Lidwien Biekmann Books

Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most lovable and most unlikely of international spies.

The instant Sunday Times bestseller from the acclaimed author of Hamnet, The Marriage Portrait is a dazzling evocation of the Italian Renaissance in all its beauty and brutality. Winter, 1561. Lucrezia, Duchess of Ferrara, is taken on an unexpected visit to a country villa by her husband, Alfonso. As they sit down to dinner it occurs to Lucrezia that Alfonso has a sinister purpose in bringing her here. He intends to kill her. Lucrezia is sixteen years old, and has led a sheltered life locked away inside Florence's grandest palazzo. Here, in this remote villa, she is entirely at the mercy of her increasingly erratic husband. What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge? What chance does she have against Alfonso, ruler of a province, and a trained soldier? How can she ensure her survival. The Marriage Portrait is an unforgettable reimagining of the life of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger.

A guy walks into a bar . . . From here the story could take many turns. A guy walks into a bar and meets the love of his life. A guy walks into a bar and finds no one else is there. When this guy is David Sedaris, the possibilities are endless. In Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, Sedaris delights with twists of humour and intelligence, remembering his father's dinnertime attire (shirtsleeves and underpants) his first colonoscopy (remarkably pleasant) and the time he considered buying the skeleton of a murdered pygmy. By turns hilarious and moving, David Sedaris masterfully looks at life's absurdities as he takes us on adventures that are not to be forgotten.

Cristina Garcia traces the treacherous path of immigration and assimilation that faced the Chinese who were enslaved and brought to Cuba in the 19th century. Chen Pan is one such Chinese man, who escapes from slavery and makes a prosperous career in Havana as a free man running a well-regarded second-hand store. The fates of his children and grandchildren are more problematic. Chen Fang, his granddaughter, is raised in China as a boy, so that her father, who returned to Cuba before she was born, will send money for her schooling; she dies in Mao Zedong's prisons. Domingo Chen, his great-grandson, applies for American citizenship when Castro comes to power, only to be caught up in Vietnam. This is a thrilling and unusual family saga.

This gripping thriller from bestselling author Nicci French captivates readers with its intense plot and psychological depth. It weaves a complex narrative filled with suspense, unexpected twists, and richly developed characters, ensuring an exhilarating reading experience. As the story unfolds, it explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the darker sides of human nature, keeping readers on the edge of their seats until the final page.

Not everyone who's missing is lost Hard-hitting and unputdownable, THE LOST follows Forensic psychologist Maguire back to her hometown in the search for two missing girls. This exhilarating introduction to the Paula Maguire series by Claire McGowan is sure to grip fans of Elly Griffiths and LJ Ross. 'Claire McGowan is a knockout new talent' - Lee Child When two teenage girls go missing along the Irish border, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire has to return to the hometown she left years before. Swirling with rumour and secrets, the town is gripped by fear of a serial killer. But the truth could be even darker. Not everyone who's lost wants to be found Surrounded by people and places she tried to forget, Paula digs into the cases as the truth twists further away. What's the link with two other disappearances from 1985? And why does everything lead back to the town's dark past- including the reasons her own mother went missing years before? Nothing is what it seems As the shocking truth is revealed, Paula learns that sometimes, it's better not to find what you've lost... What readers are saying about The Lost: 'Well written and keeps you guessing. The best book I have read this year' 'Fantastic read. Had me gripped from start to finish - I just couldn't put it down. Highly recommended' 'Compelling and thrilling. Claire McGowan has a clever ease of storytelling that draws you in and leaves you wanting more'

No subject is too fringe or too mainstream for Zadie Smith's insatiable curiosity. From social media to the environment, Tarantino to Jay-Z to Knausgaard, she has endless fascination and the boundless wit, insight and wisdom to match. In Feel Free, pop culture, high culture, social change and political debate all get the Zadie Smith treatment- dissected with razor-sharp intellect, set brilliantly against the context of the utterly contemporary, and considered with a deep humanity and compassion. This electrifying new collection showcases its author as a true literary powerhouse, demonstrating once again her credentials as an essential voice of her generation.

In a world where divine wishes are conveyed through an Oracle, Mirany serves the High Priestess, who appears to be the sole intermediary with the god. However, Mirany discovers that the High Priestess is not receiving the god's messages as she claims, but instead is manipulating the selection of a new God-on-Earth for her own interests. This revelation sets off a conflict between loyalty and truth, challenging Mirany to confront the power dynamics at play and her own role in the unfolding spiritual drama.

The gripping and suspenseful new thriller from the acclaimed Nicci French. A woman missing. A family shattered. But can anyone really vanish without a trace?

After her own father's death from dementia, the writer and campaigner Nicci Gerrard set out to explore the illness that now touches millions of us, yet which we still struggle to speak about. What is it to be oneself, and what is it to lose one's self. Who are we when we are not ourselves, and where do we go? This is book is an attempt to understand thorough a touching exploration of dementia, structured around the stages of the disease from the outside and, as far as possible, from the inside as well. Full of people's stories, both sad and optimistic, it is a journey into the dusk and then the darkness - and then out on to the other side, where, once someone is dead, a life can be seen whole again.

