Philip Norman
John Lennon: The Life Volumes One & Two

For more than a quarter of a century, Philip Norman's internationally bestselling Shout! has been unchallenged as the definitive biography of the Beatles. Now, at last, Norman turns his formidable talent to the Beatle for whom belonging to the world's most beloved pop group was never enough. Drawing on previously untapped sources, and with unprecedented access to all the major characters, here is the most complete and revealing portrait of John Lennon that is ever likely to be published.

This masterly biography takes a fresh and penetrating look at every aspect of Lennon's much-chronicled life. In three years of research, Norman has turned up an extraordinary amount of new information about Lennon's upbringing by his strict Aunt Mimi, his allegedly wasted school and student days, the evolution of his creative partnership with Paul McCartney, his love affair with a Japanese performance artist and his experiments with transcendental meditation, Primal Scream therapy and drugs.

The book's key informants and interviewees include Sir Paul McCartney, Sir George Martin, Sean Lennon, whose moving reminiscence reveals his father as never before, and Yoko Ono, who speaks with sometimes shocking candour about the inner workings of her marriage to John. Honest and unflinching, as John himself would wish, Norman gives us the whole man in all his endless contradictions - and reveals how the mother who gave him away as a toddler haunted his mind and his music for the rest of his days.

'The music biographer's music biographer ... one of the most astonishing feats of scholarship and research you're likely to encounter in any literary genre.' - RECORD COLLECTOR MAGAZINE

Colleen McCullough
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet

It is a truth universally acknowledged that anyone who loved Pride and Prejudice will want to know what happened to the Bennet sisters. Twenty years on, Jane has a happy marriage and large family, Lizzy and Mr Darcy have a formidable social reputation, Lydia has a reputation of another kind and Kitty is in demand in London's parlours and ballrooms. Mary is quietly celebrating her independence, having nursed her ailing mother for many years. She decides to write a book to bring the plight of the poor to everyone's attention. Marriage may be far from her mind, but what if she were to meet a man whose own fiery articles infuriate the politicians and industrialists? And what if when she starts to ask similar questions, she unwittingly places herself in great danger?

Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel, six extraordinary kids who can fly, are back for another adventure as they try to save the world ­and themselves. The Flock have barely recovered from their last arctic adventure when they are confronted by a frightening catastrophe. Millions of fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii and someone or something is destroying hundreds of ships. The government enlists the Flock to help them get to the bottom of the disaster before it is too late. While Max and her team are exploring the depths of the ocean, their every move is being carefully tracked by a criminal mastermind with his own plans for them. Can they protect themselves from an army of mercenaries and save the ocean from destruction?