September – serie

An immersive, enriching and sensory journey of healing, one wild plant at a time.‘The wild is never finished. It insists on returning, on reweaving, on remaking what has been broken. And it was the wild that first taught me I could do the same. I didn’t come to plants as a scholar or a healer. I came as someone who had forgotten how to belong to herself. I came raw, fractured, emptied out by years of surviving. I came because I needed to find away back into my own body.’In a series of viscerally alive chapters, exploring the wildlife, folklore and medicinal properties of common wild flowers and trees, Brigit Anna McNeill tells her own story of recovery and rewilding.Herbalist, trained therapist, and popular Instagram and Substack writer McNeill explains how the natural cycle of dispersal, growth and bloom can inspire our recovery from trauma, stress and illness. By weaving together both the beauty and psychology of reciprocity and non-human connection, she deepens our interaction with the wildness to be found both in the city and the woodlands beyond.The Wild Within illuminates a botanical path of self-care.

All things were believable back then – wizards, alchemy, fairies, angels. This is the story of those magical times.The Years of the Wizard is a lyrical and highly atmospheric exploration of the lives of Tudor and Renaissance magicians, men from John Dee to Giordano Bruno, who were also scientists, astrologers, mathematicians and alchemists. It is also an act of historical imagination, bringing to life the stories of their wives, lovers, servants and daughters. Morris' vivid recreations of the less documented female lives includes the extraordinary story of John and Jane Dee, the jealous apprentice, and the angels who meddled in their marriage...A brilliant, fresh approach to an era of discovery, persecution and magic – one that still feeds modern storytellers today.

‘Fairy tales matter because at the heart of every one of them is transformation.’In a world in which all the old certainties seem to be crumbling, it's hard not to feel we have lost our way. In Ripening, Sharon Blackie insists that fairy tales are precisely the stories we need for such times.Long before they became bywords for people-pleasing princesses, these old stories – passed down to us through generations by our peasant ancestors – told us everything that women need to learn about the world. They might be set in difficult and dangerous times, but they require their heroines to face the unfaceable and dig deep for previously unimagined inner resources. They teach us to be savvy, inspire us to grow in confidence, show us how to be bold and claim the future we dream of. More than anything, fairy tales are soul-food. They show us how to take hold of our own personal narratives and transform them into stories that might begin with trauma, but end with empowerment.  They offer us images of startling resonance and beauty, while showing us how to recognise and make use of the possibilities that rise to the surface when broken systems are cracked open.

‘Grandparenting is a long-awaited, well-informed, personal and well-researched insight into what it means to be a grandparent... A wonderful book’ JULIA SAMUEL, author of Every Family Has a StoryA WELLDOING Book of the Year (2025)The birth of a grandchild is a cause for celebration. But when a child becomes a parent themselves, existing family structures are radically altered. Old tensions between parents and their adult children may come into sharp relief, while new relationships with in-laws must be navigated carefully. And at the heart of two families is a small person, whose life will benefit hugely from the love of their grandparents.In this warm, wise guide to being a modern grandparent, leading psychologist Terri Apter builds on cutting edge research as well as her own experience as a grandparent. Drawing on case studies from across the world, Apter examines the crucial and changing role that grandparents play in our society, from those grandparents who find themselves caring for a grandchild, to how to support a grandchild through their parents’ divorce.This innovative book is for grandparents and for their adult children as they reimagine their relationships with each other, and become the best parents – and grandparents – that they can be.

Do you worry about expressing negative feelings? Do you find yourself blaming others for causing these feelings? Do you suspect deep down that some of your physical symptoms are linked to stress and unexpressed emotion?Acclaimed author, psychologist and educator Anne Dickson has spent over forty years helping people to understand what emotions are and where they come from. In Trusting the Heart she:explains how to reconnect with our bodies to identify and understand emotions when they arisegives us confidence to express our feelings to others without blameencourages us to be more honest in all our relationshipsshows us that anger can be a positive force for personal and social change.Trusting the Heart replaces unhelpful assumptions about feelings with clear information, and helps us to see that recognising and expressing feelings is a vital aspect of physical and mental health.

'Toebes' vision for the future of care is one in which we all pitch in'  The TimesAfter his international bestselling book The Housemates made headlines across Europe, Teun Toebes travelled to explore how communities and care systems are handling dementia care across the world, from South Africa to New Zealand, Norway to Japan. This extraordinary book is powerful, revealing and uplifting, and suggests cross-cultural ideas for making the future more hopeful and inclusive for people living with a form of dementia.What we can learn from each other? A book for anyone caring for the older generation or hoping to one day grow old happily themselves.

