AN INSPIRING STORY OF STARTING OVER 'We all need a Devorgilla Cottage somewhere in our hearts' - KIRSTY WARK 'Beautifully written' - ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG 'A magical and beautifully written memoir and so evocative of Wigtown and its landscape' - RUTH HOGAN This is a story about uncovering the things that really matter, and discovering what makes us feel alive. It is a story about finding that inner strength and resilience, and never giving up hope. Eight years ago, Kathleen Hart was diagnosed with breast cancer. Further complications led to a protracted recovery and months spent in hospital, where Kathleen had to learn how to walk again. While recuperating, she came across a small whitewashed cottage for sale in Wigtown, Scotland. Driving hundreds of miles on nothing more than a few photographs and an inkling, she bought it that very same day, and named it Devorgilla after the formidable 13th century Scottish princess. Devorgilla Days is the story of how Kathleen left behind her old life to begin again in Scotland's book capital. From renovating her cottage to exploring the seemingly quiet, but actually bustling town, she encounters a whole community of book lovers, beekeepers, artists and writers - and Lobster Fishermen. Kathleen starts wild swimming, a ritual that brings peace and clarity to her mind as her body heals. And, with the support of her virtual worldwide community who know her as PoshPedlar on Instagram, she rebuilds her life again. Heartwarming and deeply moving, Devorgilla Days is an inspiring tale of one woman's remarkable journey, a celebration of community, and a call-to-arms for anyone who has ever dreamt of starting over.

AN INSPIRING STORY OF STARTING OVER 'We all need a Devorgilla Cottage somewhere in our hearts' - KIRSTY WARK 'Beautifully written' - ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG 'A magical and beautifully written memoir and so evocative of Wigtown and its landscape' - RUTH HOGAN This is a story about uncovering the things that really matter, and discovering what makes us feel alive. It is a story about finding that inner strength and resilience, and never giving up hope. Eight years ago, Kathleen Hart was diagnosed with breast cancer. Further complications led to a protracted recovery and months spent in hospital, where Kathleen had to learn how to walk again. While recuperating, she came across a small whitewashed cottage for sale in Wigtown, Scotland. Driving hundreds of miles on nothing more than a few photographs and an inkling, she bought it that very same day, and named it Devorgilla after the formidable 13th century Scottish princess. Devorgilla Days is the story of how Kathleen left behind her old life to begin again in Scotland's book capital. From renovating her cottage to exploring the seemingly quiet, but actually bustling town, she encounters a whole community of book lovers, beekeepers, artists and writers - and Lobster Fishermen. Kathleen starts wild swimming, a ritual that brings peace and clarity to her mind as her body heals. And, with the support of her virtual worldwide community who know her as PoshPedlar on Instagram, she rebuilds her life again. Heartwarming and deeply moving, Devorgilla Days is an inspiring tale of one woman's remarkable journey, a celebration of community, and a call-to-arms for anyone who has ever dreamt of starting over.

A funny memoir of a year in the life of a Scottish used bookseller as he stays afloat while managing staff, customers, and life in the village of Wigtown. Inside a Georgian townhouse on the Wigtown highroad, jammed with more than 100,000 books and a portly cat named Captain, Shaun Bythell manages the daily ups and downs of running Scotland’s largest used bookshop with a sharp eye and even sharper wit. His account of one year behind the counter is something no book lover should miss. Shaun drives to distant houses to buy private libraries, meditates on the nature of independent bookstores (“There really does seem to be a serendipity about bookshops, not just with finding books you never knew existed, or that you’ve been searching for, but with people too.”), and, of course, finds books for himself because he’s a reader, too. The next best thing to visiting your favorite bookstore (shop cat not included), Confessions of a Bookseller is a warm and welcome memoir of a life in books. It’s for any reader looking for the kind of friend you meet in a bookstore. Praise for Shaun Bythell and Confessions of a Bookseller “Something of Bythell’s curmudgeonly charm may be glimpsed in the slogan he scribbles on his shop’s blackboard: “Avoid social interaction: always carry a book.” —The Washington Post “Bythell’s wicked pen and keen eye for the absurd recall what comic Ricky Gervais might say if he ran a bookshop.” —The Wall Street Journal “Irascibly droll and sometimes elegiac, this is an engaging account of bookstore life from the vanishing front lines of the brick-and-mortar retail industry. Bighearted, sobering, and humane.” —Kirkus Reviews “Amusing and often cantankerous stories [that] bibliophiles will delight in, and occasionally wince at.” —Publishers Weekly

