The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters: the Tragic and Glamorous Lives of Jackie and Lee by Sam Kashner; Nancy Schoenberger (As told to)

$33.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

A poignant, evocative, and wonderfully gossipy account of the two sisters who represented style and class above all else-Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill-from the authors of Furious Love. When sixty-four-year-old Jackie Kennedy Onassis died in her Fifth Avenue apartment, her younger sister Lee wept inconsolably. Then Jackie's thirty-eight-page will was read. Lee discovered that substantial cash bequests were left to family members, friends, and employees-but nothing to her. I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime, read Jackie's final testament. Drawing on the authors' candid interviews with Lee Radziwill, The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters explores their complicated relationship, placing them at the center of twentieth-century fashion, design, and style. In life, Jackie and Lee were alike in so many ways. Both women had a keen eye for beauty-in fashion, design, painting, music, dance, sculpture, poetry-and both were talented artists. Both loved pre-revolutionary Russian culture, and the blinding sunlight, calm seas, and ancient olive groves of Greece. Both loved the siren call of the Atlantic, sharing sweet, early memories of swimming with the rakish father they adored, Jack Vernou Bouvier, at his East Hampton retreat. But Jackie was her father's favorite, and Lee, her mother's. One would grow to become the most iconic woman of her time, while the other lived in her shadow. As they grew up, the two sisters developed an extremely close relationship threaded with rivalry, jealousy, and competition. Yet it was probably the most important relationship of their lives. For the first time, Vanity Fair contributing editor Sam Kashner and acclaimed biographer Nancy Schoenberger tell the complete story of these larger-than-life sisters. Drawing on new information and extensive interviews with Lee, now eighty-four, this dual biography sheds light on the public and private lives of two extraordinary women who lived through immense tragedy in enormous glamour. ...Show more

Passages by Linda Trubridge

$40.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

Sam Hunt: Off the Road by Sam Hunt; Colin Hogg

$50.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

Thirty years after Hogg and Hunt collaborated on the now-legendary Angel Gear: Off the Road with Sam Hunt, the pair have decided to throw caution to the wind and proceed without doctors' certificates, to create an older, possibly wiser twin to that earlier book. A backstage pass to the private side of o ne of our most public people, Sam Hunt: Off the Road is a wild, hilarious, no-holds-barred book about the non-stop life and poems of a man New Zealand thinks it knows, until now. Part conversation, part story-telling, part poems, it's also a book about friendship, solitude, love, death, self-destruction and endurance. With photographs and poems, some old, some new. ...Show more

My Polar Dream by Jade Hameister

$35.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

Fourteen-year-old Jade Hameister had a dream: to complete the Polar Hat Trick. In 2016, she skied to the North Pole. In 2017, she completed the Greenland Crossing. In 2018, she arrived at the South Pole. This is the story of an adventurer who never gave up - who set herself incredible challenges beyond her years and experience. An adventurer who endured extremes of cold and blizzards; tackled treacherous terrain where one wrong step could be fatal; struggled through sastrugi, ice rubble and emotional lows to achieve an extraordinary goal. Along the way, she made a sandwich for online trolls, inspired young people, and made international headlines. Jade is:*The youngest person to ski from the coast of Antarctica to South Pole unsupported and unassisted* The first Australian woman in history to ski coast to Pole unsupported and unassisted* The first woman to set a new route to the South Pole* The youngest to ski to both Poles ...Show more

Rosie: Scenes from a Vanished Life by Rose Tremain

$40.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

*The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller* Rose Tremain grew up in post-war London, a city of grey austerity, still partly in ruins, where both food and affection were fiercely rationed. The girl known then as 'Rosie' and her sister Jo spent their days longing for their grandparents' farm, buried deep in th e Hampshire countryside, a green paradise of feasts and freedom, where they could at last roam and dream. But when Rosie is ten years old, everything changes. She and Jo lose their father, their London house, their school, their friends, and -- most agonisingly of all -- their beloved Nanny, Vera, the only adult to have shown them real love and affection. Briskly dispatched to a freezing boarding-school in Hertfordshire, they once again feel like imprisoned castaways. But slowly the teenage Rosie escapes from the cold world of the Fifties, into a place of inspiration and mischief, of loving friendships and dedicated teachers, where a young writer is suddenly ready to be born. ...Show more

