Children’s Books
Wilding by Isabella Tree and Angela Harding
Macmillan, £20 hardback
This gorgeous book is an illustrated, children’s version of Isabella Tree’s fantastic Wilding, the story of the pioneering rewilding project at Knepp, near Horsham.
Angela Harding’s beautiful linocuts, as well as fascinating photos, illuminate the progression of Knepp from an intensively farmed landscape to a much wilder one, thrumming with life (and PHD students), with sections on different ecological processes and different species.
Informative, beautiful, and hopeful, this is a lovely gift. Age 8+

The Whisperwicks by Jordan Lees
Puffin hardback £14.99 – published 28th March
An outstanding debut fantasy novel which weaves an enchanting spell from the very first sentence.
Eleven year-old Benjamiah loves facts, science, and logic, and does NOT believe in magic! But when he receives a peculiar gift – a poppet doll that can transform into a bird, it leads him into the impossible, magical Wreathenworld, a labyrinthine city of shifting streets where maps are forbidden. Benjamiah soon meets the fierce and feisty Elizabella and is swept into a deadly quest in search of her missing brother. But in this shifting land where nothing is as it seems, how can he ever find his way home?
I was mesmerised by this beautifully written novel, which envelops the reader in a spider web of rich prose and inventive details. For readers of 9+.
KIDS AND PARENTS! DON’T FORGET IT’s WORLD BOOK DAY ON THURSDAY 7th MARCH AND WE WILL HAVE ALL THE WBD BOOKS ON DISPLAY FROM MARCH 1ST!

The Bowerbird by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Catherine Rayner
Out in paperback £7.99 Macmillan
Bert the lovelorn little Bowerbird has painstakingly constructed the MOST perfect Bower, complete with a pretty purple flower... But Nanette, the lady of his dreams, is FAR from impressed. So Bert flies off finding presents from far and wide... Will it EVER be enough to win Nanette’s heart? Julia Donaldson’s delight in the natural world shines through and the illustrations are stunning. A real treat of a picture book for under 6’s.

Adults Books
The Walnut Tree: Women, Violence and the Law, A Hidden History by Kate Morgan
Harper Collins hardback £20
A shocking and informative work of historical non-fiction, The Walnut Tree lifts the lid on the story of women under British law during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, exploring the landmark legal cases, bitterly fought campaigns for justice, and revealing the disturbing seams of misogyny which polluted parliament and the justice system.  
The book shines a light on the forgotten women whose cases became the cornerstones of our modern legal system, such as Emily Jackson of the Clitheroe wife abduction and Phyllis Dimmock of the Camden Murder, it looks at the indignities visited upon women in the name of the Contagious Diseases Act, and follows some of the brave campaigners and suffragists from Lady Caroline Norton to Maud Crofts who pushed for judicial reform. A chilling read full of jaw-dropping facts for anyone interested in feminism and the law.
Kate Morgan will be discussing the book at our event on Tuesday 5th March.

The Women by Kristin Hannah
Pan Macmillan hardback £16.99
This was my first dip into Kristin Hannah’s work – she’s a best-selling writer of women’s historical fiction, and now I understand her popularity – this is big, bold storytelling which grabs you by the heart.
The Women is an emotional story of love, loss, war and trauma which follows 20-year-old Frankie, a newly-qualified nurse from a wealthy Naval family, as she enlists as an Army nurse in order to follow her brother into the Vietnam War. Frankie is thrust into the thick of the action, experiencing unimaginable horrors and hardship but also forming deep bonds with Ethel and Barb, fellow nurses, falling in love with a Naval officer, and becoming a highly skilled surgical nurse.
Frankie’s experiences in Vietnam are visceral, vivid and brutal – but it is when she returns home that the story becomes truly heart-rending. Frankie returns to the opposite of a hero’s homecoming.... a family who refuses to value her contribution (her father says ‘Women can’t be heroes’) in a changed America which is sickened by the war. Determined to continue her career as a nurse, Frankie must first come to terms with her grief and trauma before she can find her place in the world.
A powerful sweep of a story, full of fascinating historical detail, which vividly evokes the horrors of war, the pain of PTSD and the nourishing power of female friendship.