The Kennington Bookshop

Grace and Mary by Melvyn Bragg

Will — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:43:36 +0000

John visits his ageing mother Mary in her nursing home by the sea, and mourns the slow fading of her mind. Hoping to shore up her memory, he prompts her with songs, photographs and questions about the 1940s, when she was a young woman and he a child in a small Cumbrian town. But he finds that most of all it is her own mother she longs for – Grace, the mother she barely knew.

John sets out to recreate their buried family history, delving into the secrets and silences of Mary’s fractured childhood as he imagines the life of her spirited mother. Reaching from the late 19th century to the present, this becomes a deeply moving, reflective elegy on three generations linked by a chain of love, loss, and courage.

A Delicate Truth by John le Carré

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:22:29 +0000

John le Carre’s A Delicate Truth is a furiously paced story of moral dilemma, bold action and unexpected love. Another triumph from the master.

Inferno by Dan Brown

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:20:47 +0000

Yes, he’s back. This time Dan Brown takes his Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon into a harrowing world centred around one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces. A landscape of codes, symbols, and more than a few secret passageways.

The Strange Laws of Old England by Nigel Cawthorne

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:23:46 +0000

Did you know: It’s against the law to check into a hotel in London under assumed names for the purpose of lovemaking? Under a statute of Edwards II all whales washed up on the shore belong to the monarch? Under a Tudor law Welshmen are not allowed into the city of Chester after dark?

This elegant and amusing book is perfect for everyone fascinated by the eccentric history of these islands.

The Green Road into the Trees by Hugh Thomson

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:19:07 +0000

From the very centre of England – literally, as his village is furthest from the sea – Hugh Thomson travels to its outermost edges. And the ways he takes are the old ways, the drover-paths and tracks, the paths and ditches half covered by bramble and tunnelled by alder, beech and oak: the trails that can still be traced by those who know where to look.

By taking a 400 mile journey from coast to coast, through both the sacred and profane landscapes of ancient England, Hugh casts unexpected light – and humour – on the way we live now.

The Spinoza Problem

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:17:15 +0000

Sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is stunned to discover at school that his idol Goethe was a great admirer of Jewish seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Long after graduation, Rosenberg remains haunted by this “Spinoza problem” – how could the German genius Goethe have been inspired by a member of a race Rosenberg considers so inferior to his own, a race he was determined to destroy?

Over the years, Rosenberg rose through the ranks to become an outspoken Nazi ideologue, a faithful servant of Hitler, and the main author of racial policy for the Third Reich. Still, his Spinoza obsession lingered. By imagining the unexpected intersection of Spinoza’s life with Rosenberg’s, internationally bestselling novelist Irvin D. Yalom explores the mindsets of two men separated by 300 years.

Using his skills as a psychiatrist, he explores the inner lives of Spinoza, the saintly secular philosopher, and of Rosenberg, the godless mass murderer.

The Signal and the Noise: The Art and Science of Prediction by Nate Silver

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:12:06 +0000

Nate Silver made his name predicting the results of the most recent American elections. But many of life’s biggest events blindside us. Here the political analyst reveals how we can all develop better foresight in an uncertain world.

From the stock market to the poker table, from earthquakes to the economy, he takes us on an enthralling insider’s tour of the high-stakes world of forecasting, showing how we can use information in a smarter way amid a noise of data – and make better predictions in our own lives.

Circulation: William Harvey’s Revolutionary Idea by Thomas Wright

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:09:13 +0000

William Harvey’s theory of circulation was as controversial in its day as Copernicus’ idea that the earth revolved around the sun.

Unleashing intellectual anarchy, derailing established ideas, & gaining currency far beyond the walls of the College of Physicians, Harvey’s revolutionary theory went on to permeate the culture and language of 17th century England. Circulation charts the remarkable rise of the yeoman’s son who demolished beliefs held by anatomists since Roman times, going on to become arguably the greatest Englishman in the history of science after Darwin and Newton.

Darwin’s Ghosts: In Search of the First Evolutionists by Rebecca Stott

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:37:30 +0000

Soon after publication of On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin received a letter that deeply unsettled him. He had expected outrage and accusations of heresy, but this letter was different: it accused him of taking credit for a theory that wasn’t his. Yet when he tried to trace his intellectual forebears, he found that history had already forgotten them…

Rediscovering Aristotle on the shores of Lesbos and Leonardo da Vinci fossil hunting in the Tuscan hills, this is a masterful retelling of the collective daring of a few like-minded men, whose early theories flew in the face of prevailing political and religious orthodoxies and laid the foundations for Darwin’s revolutionary idea.

New Ways to Kill Your Mother: Writers and Their Families by Colm Toibin

Will — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:36:01 +0000

A fabulously entertaining book about writers and their families. Colm Toibin not only explores the often tense relationship between writers and their families but also conveys, with a rare tenderness and wit, the great joy of reading their work.

“Insightful and compassionate, assured and knowledgeable, never less than fascinating. An impressive, fine and engaging collection”. (Independent on Sunday)