Tillie Harris's life is in disarray—her husband is away on business, the boxes in her new home aren't unpacked, and the telephone isn't even connected yet. Though she's not due for another month, sudden labor pains force Tillie to reach out to her estranged father for help, a choice that means facing the painful memories she's been running from since she was a little girl. An extraordinary debut from a talented new voice, Up from the Blue untangles the year in Tillie's life that changed everything: 1975, the year her mother disappeared.

Becca has always longed to break free. Free from her backwater hometown. Free from its small-town gossip and dead-end lives. But the horrifying discovery of a dead body - an outsider, Amelia Anne, battered and broken - on the morning after graduation sends Becca into an unexpected tailspin. As the violence of the real world creeps close to home, Becca retreats, paralyzed from moving forward for the first time in her life. The details of Amelia Anne's final, harrowing moments play out against Becca's own out-of-control summer as Becca's and Amelia's parallel stories twist the reader closer and closer to the horrifying truth in this emotionally arresting, sexy, and raw debut from dazzling new talent Kat Rosenfield.

Aan het eind van de 19e eeuw groeit de vriendschap van een intelligent, belezen meisje en de pastoor van het Zuid-Franse Rennes-le-Château uit tot een diepe liefde.

When the world's largest search engine / social media company merges with the planet's dominant e-commerce site, it creates the richest and most dangerous-and, oddly enough, most beloved-monopoly ever known: The Every. Delaney Wells is an unlikely new hire. A former forest ranger and unwavering tech skeptic, she charms her way into an entry-level job with one goal in mind: to take down the company from within. With her compatriot, the not-at-all-ambitious Wes Kavakian, they look for the company's weaknesses, hoping to free humanity from all-encompassing surveillance and the emoji-driven infantilization of the species. But does anyone want what Delaney is fighting to save? Does humanity truly want to be free? Studded with unforgettable characters and lacerating set-pieces, The Every blends satire and terror, while keeping the reader in breathless suspense about the fate of the company - and the human animal.

The Sunday Times bestseller 'A monumental, gripping book ... Outstanding' Sunday Times Wherever there is human judgement, there is noise.

FROM THE MAN BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF EILEEN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Savage, funny, frequently on the verge of teetering into lunacy... My Year of Rest and Relaxationis a non-negotiable in your holiday carry-on this summer' Vogue It's the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong? Our narrator has many of the advantages of life- Young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, she lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like everything else, by her inheritance. But there is a vacuum at the heart of things, and it isn't just the loss of her parents in college, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her alleged best friend. Blackly funny, both merciless and compassionate - dangling its legs over the ledge of 9/11 - My Year of Rest and Relaxationis a showcase for the gifts of one of America's major young writers.

On a remote Scottish Island, a grieving mother and her surviving young daughter find themselves isolated and vulnerable...

'How to tell a shattered story? By slowly becoming everybody. No. By slowly becoming everything.'In a city graveyard, a resident unrolls a threadbare Persian carpet between two graves. On a concrete sidewalk, a baby appears quite suddenly, a little after midnight, in a crib of litter. In a snowy valley,a father writes to his five-year-old daughter about the number of people that attended her funeral.And in the Jannat Guest House, two people who've known each other all their lives sleep with their arms wrapped around one another as though they have only just met. Here is a cast of unforgettable characters caught up in the tide of history. Told with a whisper, with a shout, with tears and with laughter, it is a love story and a provocation. Its heroes, present and departed, human and animal, have been broken by the world we live in and then mended by love -- and for this reason, they will never surrender.

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users' personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company's modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can't believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world - even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman's ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.

A compelling narrative that has garnered acclaim from NPR and USA Today, this book explores profound themes and intricate character development. It delves into the complexities of human relationships and the challenges faced in contemporary society, offering readers an engaging and thought-provoking experience. The storytelling is rich and immersive, drawing readers into a world that reflects both personal and universal struggles.

In a rising Saudi Arabian city, far from weary, recession-scarred America, a struggling businessman pursues a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter's college tuition, and finally do something great.

Op 4 november 1995 werd Jitschak Rabin, minister-president van Israël, tijdens een vredesdemonstratie vermoord. Rabin, de 'bottenbreker' die 'vredesduif' werd, was een man die met militaire precisie zijn vaak onpopulaire doelen wist te bereiken. Deze biografie belicht Rabins jeugd, zijn rol in de 6-daagse Oorlog van '67 en zijn prominente aanwezigheid op het politieke strijdtoneel. Naast Rabins vredespolitiek en zijn conflict met de kolonisten wordt uitgebreid aandacht besteed aan de persoon van Rabins moordenaar, Jigal Amir en aan het falen van de Shin Bet, de Israëlische veiligheidsdienst.

Meer dan 40 originele recepten. Smakelijke, snel te bereiden salades en hoofdgerechten. Populaire klassiekers en originele sauzen en ovengerechten. Voor meer variatie: tips van de kok, serveertips en alternatieven. Tongstrelende foto's van alle gerechten.