowed by the ghost of her potential as a competitive swimmer. Free to create a fresh identity for herself, she finds herself among people who adore the poetry of her grandfather, Benjamin Crowe, who died tragically before she was born. She embarks on a secret relationship - and on a quest to discover the truth about Benjamin and his widow, her beloved grandmother Lydia. The quest brings her into an archive that no scholar has ever seen, and to a person who knows things about her family that nobody else knows. Holding Her Breath is a razor-sharp, moving and seriously entertaining novel about complicated love stories, ambition and grief - and a young woman coming fully into her powers. __________ 'A beautiful coming-of-age story told with impressive skill and lightness of touch . . . I absolutely loved it' LOUISE O'NEILL 'Whip smart observations and addictive prose' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Precise, sure, engaging, and a joy to read' RODDY DOYLE 'A moving debut with a satisfying conclusion' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Brilliant, vivid - I enjoyed this book ENORMOUSLY' MARIAN KEYES 'Enthralling' IMAGE 'A nimble account of student life with a darkly enjoyable undercurrent of secrecy and emotional turmoil' SARA BAUME 'A truly compelling read, and one I wholeheartedly recommend' BUZZ 'Through the dark sky of our times, Eimear Ryan arrives like a comet, a bright talent scorching through every page' DOIREANN NI GHRIOFA, author of A Ghost in the Throat 'Brilliantly realised, gripping, and moving . . . This is absolutely the real thing' KEVIN POWER 'Written with a wonderful clarity and insight, Holding Her Breath lingers in the imagination. Beth's unravelling and re-ravelling is drawn with great skill and empathy. A brilliant debut' DONAL RYAN

In his new book, It’s Not A Big Thing In Life, Arnie Witkin asks you to consider what actions you should take in handling life’s troubles and triumphs. It started as a series of writings meant for his grandchildren, but he gave an early draft to a friend’s granddaughter who was starting university. It had such a positive effect on her that she believed that it should be for grandchildren the world over and their parents and grandparents. Hence the publication of this book.

In a world of algorithms and artificial intelligence this timeless and universal common-sense guide bridges the gap between the generations. It recognises that all the ubiquitous tech in the world does not change basic human emotions that have been around since time immemorial.

Some of the 65 topics covered include:

• Principles of success
• Love and relationships
• Sex
• Work and money
• Facing difficult challenges and decisions
• Taking responsibility
• Humour as a coping strategy
• Public speaking guidelines
• Coping with illness
• The power of vulnerability

'Brown Baby is a beautifully intimate and soul-searching memoir. It speaks to the heart and the mind and bears witness to our turbulent times.' - Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other How do you find hope and even joy in a world that is prejudiced, sexist and facing climate crisis? How do you prepare your children for it, but also fill them with all the boundlessness and eccentricity that they deserve and that life has to offer? In Brown Baby, Nikesh Shukla, author of the bestselling The Good Immigrant, explores themes of sexism, feminism, parenting and our shifting ideas of home. This memoir, by turns heartwrenching, hilariously funny and intensely relatable, is dedicated to the author's two young daughters, and serves as an act of remembrance to the grandmother they never had a chance to meet. Through love, grief, food and fatherhood, Shukla shows how it's possible to believe in hope.

From the time he was old enough to remember, Jim Hock was told stories of his dad's glory days playing football in LA. A member of the 1950s LA Rams, John Hock, Jim's dad, was a member of Hollywood's Team, a football team that redefined what a sports team looked like, sounded like, and acted like, all while revolutionizing the sport of football. But Jim didn't know John the football star, he just knew the sweet, funny guy he called Dad. In a warm and aching memoir of childhood, good dad's, and what it is to realize that your parents had a life and successes before you came along.