Andris, Where Are You? From Latvia to New Zealand: The Family Story of Andris Apse by Ron Crosby

$20.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

Andris, Where Are You? tells the family story of renowned New Zealand photographer Andris Apse, who when middle aged, discovered that his father Voldemars, believed to be dead for 40 years, was still alive in Latvia. Told largely through insightful pre-war diary entries by Voldemars Apse, as well as cor respondence between Voldemars and his wife Kamilla, both before and during the war, this book describes the horrendous effects of war and the Soviet and German occupation on an ordinary rural Latvian family. For years after the war Kamilla and her baby Andris lived in West Germany in a refugee camp, but came to understand that Voldemars had died in the war, or in the Soviet gulag prison camps. Consequently, Kamilla and five-year-old Andris emigrated to New Zealand as refugees. Over time Andris became one of New Zealand’s most successful landscape photographers, and raised his own family. Following the breakdown of the Soviet Union, Kamilla and Andris miraculously discovered that Voldemars was still alive in Latvia. Andris arranged to take Kamilla, who was now in her seventies, back to Latvia. When they reunited in Riga, husband met wife, and son met father for the first time in over 40 years. This story of heart-rending separation and joyful rediscovery will touch a chord with all parents and everyone with a sense of history and the importance of family. Andris’s remarkable tale was first published as a large format photographic book, which was serialised by National Radio, and his life and photography has also featured in a 2010 TVNZ documentary ‘Through My Eyes’. ...Show more

Peter and Me: When a love story becomes a carer's anguish by Helen Ritchie

$33.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

When a love story becomes a carer’s anguish They first met when Helene was 18 years old. Together for nearly 40 years, this is the story of their relationship through Peter’s intense last four years involving 24/7 care, the impact of a horrible illness and a shameful and ad hoc health system . It aims to give a voice to isolated and exploited carers, especially those in private homes, and to expose fundamental issues about humanity and failed systems. It calls for and it calls a Royal Commission inquiry and a ‘bipartisan’ Parliamentary response to produce viable solutions. ...Show more

Gloucester Crescent: Me, My Dad and Other Grown-Ups by William Miller

$33.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

Gloucester Crescent is a curving, leafy street, tucked between Camden Town and Primrose Hill, filled with the sound of clacking typewriters and children playing. It's unremarkable in many ways, unless you notice the lady in the van outside one house, and the familiar-looking residents crossing the road ...Written through the eyes of a growing child, this is the story of a very particular family and their circle of brilliant, idealistic and intellectual friends in London in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We follow William through the ups and downs of childhood, as he explores the back gardens and homes of his famous neighbours, attends dramatic rehearsals with his dad Jonathan Miller, fails exams and is bullied at school, gets drugs from the philosopher A. J. Ayer's wife, and tries to watch the moon landing with Alan Bennett and a room full of writers. Hilarious, and at times heart-breaking, this is also about how we grow up and move on - and what happens when we come back. Not only a picture of an extraordinary time in Britain's cultural history - and a hitherto unseen portrait of some of the brightest minds of a generation - this book tells the funny, tender and moving story of a young boy trying to find his own identity. ...Show more

Steven Adams: My Life, My Fight by Steven Adams (with Madeleine Chapman)

$40.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

For the first time, Steven Adams shares the story behind his meteoric rise from the streets of Rotorua to his emerging stardom in the NBA. Adams overcame the odds to become a top prospect in the 2013 NBA draft. From there he went on to secure a four-year contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder - making him New Zealand's highest-paid sportsperson ever - and forge a reputation for his intense, physical style of basketball. In this intimate account of his life story so far, the seven-foot centre reflects on his humble upbringing, the impact of his father's death when he was just 13, the multiple challenges and setbacks he has faced, early career-defining moments, and what basketball means to him. Told with warmth, humour and humility, My Life, My Fightis a gripping account from one of New Zealand's most admired sporting stars. ...Show more

