Writer Louise Beech looks back on the events that led to the day her mother wrote down her last words, then jumped off the Humber Bridge. She missed witnessing the horror herself by minutes. Louise recounts the pain and trauma of her childhood alongside her love for her siblings with a delicious dark humor and a profound voice of hope for the future.

Eighteen Seconds

Beech, Louise

Literature & Fiction

Mardle Books

The incredible true story of the only woman to have worked during the Second World War as a codebreaker at both Bletchley Park and the Pentagon Betty Webb is the only surviving codebreaker to have worked on both Nazi and Japanese codes at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. This is the tale of her extraordinary life. Between 1941 and 1945 Betty Webb played a vital role in the top-secret efforts being made to decipher the secret communications of the Germans and later the Japanese. In 1945, as other members of the forces returned home from the war in Europe, she was sent to the Pentagon and was in Washington DC when the atomic bombs fell and when Eisenhower announced the end of the war. Betty was unable to reveal the true nature of her work, even to her parents, until years later. In this fascinating book, she revisits the key moments of her life and recounts the incredible stories from her time at Bletchley Park.

No More Secrets: My part in codebreaking at Bletchley Park and the Pentagon

Biographies & Memoirs

Webb, Betty

Community & Culture

The most shocking childhood story ever told. An inspirational author who survived it. "I was born and broken in Birkenhead, abused from infancy by a network of every kind of pervert from 'thinks it's love' to 'show it hurts'. I was unwanted, beaten, sold, swapped, photographed, filmed, left for dead, corrupted, blamed, betrayed, ignored and orphaned. But I was also born with a fire inside me. I call it my Phoenix Fire. I am no victim - that word only describes what happened to me. Nor am I a survivor because that implies I am over it. I am a Phoenix - a work in progress. This is my story..."

Broken

Keenan, Shy

A stolen past, a search for the truth, two lives changed forever. Born out of wedlock in Dublin in 1937, Phyllis grew up in a tough, church run orphanage. She thought by fulfilling her dream to become a nurse in England, her life might change, but her loveless childhood predisposed a loveless marriage and things began to spiral out of control for her and for her daughter, Sally. Looking for the answers to why both their lives went so spectacularly wrong, led Sally to ask questions about the real identity of her mother: "Who was she? Why was she abandoned... I needed to find answers before it was too late." After a mission lasting nearly a decade of searching archives and contacting various organisations, charities and anyone who would listen, Sally finally uncovered the truth.

Missing Pieces of Mum

Herbert, Sally

"A WW2 heroine." - Dan SnowLove, duty and true-life adventure in the shadow of the Second World WarChristian Lamb is one of the last surviving Wren Officers to have served throughout the Second World War, from Blitz ravaged London, to the important Radar and Operations rooms and undertaking a vital role in D Day.Escaping both the Spanish Flu pandemic when she was born and the pandemic we are emerging from today, she has reached the impressive age of 101. Now she leads us through the story of her extraordinary life and the wartime experiences of her fellow Wrens.

Beyond the Sea: A Wren at War

Lamb, Christian

Suzanne Walsh's childhood became the 'stuff of nightmares' after her father passed away and her mother, unable to get a job in Ireland, had to seek work in London. So 'Mammy' was forced into the heartbreaking decision to put Suzanne and her five siblings into church-run orphanages in Dublin while she worked away. It was just meant to be temporary.Her life soon became a daily struggle to avoid beatings with canes and rosary beads. Suzanne and the other children worked from dawn until midnight, living on disgusting scraps of food, while the nuns dined on fresh fruit, meat and cakes that the 'orphans' had cooked for them. Suzanne tried her best to shield her younger sisters from the terror of these hateful 'women of God'. But it was only the beginning of their troubles...Eventually, their mother returned from London, after four years, with enough money to take her children out and the family was reunited. However, too scared to speak out, the children vowed to take the horrors they had experienced at the orphanages to their graves.What really happened behind those church doors? This is Suzanne's heartbreaking and touching story.

Vow of Silence

Walsh, Suzanne

Raised in an extreme Christian household, Seth entered Theological College at the age of 20, and by the age of 24 was living and working in one of the most deprived housing estates in England.He served a a priest for 10 years before attempting suicide. "Have you ever questioned whether you are doing the right thing?"Beginning with his bungled suicide attempt, Faithless charts the incidents within his ministry that led him to that point.He met a cult leader, fought with a wife beating alcoholic, performed an exorcism, made a visit to a haunted house, had an attempt on his life by a man who showed signs of being possessed and helped to rebuild a family after their baby died and their other children were taken into care.These incidents have one common thread. A young man, with little life experience struggling to find the right thing to do in some of the most desperate situations. All the time, his once boundless faith was dwindling, as logic and tragedy forced him to take a different path.

Faithless: A true story of poverty, haunting, exorcism, birth, death and murder

Walker, Seth

Leaders & Notable People

Top Girl is the tell-all, true story of a grammar school girl turned county lines drug dealer. Danielle has a safe, happy childhood growing up in West London, but her bright future fades as she turns her back on school for gang life and crime. Betrayed by the police after a brutal gang rape, she finds protection under the wing of organised criminals and falls in love with the local 'top boy'. However, her allegiances bring terror to her doorstep when gun-toting rivals target her flat - and the authorities answer by taking away her baby. Heartbroken, Danielle spirals deeper into gang life and becomes a key player in a sprawling county lines operation, running drugs to satellite towns all over the UK from the gang's London HQ. The Harrods shopping sprees, designer handbags and hedonistic lifestyle are the envy of her friends, but the good times and cash mask the grim realities of her life. A turning point comes when Danielle is arrested and - with the help of a probation officer - she begins to question whether she really is 'top girl' after all. But after five years deep in the high-earning street hustle, can she really leave it all behind? Danielle's gritty, emotional, no-holds-barred memoir lays bare the reality of a county lines insider and reveals the truth about life on the frontline of Britain's biggest drug threat for a generation.

Top Girl

Marin, Danielle

True Crime

The Notorious Guide to Britain: A fascinating tour of the weird, wonderful, murderous and marvellous

Donnelley, Paul

Reference

Emily was in a restaurant, having lunch with her father - the next thing she remembers is waking up, naked, in a strange hotel room, next to a man she did not know. She suspected she had been drugged, raped and later found out she had been filmed without her consent. What happened to her that night could have happened to anyone. What came next happens to far too many victims, as failures by the police, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service and other parts of the system, led to Emily doubting she would ever find justice. Six years after her attack, Emily is an adviser to the UK Government on sexual violence. Part memoir and part investigation, Emily shines a light on the fault lines of a system and a society that is failing rape victims. We Need To Talk looks at how rape is a mainstream, everyday problem deeply damaging victims, their families, their workplaces and the economy.

We Need to Talk: The Truth About Sexual Violence and My Fight for Justice

Politics & Social Sciences

Hunt, Emily

Social Sciences

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