1949: the celebrated Russian author Boris Pasternak is writing the novel that will become Doctor Zhivago. The Soviets, afraid of its subversive power, ban it. But in the rest of the world it is fast becoming a sensation. In Washington DC, the CIA is planning to use the book to tip the Cold War in its favour. However, their agents are not the usual spies. Two typists are charged with the mission of a lifetime: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago back into...

"Let's say I was born when I came over the George Washington Bridge..." This is how we meet unforgettable Tess, the 22-year-old at the heart of this stunning debut. Shot like a bullet from a mundane past, she's come to New York to escape the provincial, to take on her destiny. After she stumbles into a coveted job at a renowned Union Square restaurant, we spend the year with her as she learns the chaotic, punishing, privileged life of a "backwaiter,"...

It's summer when Elm Hill lido opens, having stood empty for years. For Natalie Steele - wife, mother, teacher - it offers freedom from the tightly controlled routines of work and family. Especially when it leads her to Lara Channing, a charismatic former actress with a lavish bohemian lifestyle, who seems all too happy to invite Natalie into her elite circle. Soon Natalie is spending long days at the pool, socializing with new friends and basking...

Summer, 1967. As London shimmers in a heat haze and swoons to the sound of Sergeant Pepper, a mystery film - Eureka - is being shot by German wunderkind Reiner Werther Kloss. The screenwriter, Nat Fane, would do anything for a hit but can?t see straight for all the acid he?s dropping. Fledgling actress Billie Cantrip is hoping for her big break but can?t find a way out of her troubled relationship with an older man. And journalist Freya Wyley wants...

In a village in Wiltshire, just off a busy road, Larch Tree Lane winds slowly up a low hill. Among the residents is Maggie Hatherall, full of life despite her advancing years, who worries what she is going to do with her two-hundred-year-old home. Lucia Grey has escaped a bad marriage but her ex is reluctant to let her start a new life free of him. And for architect Corin Drayton, an unexpected inheritance is the start of a complicated family wrangle...

Summer 1945. After victory in Europe, best friends Lily, Gladys and Beryl are looking to the future. But even with this happy news, their lives are far from simple. Despite Lily's joyful summer wedding, she has doubts over what her heart wants now. As she adjusts to her role as a young wife, could this signal the end of her position at Marlows? The return of Gladys' husband Bill leads to conflict in their family life as he struggles to find work after...

It is high summer in rural Northumberland. Seventeen-year-old Silvie and her parents have joined an encampment run by an archaeology professor with an interest in the region's dark history of ritual sacrifice. As Silvie finds a glimpse of new freedoms with the professor's students, her relationship with her overbearing father begins to deteriorate, until the haunting rites of the past begin to bleed into the present.

The year is 1976 and Jack Sheffield never wants to leave his job. Jack has been the deputy head teacher at Newbridge Primary School for six years now, and he's happy exactly where he is - even if it sometimes feels like there are a few things missing from his life. After all, the kids keep him busy and there's always a game of rugby to play. But it's a time of change, and Jack's world is no exception. New and old faces appear in his life and a romance...

Tamsin and Michelle have been inseparable since childhood. Even now they spend all their time together along with Patrick, Michelle's handsome husband. Except Tamsin's brilliant assistant Bea (without whom Tamsin's life would fall apart) has heard a nasty rumour that Patrick is playing away. Determined to uncover the truth, Tamsin devises a honey trap to test his resolve, using Bea as bait. But she never counted on Bea having her own agenda.

Mark Renton is finally a success. An international jet-setter, he now makes significant money managing DJs, but the constant travel, airport lounges, soulless hotel rooms and broken relationships have left him dissatisfied with his life. He's then rocked by a chance encounter with Frank Begbie, from whom he'd been hiding for years after a terrible betrayal and the resulting debt. But the psychotic Begbie appears to have reinvented himself as a celebrated...