Author:The Week
Read about the man who convinced Einstein there was a God, the newspaper publisher who brought down a president and the code-cracking genius who helped foil the Nazis, and remember the lives of those that created the extraordinary moments in our modern history.
Based on the obituaries that appear in every issue of The Week, here is a book that brings together the famous and infamous figures of our generation. From the world’s influential leaders and thinkers of the day, such as Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, Margaret Thatcher and Sir Patrick Moore, to the more infamous and eccentric, this is a fascinating compendium of the lives of our times.
One of the most important books about gay culture in recent times
—— Andy Thomas , The QuietusFascinating and entertaining...as incisive about gay culture as Caitlin Moran's books are about feminism
—— Boyd Hilton , HeatOne of civilisation’s great pop-cultural writers…tells the story of some of the most amazing decades in British history
—— GQ StyleLively, timely and lovingly researched: thoroughly gay, in both the old and the new senses of the word
—— Louis Wise , The Sunday TimesInsightful and engaging look at the past 30 years of gay social history in Britain
—— AttitudeImportant and insightful
—— The PoolWonderful book...sensitively written and well researched. I'm honoured to be included
—— David FurnishAn essential testament that needs to be read by anyone who came of age during the last three decades: gay, straight, parent, child, sister, brother, politician, policy maker, celebrity, commentator - all of us who are trying to make sense of where we came from and where we are now
—— John TiffanyWhether it's the bittersweet recollections of a former London Lighthouse AIDS nurse, the unexpected moral fortitude of a former tabloid editor, or the Grindr confessions of a pop idol, Flynn finds the heroism in the everyday and the exceptional...an ambitious and inspiring work
—— Adam Mattera, former Attitude editorAs fascinating as it is laugh out loud funny, and proves, quite brilliantly, that there's nowt so queer as folk
—— Antony CottonLively trip through haberdashery history.
—— Iain Finlayson , SagaI found this a great read for all ages and a genuine insight into the social history of different times.
—— Phil Robinson , Yorkshire PostKnight is a lively minded writer… Knight trims her story with wonderful arcane clothes-related information.
—— Claire Harman , Guardian WeeklyIf ever there was a case for book groups to abandon fiction… [This] is it… Irresistible.
—— WI LifeIf you spent many happy hours as a child messing about with buttons, you’ll love The Button Box
—— YoursA box which contains the buttons of three generations of women in Lynn Knight’s family is at the centre of this book, and is both ordinary and remarkable, prosaic and magical… The only illustrations of the buttons and clothes in the book appear on the dust jacket and at the start of each chapter, yet through Knight’s prose we are able to vividly picture them and ourselves rummaging through an old button box, imagining the dresses and the lives that they once belonged to
—— Sophie Woodward , Times Literary SupplementStrikingly lucid, brave and generous
—— Sue Gaisford , TabletThis is the mesmerising, seven-generations saga of the strong women in Juliet Nicolson’s family
—— Iain Finlayson , Saga MagazineAlongside vivid portraits of Pepita, Victoria and Vita, Nicolson delivers a magnificently clear-eyed view of her mother… Lovely, elegant book, painstakingly unsentimental.
—— Nick Curtis , Radio TimesShe examines the pride, passion, resentment, emotional neglect, addiction and loss, and recognizes them in her own life... a treat
—— PsychologiesFew writers can boast such a literary heritage as Juliet Nicolson, granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, who turns her astute historian’s eye onto her own family history.
—— Choice MagazineAn engaging history-cum-memoir… Strongest when exploring the tender relationship between Nicolson and her father after her mother’s death as a result of alcoholism, her own struggles with the same condition, the knife-twist of grief when one loses a parent, and the emotional rush of motherhood.
