C. S. Burrough

Missus by Ruth Park My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Like all exceptional novelists, the late Ruth Park employed a simplistic yet captivating in...

Hard Road: The Life and Times of Stevie Wright by Glenn Goldsmith My rating:  5 out of 5 stars It was the '60s. I was a boy growing up i...

After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie by Jean Rhys My rating:  5 out of 5 stars This is the delectable Jean Rhys at her very best. She has our central...

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger My rating:  4 out of 5 stars This was the first book I read as a young adult. An inexperienced reade...

The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605 by Antonia Fraser  My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Whatever Lady Antonia Fraser wrote about - I...

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou My rating:  3 out of 5 stars Maya Angelou's recollection of her first seventeen years ha...

Two Queens in One Isle: The Deadly Relationship of Elizabeth I & Mary Queen of Scots by Alison Plowden My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Alis...

Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse  My rating:  3 out of 5 stars This popular 1959 novel was adapted into a successful three act West End play s...

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor My rating:  4 out of 5 stars This quality writing explores a stimul...

Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain  My rating:  4 out of 5 stars I relished James M. Cain's 1941 classic from which two great screen adapta...

Angela’s Ashes  by Frank McCourt My rating:  4 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favourite reads, this Pulitzer Prize-winner is far from you...

Death and The Virgin: Elizabeth, Dudley and the Mysterious Fate of Amy Robsart by Chris Skidmore  My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Having consum...

Room at the Top by John Braine My rating:  4 out of 5 stars This good old (1957) nostalgic late-night read had me gripped from start to fini...

Lost Empires by J.B. Priestley My rating:  5 out of 5 stars I love this 1965 J. B. Priestley novel so much I've read it four times. A yo...

Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Taylor by Alexander Walker My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Having picked up, opened, then flung aside many a s...

Tales of the Wide Caribbean by Jean Rhys My rating:  5 out of 5 stars Published six years after her death, when she was still highly acclaim...

Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The Wars Of The Roses by Sarah Gristwood My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Framing this period as a female saga h...

Audrey: Her Real Story by Alexander Walker My rating: 4 out of 5 stars   Another great job by Alexander Walker, this story covers the life a...

Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch My rating:  4 out of 5 stars This hysterical read had me giggling like a schoolgirl, quite some years ago. ...

A Gambling Man: Charles II's Restoration Game by Jenny Uglow My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Restoration monarch Charles II I had long proc...

Edward VI: The Lost King of England by Chris Skidmore My rating:  5 out of 5 stars Chris Skidmore makes courageous choices addressing topics...

Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford by Donald Spoto My rating:  4 out of 5 stars Donald Spoto is one of my favourite Hollywood biographers....

Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis by Ed Sikov My rating:  4 out of 5 stars As a woman she was renowned for being earthier than her profe...

The Heir Apparent: A Life of Edward VII, the Playboy Prince by Jane Ridley My rating:  4 out of 5 stars One of the most readable 'Bertie...

The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary" by Linda Porter My rating:  4 out of 5 stars 'Bloody Mary' Tudor was...