The inspiration for the primetime ITV series on Great Britain, this is the ultimate journey around Scotland from bestselling author Christopher Winn. Travelling county by county, this irresistible miscellany unearths the enthralling stories, firsts, birthplaces, legends and inventions that shape the country's rich and majestic history. To uncover the spellbinding tales that lie hidden within Scotland's wild and romantic shores, to experience what inspired the country's powerful literature and towering castles, and to tread in the footsteps of her villains and victors, is to capture the spirit of this fascinating country and bring every place you visit to life. You will discover the story of the original 'sweetheart', John Balliol, whose embalmed heart is buried beside his devoted wife Devorgilla at Sweetheart Abbey in Kirkcudbrightshire. In Aberdeen you will find the only granite cathedral in the world. And you will hear the haunting echo of the Bear Gates of Traquair House in Peeblesshire were slammed shut when Bonnie Prince Charlie left Scotland in 1746 - legend has it that they will never be re-opened until a Stuart King once more sits on the throne. This beautifully illustrated treasure trove of interesting facts about the history of Scotland is the perfect gift, and will act as an eye-opening guide to this thrilling, alluring and ever-bewitching country.

From the author of Confessions of a Bookseller, a cankerous and darkly funny field guide to bookstore customers. It does take all kinds and through the misanthropic eyes of a very grumpy bookseller, we see them all. There’s the Expert (with subspecies from the Bore to the Helpful Person), the Young Family (ranging from the Exhausted to the Aspirational), Occultists (from Conspiracy Theorist to Craft Woman). Then there’s the Loiterer (including the Erotica Browser and the Self-Published Author), the Bearded Pensioner (including the Lyrca Clad), the The Not-So-Silent Traveller (the Whistler, Sniffer, Hummer, Farter, and Tutter), and the Family Historian (generally Americans who come to Shaun’s shop in Wigtown, Scotland).Don’t forget the Person Who Doesn’t Know What They Want (But Thinks It Might Have a Blue Cover) and the harried Parents Secretly After Free Childcare. Two bonus sections include Staff and, finally, Perfect Customer—all add up to one of the funniest books about books you’ll ever find. Shaun Bythell and his mordantly unique observational eye make this perfect for anyone who loves books and bookshops. Praise for Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops “Bythell continues his seriocomic take on his profession . . . he spares no one.” —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post “Cheers to Shaun Blythell for this delightful taxonomy of bookstore customers and visitors.” —Pamela Pescosolido, bookseller, The Bookloft “Bythell is having fun and it’s infectious.” —The Scotsman (UK) “Virtuosic venting . . . pantomime misanthropy is tempered with bursts of sweetness in the secondhand bookseller’s latest dispatches from Wigtown [Scotland].” —The Guardian “Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops (a parody of the sort of self-help titles Bythell absolutely loathes), is a series of Orwellian-incisive character sketches.” —The Critic (UK) “Bythell distills the essence of his experience into a warm, witty and quirky taxonomy of the book-loving public.” —The Week (UK)

Uses 19th and 20th-century Irish Gothic literary texts to argue that capitalism, the nuclear patriarchal family and Protestantism coincided with and reinforced the conditions for the plantation of Ireland and the colonization which followed.

Even a marriage by proxy can't spoil the joy Lady Amicia MacLean feels when she is wedded to Magnus MacKinnon. With his quick wit and dashing smile, the roguish warrior captured her heart when she was still a girl. It's not until he returns from battle that Amicia discovers the truth: the union was made to fill empty MacKinnon coffers with MacLean gold. Magnus knew nothing of this marriage. Honorable and proud, he intends to rebuild his clan's fortune coin by coin himself-and wants nothing to do with his bonny new bride. But Amicia is not one to give up without a fight. She plans to invade Magnus's bedchamber, offer tantalizing glimpses of what every husband has the right to see, and settle for nothing less than the total surrender of the most stubborn knight in the realm!