Choose from the best selection of books, music and DVD this Spring for your Mum.
An enchanting novel brimming with poignancy, humour, enchantment and insight, this is a stunning debut. Imagine an Audrey Hepburn film in the present day...When Louise discovers an old book called Elegance in a second-hand bookshop, it's a blessing from above. She has long been experiencing the rumblings of discontent; her marriage is in tatters, she's become a middle-aged frump and her self-esteem is at an all-time low. So the book, an A-Z of how to be elegant and stylish by a renowned Parisian socialite, is just the boost she'd been searching for. Read a letter a time, Louise finds the life lessons she needs to restore her self-esteem and the courage to leave her unhappy marriage and move on.
A group of friends, a few bottles of wine and a good book. What could be better? The women who form the Reading Group are as varied as the books they choose to read. But can they find the answers to life's problems in the pages of a good book?
This book is for any woman - whether a mother yet or not- who wants to know what it is really like to be a mother today, how it will affect her life, her mind and relationships and her wardrobe, and who wants reassurance that all mothers worry about exactly the same things most of the time! It is mostly laugh out loud funny, occasionally very poignant, always honest, and full of tried and tested ways to make the journey into motherhood less bumpy and a little more gorgeous. Tackling many difficult issues head on, this is the indispensable guide to 21st Century motherhood, which will change the way motherhood is perceived today, making it a lot more desirable and more highly valued. Every woman can be a Yummy Mummy - it's all a question of attitude - and some clever tricks.
It becomes self-evident the moment you hear her sing the very first note of her very first EP. That EP was called "Like A Star", and it showcases a slice of sublime Billie Holiday blues delivered with a voice that pins you, in the softest but most persuasive of ways, to the wall; a voice that floats up effortlessly, full of caress, subtlety and the very purest quality. It is wonderful, this voice, and surely a discovery to treasure, but it belongs to a young woman not from somewhere musically exotic--say, Mississippi or even Manhattan--but just east of the M1: Leeds. Her name is Corinne Bailey Rae, and she was born to do this.
Wartime entertainment takes a new turn when Mrs Henderson decides to offer an all naked female dance troupe to bring some cheer in times of trouble.