—— Natasha Tripney , GuardianI would recommend everyone to read this book
—— CB Patel , Asian VoiceJuliet Nicolson is firing on all cylinders ... She is able to write about powerful emotion in a way that is both heartfelt and unselfconscious ... It makes the book perfectly personal as well as a fascinating history
—— William BoydThis book is a marvellous illustration of the often forgotten fact that people in history were real, with real ambition, real passion and real rage. All these women took life by the throat and shook it. It’s a wonderful read, and a powerful reminder of the significance of our matrilineal descent
—— Julian FellowesJuliet Nicolson's book will engage the hearts and minds of daughters and sons everywhere. She has turned my attention to much in my life, and I am full of admiration for her clarity and gentleness
—— Vanessa RedgraveI loved A House Full of Daughters. I was initially intrigued, then gripped, and then when she began writing about herself, deeply moved and admiring of the way in which she charted her own journey. An illuminating book in which she charts the inevitability of family life and the damage and gifts that we inherit from the previous generations
—— Esther FreudA fascinating, beautifully written, brutally honest family memoir. I was riveted. This is a book to read long into the night
—— Frances OsborneI was riveted... She is so astute about mother/daughter relationships and the tenderness of fathers and daughters. She deeply understands the way problems pass down through generations... I congratulate her on her fierce understanding.
—— Erica JongJuliet Nicolson’s writing is so confident and assured. She combines the magic of a novelist with the rigour of a historian, and the result is thrilling and seriously powerful
—— Rosie BoycottOnce I started it was impossible to stop. I was totally absorbed by Juliet Nicolson's large-souled approach to family memoir down the generations, drawing the reader into lives that reverberate with achievement and suffering... movingly original
—— Lyndall GordonA moving and very revealing account of seven generations of strong and yet curiously vulnerable mothers and daughters
—— Julia BlackburnAn outstanding book about a gifted, unconventional family told through the female line. Insightful, painfully honest, beautifully written and full of love, wisdom, compassion, loss, betrayal and self-doubt. A House Full of Daughters will resonate down the years for all who read it
—— Juliet GardinerAn engaging memoir in which Nicolson lays bare discoveries about herself, but also gives a fascinating inside take on her renowned, and already much scrutinized, forebears. She also has much that is thought-provoking to say about mothers and daughters, marriage and the way in which damaging patterns can repeat down generations.
—— Caroline Sanderson , BooksellerNicolson is perceptive on difficult mother-daughter relationships.
—— Leyla Sanai , IndependentA fascinating personal look at family, the past and love.
—— Kate Morton , Woman & HomeBeautifully written history… She has as easy and elegant a style as her many writer relations, so this book is seductively readable. It could be described as a late addition to the ‘Bloomsbury’ shelves, but that should not put off anyone who feels enough has been said about that particular group. I found it touching and fascinating. In admitting that Nigel Nicolson was a friend, I can say with confidence that he would have been painfully proud of his daughter’s candid confession.
—— Jessica Mann , BookOxygenHighly readable, no-holds barred tale.
—— Jenny Comita , W MagazineNicolson has written a poignant and courageous history.
—— Daily TelegraphThe most enjoyable book to take on holiday would undoubtedly be Juliet Nicolson’s A House Full of Daughters… It is ideal holiday reading.
—— Lady Antonia Fraser , GuardianA simple premise looking at seven generations of women in one family, but it's got all the juicy bits of several novels in one
—— Sarah Solemani , You Magazine[An] ambitious memoir.
—— Lady, Book of the YearAn entrancing book… A poignant, well-written memoir-cum-social history
—— Sebastian Shakespeare , Daily Mail, Book of the YearA fine family memoir.
—— Daily MailThis engrossing book charts seven generations of a family who were obsessive documenters of their lives through diaries, letters, memoirs and autobiographical novels… Interwoven with the personal is a portrait of society’s changing expectations of women, and the struggle to break free from patriarchy. Here, brilliantly laid bare, are both the trials of being a daughter and of documenting daughterhood in all its complexity.
—— Anita Sethi , ObserverA charming book about the female side of Nicolson’s family tree.
—— i