Libby Purves's Books

Home Leave

By: Libby Purves

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A perceptive novel from our favourite chronicler of the dilemmas of modern family life. Catherine and Caroline, Toby and Mark were globetrotting siblings: British 'diplo-brats', whose childhood homes lay in Italy or Israel, France or Washington DC – wherever their father was posted at the time. But all that was years ago. Now Catherine is approaching middle-age, married to a life of cheeseparing selflessness looking after young offenders on a chilly organic farm; Mark is a prim supermarket executive, Caroline a wealthy Kensington wife, and Toby – well, Toby is a problem. The joker in the pack. He always was. Amid growing tensions, marriage-fatigue and unspoken resentments, the apparent tragedy of Toby's disappearance jolts his sisters and brother into making angry, anxious journeys: from California to Flanders, back in time and into their own hearts.

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Page Count

298

Publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

Published Date

ISBN 10

1848947917

ISBN 13

9781848947917

Nature's Masterpiece

A Family Survival Book

By: Libby Purves

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Nature's Masterpiece

A Family Survival Book

By: Libby Purves

The family is nature's masterpiece' - George Santayana A compendium of practical advice and reflections on modern family life in the age of computer gaming, ever younger drug and drink problems, educational upheaval and concerns about the way children's freedom, health and personal development are threatened by considerations of safety. Libby also considers the maintenance of marriage in an age of rising divorce and stepfamilies, a balanced approach to sexual threats to children, and the dangers and opportunities for family life caused by dual careers, teleworking, and other trends in the modern workplace. Each subject is treated with wit and brevity to make the book a delight to read as well as providing a fund of useful advice.

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Page Count

490

Publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

Published Date

ISBN 10

1444721259

ISBN 13

9781444721256

Passing Go

By: Libby Purves

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Passing Go

By: Libby Purves

A funny, startling but ultimately hopeful novel of twenty-first century city lives. On the high ground above the great city, Roy and Helen live in brittle affluence inside a weary marriage. Of their four children, three have long vanished into the sprawling, sluttish metropolis beneath: Marcus the dotcom entrepreneur, Shona the shocking Britart princess, and Danny – the one nobody will talk about. But the last child Zack itches to know more about his lost brother; and gets his chance when the smooth surfaces of family life are abruptly blown apart. Roy is sacked on his fiftieth birthday, stages an unconventional protest in the office doorway and rapidly finds himself a homeless exile in the city's darkest streets. It is Zack's chance to escape down the hill in turn, whiile his mother Helen makes a bizarre decision of her own.

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Page Count

267

Publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

Published Date

ISBN 10

1848947887

ISBN 13

9781848947887

More Lives Than One

By: Libby Purves

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More Lives Than One

By: Libby Purves

Kit Milcourt - impatient, quirky, idealistic and brilliant - has been a climber, diver in exotic waters and affluent young city banker. Now, because of his beloved Anna, he is a teacher. Glumly mediocre Sandmarsh High School, reeling under assaults from Inspectors and its own unpromising pupils, is hard put to contain his maverick ideas. Year Seven, on the other hand, love them. Only the soothing presence of Anna keeps the peace. But Anna can't guard her erratic husband on the school trip: instead a far darker, more malevolent staffroom presence crosses Europe and discovers what Kit has secretly planned for the children amid the dim alleys of winter Venice. But children are unpredictable too, and things move rapidly beyond both teachers' control. Between farce and tragedy the resulting events swiftly change Kit's and Anna's live in unthinkable ways, strain a great love to the limit and open a dark chasm into the past.

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Page Count

248

Publisher

Coronet

Published Date

ISBN 10

0340680431

ISBN 13

9780340680438

Mother Country

By: Libby Purves

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Mother Country

By: Libby Purves

Even her closest friend agreed that Shark Grayson wasn't fit to keep her baby. A heroin addict, living in a sordid London squat, she was already close to death when her American lover took charge of the situation by force, and carried off the baby Alexander to give him a loving home in the Mid-West and an affluent future. But now Alex is twenty-seven, orphaned again and afflicted by a sense of lost roots and a romantic vision of England. A business trip provides the chance to go and trace his unknown relatives. He finds friendship; encounters some startlingly predatory girls; and confronts mystery in the eccentric alternative health centre run by the austere Julia. He discovers that while some British people are very hard indeed to get along with, some turn out to be, after all, more closely akin to him than he could ever have imagined.

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Page Count

435

Publisher

Hachette UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

1444721240

ISBN 13

9781444721249

How Not to Be a Perfect Mother

By: Libby Purves

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How Not to Be a Perfect Mother

By: Libby Purves

This is a book which sets out to show that even the most unpromising madonna can survive the years of looking after babies and toddlers. Full of down-to-earth tips and anecdotes, this is a battle-manual for the mother on the front line - going from pregnancy to pre-schoolers, and taking in sibling fights, fraught outings, nannies and careers along the way.