‘An inspiring must-read for anyone who is searching for hope in darkness of loss, grief or addiction’  Gillian AndersonSarah Hiscox’s deep self-esteem and addiction issues began in childhood when she was given powerful sleeping pills for her nightmares. Then, as a young woman, a toxic relationship with food morphed into a full-blown heroin dependency that neither a loving marriage nor a new baby could halt.After years of cycling through relapse and new starts, Sarah’s relationships were wrecked. In rehab she was confronted with herself and all that she’d lost. But it would take repeated attempts for her to understand even her worst day of abstinence was better than the days she relapsed.Just a few threads of hope remained – a desire to see her children grow, a friend called Davina, a sister and an ex-husband who, despite it all, still loved her.A compelling, wonderfully uplifting true story of the redemptive power of self-acceptance, friendship and love.

'Sarah Guy has done all travellers a favour by tracking down some of the finest bakeries in Europe, so we can feast wherever we may be' Matthew Fort, BBC's Great British MenuAn inspirational, illustrated guide to Europe's 135 best bakeries. From the splendid Eccles cakes of London's St John Bakery to the delicate pasteis de nata at Manteigaria in Lisbon, Europe's Best Bakeries has baked goods for every taste.Breads run from giant sourdough loaves at Poilâne in Paris to more than twenty types of focaccia at Genoa's Panificio Mario. The aroma of just-baked bread, the chewy bite of an oven-fresh bagel and the thrill of a cream-filled patisserie are conjured up in this enticing list of bakeries from the UK, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany and France.A fascinating, mouth-watering and unique introduction to Europe's long and impressive baking tradition.

Ten years ago, Angela Kiss arrived in the UK without a word of English. All she brought with her was a small bag, a sense of adventure, a desire to work and a copy of George Mikes' classic 1940s' humour book about the peculiarities of the British, How to be an Alien.Through every dodgy flat share, low-paid waitressing job, awkward date and office mishap, Angela held tight to George's wit and wisdom. With his help she began to understand how to live amongst the English - with their eccentricity, spirit and singing train drivers - and fell in love with a land rich in green spaces, pubs and puddings.

Driven by curiosity, restlessness and a desire to better understand her own country, artist Alice Stevenson spent two years exploring and drawing Great Britain. With an eye for the odd and an antenna for the unexpectedly beautiful, she documented her slow, attentive forays.Her journeying was wide: steam trains in Snowdonia, art galleries on remove Scottish islands, Kent coastlines, Dorset villages, East Anglian saltmarshes, the erstwhile utopias of Harlow and Portmeirion and the wild fells of eastern Cumbria. Yet she found many hidden delights in the dense populations of cities, from Hull and Plymouth, to Belfast and Edinburgh. The result is a book celebrating detail, of landscape and architecture, and creativity, an essential human urge. A rich, artistic journey through a land deep in natural and man-made puzzles and wonders.

A beautifully illustrated celebration of friendship'Do it for the story!''He's interesting to you because he's tall. Tall is not a skillset.''Life is not a competition. If I am good at something you can be good at that as well.''Aside from your taste in men, I still respect you.'From the funny to the strident to the profound, What My Girlfriends Told Me is a small but perfectly formed celebration of friendship, full of the best advice for times of heartache or uncertainty, long nights and new beginnings. Wisdom from women who have lived.

'This whimsical project is so satisfyingly of a piece with its subject' Hephzibah Anderson, ObserverOne summer, Alice Maddicott was adopted by a beautiful tabby called Dylan, and together they shared six years of loving friendship. Alice collected second-hand photos - orphan images - and in her sadness after Dylan's death, she pored over the old photographs of women and their cats. Cats in gardens, cats on laps, cats in alleys and on steps, accompanied by women who were diffident and affectionate, fierce and whimsical, young and old.What did these cats mean to the women who cared for them? Why have cat-owning women always been viewed with suspicion? And where did the Crazy Cat Lady stereotype emerge from, when other cultures revere rather than fear this relationship? Examining these questions and many more, Cat Women is a moving exploration of wild natures and domestic affections.

