Behind a great artist there is always an intense human story. In Franca Frittelli's case this is so true that it is impossible to establish which of the two stories prevails over the other. both are touching, leave indelible traces in the mind, arouse deep emotions. as in a constellation, the book translates the various bright points of his life into a cosmic, human, artistic geography of profound social and pedagogical commitment of sure interest. Armed only by the cutting of her ideas and her great artistic talent, Franca Frittelli challenges herself and the world in a continuous search for harmony and beauty.

Every Aucklander of a certain age knows that we should have listened to Mayor Robbie back in the 1970s' - Labour Party MP Phil Twyford. But who was he? And why is he still relevant today? From a working class Jewish boy in Sheffield to long serving Mayor of Auckland (1959-1980), Sir Dove-Myer Robinson's life followed an unusual path. A slight, bespectacled man whose tiny stature was offset by a booming voice and massive ego, he was a natural political campaigner. Associated with a host of local and national causes, he became Auckland's most recognisable spokesperson. He joined political causes and challenged convention. He fought for our current waste water treatment process, against French nuclear testing, and an integrated Auckland transport system and city. Though his political career was outstanding and memorable, his personal life was a hot bed of gossip. Four wives, one 20 years his junior, and a very public divorce during one of his terms meant he was never far from the headlines. In this book we look at both his personal life and his outstanding political career, which affected not only the future of Auckland, but the future of New Zealand.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • AN O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE #1 TERRIFIC READ • In an age of bolters—women who broke the rules and fled their marriages—one woman was the most celebrated of them all. • “Even today Lady Idina Sackville could get tongues wagging."—NPR "Sackville’s passion lights up the page.” —Entertainment Weekly • An engaging, definitive final look back at those naughty people who, between the wars, took their bad behavior off to Kenya and whose upper-class delinquency became gilded with unjustified glamour.” —Financial Times • “Intoxicating.” —People Idina Sackville's relentless affairs, wild sex parties, and brazen flaunting of convention shocked high society and inspired countless writers and artists, from Nancy Mitford to Greta Garbo. But Idina’s compelling charm masked the pain of betrayal and heartbreak. Now Frances Osborne explores the life of Idina, her enigmatic great-grandmother, using letters, diaries, and family legend, following her from Edwardian London to the hills of Kenya, where she reigned over the scandalous antics of the “Happy Valley Set.” Dazzlingly chic yet warmly intimate, The Bolter is a fascinating look at a woman whose energy still burns bright almost a century later.

A Goldsboro Crown Historical Fiction Award Nominee The bestselling author of The Bolter returns with a delicious novel about two determined women whose lives collide in the halls of a pedigreed London town home. When eighteen-year-old Grace Campbell arrives in London in 1914, she’s unable to fulfill her family’s ambitions and find a position as an office secretary. Lying to her parents and her brother, Michael, she takes a job as a housemaid at Number 35, Park Lane, where she is quickly caught up in lives of its inhabitants—in particular, those of its privileged son, Edward, and daughter, Beatrice, who is recovering from a failed relationship that would have taken her away from an increasingly stifling life. Desperate to find a new purpose, Bea joins a group of radical suffragettes and strikes up an intriguing romance with an impassioned young lawyer. Unbeknownst to each of the young women, the choices they make amid the rapidly changing world of WWI will connect their chances at future happiness in dramatic and inevitable ways.

Gathers photographs of the popular British rock group in concert, on television, and offstage, taken from 1963 to 1971