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196

Published Date

ISBN 10

000636988X

ISBN 13

9780006369882

A Free Woman

By: Libby Purves

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A Free Woman

By: Libby Purves

Sarah Penn and Maggie Reave are sisters, as different as a tabby and a tiger. Sarah has married kind, reliable Leo and settled contentedly into small-town life. Maggie, light-hearted and footloose, has spent fifteen years drifting round the world with a backpack and a cheerful willingness to do any menial job as long as it has no future. But now Maggie has come home, pregnant, and undecided whether or not to keep the baby. And as she dicusses this with her sister, lets slip that she's had an abortion before, and that the father was Maggie's husband. This throws everything into confusion, but Christmas brings reconciliation and a new baby.

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Page Count

534

Publisher

Hachette UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

1444721232

ISBN 13

9781444721232

One Summer's Grace

By: Libby Purves

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One Summer's Grace

By: Libby Purves

In the summer of 1988, Libby Purves set sail with her family on a voyage round the entire coastline of Britain, from the soft, sandy South-East, to the wilder shores of Orkney. They travelled in the wake of their literary-nautical forebears aboard their m

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Page Count

211

Publisher

Hachette UK

Published Date

ISBN 10

1444721224

ISBN 13

9781444721225

Regatta

By: Libby Purves

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Regatta

By: Libby Purves

Sheila Harrison always looks forward to the descent of the summer visitors onto 'Seafret', her tall brick house right on the front at Blythney, in East Anglia. She loves the way her spare bedrooms are full, from June to September, with successive waves of children - schoolfriends of her own three and the waifs and strays sent by the Country Hosts' Association. But Sheila is not prepared for the upheaval caused by one young girl, Anansi, who arrives from a background that Sheila can only guess at. Urban, streetwise, knowing beyond her years, Anansi refuses to be patronised by Sheila's well-meaning attempts to make her feel at home. She looks at Sheila, her family and friends, with eyes unclouded by familiarity - and drops a bombshell. Even when the dust has settled, summers will never be the same again.

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Page Count

317

Publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

Published Date

ISBN 10

1848947879

ISBN 13

9781848947870

Casting Off

By: Libby Purves

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Casting Off

By: Libby Purves

An acute observation of family life that will appeal to fans of Joanna Trollope and Rosamunde Pilcher. This will be an excellent backlist title for years to come! An acute observation of family life that will appeal to fans of Joanna Trollope and Rosamunde Pilcher. This will be an excellent backlist title for years to come!Joanna Gurney, a wife and mother, pillar of the community and partner in a tea-shop suddenly runs away to sea. She meets other cast-offs on her way and voyages deep into her past.

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Page Count

264

Published Date

ISBN 10

0340635126

ISBN 13

9780340635124

How Not to Raise a Perfect Child

By: Libby Purves

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How Not to Raise a Perfect Child

By: Libby Purves

A perfect child: * Dresses neatly and practises the violin before breakfast * Comes top of the class and is captain of everything * Is unfailingly obedient and sweet-tempered * Is a perfect credit to its perfect mother A real child: * Prefers shoelaces undone and mismatched socks * Shouts 'Bum!' at Granny * Turns breakfast and bedtime into a battleground * Is the normal offspring of imperfect parents With affectionate lack of illusion and a refreshing honesty about her own shortcomings, Libby Purves examines the pleasures and pitfalls of raising children from three to eight years old. Playgroup, starting school, rude words, pets - all these topics are tackled with frank good humour and down-to-earth advice. Best of all is her reassuring reminder that there is no such thing as a perfect child.

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Page Count

309

Publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

Published Date

ISBN 10

1444721267

ISBN 13

9781444721263

Holy Smoke

Religion and Roots ; a Personal Memoir

By: L. Purves

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Holy Smoke

Religion and Roots ; a Personal Memoir

By: L. Purves

A fascinating personal memoir

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Page Count

199

Published Date

ISBN 10

034072160X

ISBN 13

9780340721605

Continental Drift

By: Libby Purves

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Continental Drift

By: Libby Purves

Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to see yourselves clearly . . . Henry is a young, hip, radio DJ; Philip is an ex-MP ruined by scandal and disowned by his party; Diana, his long-suffering wife; Marianne's replaced her husband with chocolate eclairs and gin; and Lizzie is battling with illness. When Eva, a naí¿ve and happy Polish backpacker comes into their lives, the values of their comfortable world clash with those of Eastern Europe. And the five English characters find comedy, tragedy and romance unfolding with bewildering speed.

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Page Count

299

Publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

Published Date

ISBN 10

1848947925

ISBN 13

9781848947924

Do You Think You're Clever?

The Oxford and Cambridge Questions

By: John Farndon,Libby Purves

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Do You Think You're Clever?

The Oxford and Cambridge Questions

By: John Farndon,Libby Purves

What happens if I drop an ant? What books are bad for you? What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow? The Oxbridge undergraduate interviews are infamous for their unique ways of assessing candidates, and from these peculiar enquiries, professors can tell just how smart you really are. John Farndon has collected together 75 of the most intriguing questions taken from actual admission interviews and gives full answers to each, taking the reader through the fascinating histories, philosophies, sciences and arts that underlie each problem. This is a book for everyone who likes to think they're clever, or who thinks they'd like to be clever. And cleverness is not just knowing stuff, it's how laterally, deeply and interestingly you can bend your brain. Guesstimating the population of Croydon, for example, opens a chain of thought from which you can predict the strength of a nuclear bomb ...and that's just the start of it.