'I recommend Heather's book to everyone. It's brilliant!' Dara McAnulty, author of Diary of a Young Naturalist An entrancing book of exploration, marine life and natural wonders. The British beach is full of creatures that we think we know - from crabs to clams, starfish to anemones. But, in fact, we barely understand how many survive or thrive.In Rock Pool, the delights of childhood paddling are elevated to oceanic discoveries, as the fragile beauty and drama of intertidal existence is illustrated through the incredible lives of twenty-four individual creatures.'Three simple steps to help you feel better about the world: read Heather Buttivant's marvellous book, grab a pair of wellies and get yourself to a rocky shore... a thoughtful, enlightening and entertaining read' BBC Wildlife

'A book for all the wild women... Foxfire, Wolfskin is simply the most perfect thing. I love each and every placement of each word. Love the wildness, the shapeshifting, the fearsomeness of it' Jackie Morris, co-author of The Lost Words Charged with drama and beauty, this memorable collection by a master storyteller weaves a magical world of possibility and power from female myths of physical renewal, creation and change. It is an extraordinary immersion into the bodies and voices, mindscapes and landscapes, of the shapeshifting women of our native folklore.Drawing on myth and fairy tales found across Europe, from Croatia to Sweden, Ireland to Russia, these stories are about coming to terms with our animal natures, exploring the ways in which we might renegotiate our fractured relationship with the natural world, and uncovering the wildness and wilderness within.Beautifully illustrated by Helen Nicholson, Foxfire, Wolfskin and Other Stories of Shapeshifting Women is Blackie's first collection of short stories.

Take a journey of discovery and explore the top 50 things to see and do on Great British railways. Find the rarest train routes, learn about the railways’ people and animal friends, marvel at iconic stations, whizz over amazing bridges, steam through tremendous tunnels and visit the most spectacular railway sights. You can:Ride across dramatic viaductsVisit Britain’s busiest railway hub and its least-used stationStop at Britain’s highest stationMeet the railway cats and dogsThis lively, interactive book will inspire children – and adults – to seize the moment and explore the wonderful world of Great Britain’s railways.Written by Vicki Pipe with additional fun facts from Geoff Marshall, the dynamic duo behind the 'All the Stations' YouTube channel and authors of The Railway Adventures.

From self-deceptions on size, stature and space (clue: there’s more than enough for everyone if we lose the golf courses) to the living links between empire, slavery, money and power, this is Mark Thomas’ quest to remind us of the true and shared greatness of modern Britain.Structured as a list of fifty crucial ‘Things’, and fresh from a lock-down spent interviewing hundreds of NHS workers for the Wellcome Collection permanent archive, this is Mark Thomas at his provocative, passionate best.

'I have a certain faith in art, a certain trust that it's a powerful current that drives a person - although he has to cooperate - to a haven...' - To Theo van Gogh, Sunday, 11 March 1883, The HagueVincent van Gogh's steadfast passion for his work gave us a glorious body of paintings and sketches that demonstrate both his growth and his greatness. But his letters show something equally unique, a man who - despite considerable struggle - believed in the essential goodness of humankind.The quotes and images in this book, extracted from the Van Gogh Museum collection, illustrate beautifully Van Gogh's artistic development, and his search for a deeper sense of belonging and fulfillment in life.'But you must love with a high, serious intimate sympathy, with a will, with intelligence, and you must always seek to know more thoroughly, better, and more.' - To Theo van Gogh, between about Tuesday, 22 and Thursday, 24 June 1880, Cuesmes

Tre dagar är inte särskilt lång tid - ändå kan det hända så mycket. Att det var ett misstag att åka ut till ödetorpet i Ludvika har Gabriel nu klart och tydligt förstått. Därför ger han sig av igen och ställer siktet på Frankrike. Kessa bestämmer sig för att släppa allt och flytta till Berlin. På vägen dit möter hon holländaren Jakob som snart tar allt större plats i hennes liv. Där hemma finns Mari kvar och uppdraget att hålla koll på den destruktiva Anna blir nu hennes. Och just den här gången verkar något ha gått riktigt snett. I Annas lägenhet har en ruta krossats och själv är hon spårlöst försvunnen. Kan det vara så att hon självmant håller sig undan efter otrohetsaffären med Johan? När dagarna går blir det allt tydligare att något inte står rätt till. "Gå vilse, hitta hem" är uppföljaren till "Tre dagar i september" och tar vid där den första boken slutar.