Blowing the Bloody Doors Off - And Other Lessons in Life by Michael Caine

$38.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

With over 100 movies and two Academy Awards to his credit over six decades, Hollywood legend Michael Caine shares the wisdom, stories, insight, and skills that life has taught him in his remarkable career-and now his eighty-fifth year. One of our best-loved actors Michael Caine has starred in a huge ran ge of films from the classic movies Alfie, Zulu, and The Italian Job (the inspiration for the book title) to the Hollywood blockbusting Dark Knight trilogy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Cider House Rules. Caine has excelled in every kind of role-with a skill that's made it look easy. He knows what success takes-he's made it to the pinnacle of his profession from humble origins. But as he says, Small parts can lead to big things. And if you keep doing things right, the stars will align when you least expect it. Now in his eighty-fifth year-and more beloved than ever-he wants to share everything he's learned. With brilliant new insight into his life and work and showcasing his wonderful gift for storytelling, Blowing the Bloody Doors Off is Caine at his wise and entertaining best. ...Show more

Rosemary by Kate Clifford Larson

$55.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

Joe and Rose Kennedy's strikingly beautiful daughter Rosemary attended exclusive schools, was presented as a debutante to the Queen of England, and travelled the world with her high-spirited sisters. And yet, Rosemary was intellectually disabled, a secret fiercely guarded by her powerful and glamorous f amily. Major new sources - Rose Kennedy's diaries and correspondence, school and doctors' letters, and exclusive family interviews bring Rosemary alive as a girl adored but left far behind by her competitive siblings. Kate Larson reveals both the sensitive care Rose and Joe gave to Rosemary and then as the family's standing reached an apex, the often desperate and duplicitous arrangements the Kennedys made to keep her away from home as she became increasingly intractable in her early twenties. Finally, Larson illuminates Joe's decision to have Rosemary Iobotomized at age twenty-three, and the family's complicity in keeping the secret. Rosemary delivers a profoundly moving coda: JFK visited Rosemary for the first time while campaigning in the Midwest; she had been living isolated in a Wisconsin institution for nearly twenty years. Only then did the siblings understand what had happened to Rosemary and bring her home for loving family visits. It was a reckoning that inspired them to direct attention to the plight of the disabled, transforming the lives of millions. ...Show more

Chasing the Rose: An Adventure in the Venetian Countryside by Andrea Di Robilant

$37.00 NZD

Category: Biography/Memoir

From the author of the best-selling "A Venetian Affair," here is the charming chronicle of his search for the identity of a mysterious old rose. Andrea di Robilant's tale takes us back to the time of Josephine Bonaparte, as well as into some of the most delightful rose gardens in Italy today, brought to colorful life on the page in the watercolors of artist Nina Fuga. In his 2008 biography of the Venetian lady Lucia Mocenigo (his great-great-great-great- grandmother), di Robilant described a pink rose that grows wild on the family's former country estate, mentioning its light peach-and-raspberry scent. This passing detail led to an invitation for an audience with a local rose doyenne, Eleonora Garlant. She and other experts wondered if di Robilant's unnamed rose could possibly be one of the long-lost China varieties that nineteenth-century European growers had cultivated but which have since disappeared. On the hunt for the identity of his anonymous yet quietly distinctive rose, Di Robilant finds himself captivated by roseophiles through time--from Lucia and her friend Josephine Bonaparte to the gifted Eleonora, whose garden of nearly fifteen hundred varieties of old roses is one of the most significant in Europe--and by the roses themselves, each of which has a tale to tell. What starts out as a lighthearted quest becomes a meaningful journey as di Robilant contemplates the enduring beauty of what is passed down to us in a rose, through both the generosity of nature and the cultivating hand of human beings, who for centuries have embraced and extended the life of this mysterious flower. ...Show more