Natasha Solomons – författare

From the internationally bestselling author of Fair Rosaline comes a captivating historical novel—a powerful retelling of the life of one of the most beguiling and misrepresented female figures in history, Cleopatra.

The favored daughter of the Pharaoh, Egyptian Princess Cleopatra spent her childhood hiding amid the scrolls in the great library of Alexandria, dreaming of one day writing her own story.

When her father dies, naming both Cleopatra and her selfish brother Ptolemy as his successors to the throne, danger arises. While the young Queen sails the Nile to greet her people, her brother plots to eliminate her and rule the empire alone.

But while Ptolemy has the power of the kingdom behind him, Cleopatra has her cunning wits. When the great Caesar arrives from Rome, she realizes he could be the key to her salvation—though courting this powerful man could cost her everything.

Can Cleopatra save her life, her throne, and her beloved Egypt and finally write her own history?

Told from the dueling perspectives of Cleopatra and Caesar’s mistress Servilia, I Am Cleopatra is a powerful, addictively readable reimagining of the alluring queen’s life. A modern retelling that goes beyond previous caricatures, Cleopatra is a fascinating portrait of the flesh-and blood-woman behind the great legend. Natasha Solomons’ spellbinding story of female power and fragility, love and loss, fierce friendship and terrible betrayal introduces at last the real Cleopatra in all her glory and vulnerability.

At thirty a woman has a directness in her eye. Juliet Montague did anyhow. She knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted to buy a refrigerator.

But in a rash moment, Juliet commissions a portrait of herself instead. She has been closeted by her conservative Jewish community for too long, ever since her husband disappeared. Now she is ready to be seen.

So begins the journey of a suburban wife and mother into the heart of ''60s London and its thriving art world, where she proves an astute spotter of talent. Yet she remains an outsider: drawn to a reclusive artist who never leaves Dorset and unable to feel free until she has tracked down her husband - a quest that leads to California and a startling discovery.

By the author of Mr Rosenblum''s List, this is a captivating tale of passion and music, ancient songs and nostalgia, of the ties that bind and the ones we are prepared to sever.

''A delightful, moving, utterly believable family saga'' The Times

Fox, as the celebrated composer Harry Fox-Talbot is known, wants to be left in peace. His beloved wife has died, he''s unable to write a note of music, and no, he does not want to take up some blasted hobby.

Then one day he discovers that his troublesome four-year-old grandson is a piano prodigy. The music returns and Fox is compelled to re-engage with life - and, ultimately, to confront an old family rift.

Decades earlier, Fox and his brothers return to Hartgrove Hall after the war, determined to save their once grand home from ruin. But on the last night of 1946, the arrival of beautiful wartime singer Edie Rose tangles the threads of love and duty, which leads to a shattering betrayal.

With poignancy, lyricism and humour, Natasha Solomons tells a captivating tale of passion and music, of roots, ancient songs and nostalgia for the old ways, of the ties that bind us to family and home and the ones we are prepared to sever. Here is the story of a man who discovers joy and creative renewal in the aftermath of grief and learns that it is never too late to seek forgiveness.

Brought to you by Penguin. Listen to my history. My adventures are worth hearing. I have lived many lifetimes and been loved by emperors, kings and thieves. I have survived kidnap and assault. Revolution and two world wars. But this is also a love story. And the story of what we will do for those we love.For five hundred years we''ve been looking at the Mona Lisa and it turns out that she''s been looking right back at us. Over the centuries, few could hear her voice, but now we are let into the secret, as she tells us her story in her own words - a tale of rivalry, murder and heartbreak. And a mystery of Leonardo''s greatest lost painting. Weaving through the years she takes us from the dazzling world of da Vinci''s Florentine studio to the French courts at Fontainebleau and Versailles, and into the Twentieth Century.But, always Mona Lisa returns to Leonardo himself. Most of all, this is a love story between painting and painter. Sometimes it takes an immortal to show us what it is to be human.''A treat of a book'' The Guardian on Mr Rosenblum''s List''Brims with passion and skillfully evokes a bygone era... a beautifully written tale'' The Times on Mr Rosenblum''s List© Natasha Solomons 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

''Prepare to be seriously charmed.'' The Times''A treat of a book.'' Guardian''Utterly charming and very funny'' - Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the YemenA charming novel about an irrepressible man, his long-suffering wife and a Very English dream.Jack Rosenblum is five foot three and a half inches of sheer tenacity. He''s writing a list so he can become a Very English Gentleman.List item 41: An Englishman buys his marmalade from Fortnum and Mason.It''s 1952, and despite his best efforts, his bid to blend in is fraught with unexpected hurdles - including his wife. Sadie doesn''t want to forget where they came from or the family they''ve lost. And she shows no interest in getting a purple rinse.List item 112: An Englishman keeps his head in a crisis, even when he''s risking everything.Jack leads a reluctant Sadie deep into the English countryside in pursuit of a dream. Here, in a land of woolly pigs, bluebells and jitterbug cider, they embark on an impossible task...