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Page Count

234

Publisher

Icon Books Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1848311567

ISBN 13

9781848311565

Home Leave

By: Libby Purves

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Home Leave

By: Libby Purves

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Page Count

298

Publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

Published Date

ISBN 10

1848947917

ISBN 13

9781848947917

How Not to Be a Perfect Mother

By: Libby Purves

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How Not to Be a Perfect Mother

By: Libby Purves

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Page Count

196

Published Date

ISBN 10

000636988X

ISBN 13

9780006369882

Immune Functions of the Vessel Wall

By: Goran K Hansson,Peter Libby

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Immune Functions of the Vessel Wall

By: Goran K Hansson,Peter Libby

Synthesizes recent advances in immunology and vascular biology to examine interactions between the endothelium and the immune response system and the immunopathology involved in various forms of vascular damage, particularly atherosclerosis. Coverage includes the endothelium as an antigen presenting cell, chemokines in vascular pathophysiology, humoral immunity and vascular injury in xenograft rejection, and autoimmunity to oxidized lipoproteins. For scientists and physicians interested in immunology, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease states. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

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Page Count

212

Publisher

CRC Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

3718658917

ISBN 13

9783718658916

Radio

A True Love Story

By: Libby Purves

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Radio

A True Love Story

By: Libby Purves

Libby Purves has had an ongoing love affair with the radio since her childhood, when she saved her pocket money to buy a DIY transistor set. This was the 1950s, pre-television, when the family would gather round the wireless to listen to classic shows such as The Glums and Listen With Mother. Libby's enthusiasm lasted through the teenage years of Radio Luxemburg and pirate station Caroline, and while at university she answered an ad for student volunteers for Radio Oxford. From then on she was hooked and entered the BBC as a trainee Programme Operations Assistant. The next 30 years saw her as one of the most successful and popular BBC Radio 4 broadcasters, working on The Today Programme, Midweek and The Learning Curve. In this book, she takes readers behind the scenes of these programmes with anecdotes about the personalities involved, near-disasters and triumphs, and also makes a plea for continued funding and support for the radio.

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Page Count

280

Published Date

ISBN 10

0340822414

ISBN 13

9780340822418

USGA Restoration Handbook on CD-ROM

By: Donald Harker,Kay Harker,Gary Libby,Sherry Evans,Marc Evans

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USGA Restoration Handbook on CD-ROM

By: Donald Harker,Kay Harker,Gary Libby,Sherry Evans,Marc Evans

All the techniques presented in the original reference work, now on CD-ROM. Five years after the first edition of Landscape Restoration Handbook was published, its natural landscaping and ecological restoration techniques have become standard and successful practice throughout the nation. They are now in the Landscape Restoration Handbook on CD-ROM. Naturalization: mutually beneficial for environmental protection and cost savings By outlining the proper use of naturalization techniques, the print version gave landscape professionals a viable alternative to more intensive management approaches-ensuring a greater degree of environmental protection, while reducing various maintenance costs. Now you access these benefits on CD-ROM. A comprehensive guide to natural landscaping and ecological restoration

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Page Count

420

Publisher

CRC Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0849322359

ISBN 13

9780849322358

Do You Think You're Clever?

The Oxford and Cambridge Questions

By: John Farndon,Libby Purves

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Do You Think You're Clever?

The Oxford and Cambridge Questions

By: John Farndon,Libby Purves

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Page Count

234

Publisher

Icon Books Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1848311567

ISBN 13

9781848311565

Coast

By: Joe Cornish,David Noton,Paul Wakefield

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Coast

By: Joe Cornish,David Noton,Paul Wakefield

A stunning glimpse of some of Britain's finest coastline, from the granite columns of the Giant's Causeway on the Northern Irish coast and the rocky cliffs of Wales and South West England to the great open horizons of the East Anglian shore. However, this is not just a celebration of Britain's beauty, but an investigation into the preservation and maintenance of the UK's coastline. The Trust owns a remarkable amount of coastline, looking after it not only as a landlord and at times a harbourmaster, but caring for natural habitats, archaeological sites and historic buildings. Here is a chance to view some of the most unforgettable images of, and discover less-known truths about, our extraordinary coastline.

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Page Count

296

Publisher

Franz Steiner Verlag

Published Date

ISBN 10

1905400381

ISBN 13

9781905400386

Sayings of the Wise

The Legacy of King Solomon

By: Lawrence Boadt,Libby Purves

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Sayings of the Wise

The Legacy of King Solomon

By: Lawrence Boadt,Libby Purves

From the time of King Solomon until after the exile of the Jews in Babylon, sages and scribes composed and collected the passages that make up the Old Testament books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The powerful phrases and images they used have had a profound impact on subsequent conceptions of what it means to be wise or foolish. Even today many of these wise sayings are part of common parlance. The complete text of the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are reproduced here, along with helpful commentary on the literary influence of key images and quotations.

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Page Count

107

Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0312221053

ISBN 13

9780312221058

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