Author:Frances Spalding
The life of the painter and designer Duncan Grant spanned great changes in society and art, from Edwardian Britain to the 1970s, from Alma-Tadema to Gilbert and George. This authoritive biography combines an engrossing narrative with an invaluable assessment of Grant's individual achievement and his place within Bloomsbury and in the wider development of British art. 'Spalding's skill is to sketch out the intricate emotional web against the bright bold untouchable figure of the artist. . . Her achievement is to let that sense of a man living with his craft shine through on every page: the result is an exceptionally honest and warm portrait. ' Financial Times
Authentic, compelling . . . another winner for a northern author who has her home county written right across her heart.
—— Lancashire Evening Post on A Daughter's WarEmma brings earthy authenticity to her ever-popular sagas
—— Peterborough TelegraphPraise for Emma Hornby:
—— -'Compelling. A gripping and powerful tale of vengeance and reprisal'
—— Val Wood, author of Children of Fortune'Emma Hornby writes strong, working-class women with heart and humour. The book is an absolute joy'
—— Glenda Young, author of The Miner's Lass'I loved the twists and turns. The emotional pull on my heartstrings was exquisite. Emma Hornby is a natural storyteller who always delivers and, from the first words to the last, my attention was captured. Read this story at your leisure, read it on the bus or on the train, in your lounge or in your bed - but you must read it. Storytelling at its best'
—— Sheila Riley, author of The Mersey Mistress'Edge of your seat drama, a book not to be missed!'
—— Lindsey Hutchinson, author of The Hat Girl from Silver Street'A moving picture of an abused mother's love for her family, beautifully written and enthralling from the very first word'
—— Gracie Hart, author of The Baker's GirlTo read K-Ming Chang is to see the world in fresh, surreal technicolor. Hers is a dizzyingly imaginative, sharp-witted voice queering migration, adolescence, and questions of family and belonging in totally new and unexpected ways. Both wild and lyrical, visionary and touching. Read her!
—— Sharlene Teo, author of PontiEpic and intimate at once, Bestiary brings myth to visceral life, showing what becomes of women and girls who carry tigers, birds, and fish within. K-Ming Chang's talent exposes what is hidden inside us. She makes magic on the page.
—— Julia Philips, author of the National Book Award finalist Disappearing Earth[A] vivid, fabulist debut . . . the prose is full of imagery. Chang's wild story of a family's tenuous grasp on belonging in the U.S. stands out with a deep commitment to exploring discomfort with the body and its transformations.
—— Publishers WeeklyFierce and funny, full of magic and grit, Bestiary is the most searching exploration of love and belonging I've read in a long time. Family, immigrant, queer, magic realist-none of these tags can quite capture the energy of this startling novel, which is all of those things, yet somehow more. K-Ming Chang has created something truly remarkable.
—— Tash Aw, author of We, the SurvivorsBestiary is crafted at the scale of epic poetry: origin stories that feel at once gravely older than their years, yet viscerally contemporary. Chang knows well that the life of a family-marriage, immigration, queer coming-of-age-can so often feel like a wild and tender myth, being spun and unspun by its members, again and again. These are fables I wish I'd had growing up.
—— Elaine Castillo, author of America Is Not the HeartTold by many voices, Bestiary is a queer, transnational fairy tale whose irresistible heroine is a Taiwanese American baby dyke. Written in a prose style as inventive and astonishing as the story it tells, to read it is to enter a world where the female body possesses enormous power, where the borders between generations are porous and shifting. A worthy heir to Maxine Hong Kingston, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, and Jamaica Kincaid, K-Ming Chang is a woman warrior for the 21st century-part oracle, part witness, all heart.
—— Jennifer Tseng, author of Mayumi and the Sea of HappinessThis book astounded me, unsettled me, and left me envious of K-Ming Chang's talent. Bestiary is a gleaming, meticulously crafted gem. I could spend all day marvelling at Chang's prose; these are sentences you want to climb inside, relish, and read again and again just for the pleasure of the language.
—— Jessica J. Lee, author of Turning and Two Trees Make a ForestK-Ming Chang is ferociously talented, one of my favorite new writers. She understands the language of desire and secrecy. Here is a book so wise; so gripping; so mythical and dangerous; so infused with surreal beauty, it burns to be read, and read again.
—— Justin Torres, author of We the AnimalsAn illuminating celebration of female artists and their often overlooked place in history
—— StylistPassionate, enthusiastic and witty... I wish I had had this book as a teenager
—— The iA touchpoint for a new generation who will go on to define the future of those exhibitions, collections, and auctions
—— Dazed DigitalThis eye-opening read is an overdue revisionist history of art - ignoring the pale, male canon to celebrate female artists who have been overlooked for centuries
—— Best non-fiction books of 2022 , iPaperThe early centuries are thin simply due to the paucity of surviving work by talented women painters but her story becomes fuller and more persuasive the closer it gets to today. Hessel is clear-sighted and impartial enough not to over-claim for her subjects but show that they are full of interest and every bit as worthy of attention as their male peers.
—— Michael Prodger , New StatesmenKaty Hessel's first book The Story of Art without Men is a necessary and urgent book. A truly empowering title, the volume celebrates the rise of women artists and recentres them within art, political and social history. Many of these artists have been presented at Serpentine and their visions are getting the visibility they deserve through the fantastic visuals and Katy's thorough research
—— Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, SerpentineWhen women are literally written out of history, Hessel conveys how radical, powerful and vulnerable their lives and art were - and still are. Through moments of rage and celebration, this story fundamentally centres creative freedom: the stifling of it, and the lengths endured to claim it.
—— Tiarney Miekus , The Sydney Morning HeraldThis passionate and personal telling of what has been an invisible history will bring revelation to anyone entering the world of art and its histories.
—— Iwona Blazwick, Director, The Whitechapel GalleryAlthough women have always made art, for far too long, art history has been told as the story of male achievement. Katy Hessel's The Story of Art without Men is a brilliantly readable and lively corrective. Outraged and celebratory, it's chock-full of female trail-blazers - from the Renaissance until the present day - who forged their way, despite facing the kind of hurdles that would stump most mortals
—— Jennifer Higgie, author of The Mirror and the PaletteCompiled with zip and wit, even the informed reader will learn something new on every page - we really cannot recommend it enough
—— The FenceA sumptuously illustrated history... at once broad in scope and meticulously researched
—— Breeze Barrington , TLSThis book has blown my mind. Really passionately recommend
—— India Knight , Sunday TimesAn extraordinary eye-opener, and very readable ... we badly need books like Hessel's
—— Evening StandardHessel's beautifully written 500-year survey is a welcome, necessary, addition to the bookshelves
—— Claire Armitstead , GuardianHighly readable and lavishly illustrated... a rich storehouse of groundbreaking female art
—— Liz Hodgkinson , The LadyAstonishing
—— Bella MackieThis book changes everything. As soon as you open it, it's like you've opened a box of lit fireworks - out soars great artist after great artist. Her retake on the canon has changed it forever
—— Ali Smith , ObserverHessel possesses that rare quality of a public intellectual, whereby she can distill vast amounts of knowledge and history into something accessible, relevant and joyful
—— Pandora SykesExtraordinary
—— L.A. TimesHonest, wholesome entertainment
—— Daily MailUtterly addictive
—— GlamourExquisite writing and a story enriched by the power of abiding love
—— USA TodayFull of romance, drama and snappy dialogue
—— PeopleEminently readable and richly imagined
—— Publisher's WeeklyHilarious and romantic. I couldn't put it down
—— Sarah Jessica Parker