The May Competition [closed]

This month’s titles include:

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East End Jubilee, by Carol Rivers

June 2nd, 1953. The residents of Ruby Street in London’s East End are celebrating the new Queen’s coronation. It’s a day of joy and laughter, a new beginning for a nation still in the grip of rationing, still suffering the aftermath of the Blitz.

But for Rose Weaver, the day ends in tragedy when her husband Eddie is arrested on suspicion of theft. It’s only the first of several shocks as Rose discovers some unpleasant facts about the man she married eight years before, the man she thought she knew so well.

Struggling to provide for herself and her two daughters, Rose realises that she’ll need the help of family, friends and the good neighbours of Ruby Street if she’s to have any chance of pulling through.

And when a handsome salesman knocks at her door, it’s hard to resist temptation…

• Read the extract

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Debrett’s: The Queen – A Celebration

With a foreword by the Rt Hon Sir John Major, The Queen: The Diamond Jubilee is a beautifully illustrated commemoration of the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, from her early years to her role as a modern monarch in the 21st century. This book explores the Queen’s genealogy, tracing her descent from William the Conqueror, her coat of arms and orders of chivalry. It looks at her personal life, her childhood, teenage years, hobbies and pursuits, as well as her closest family ties: her mother, sister, husband, children, in-laws and grandchildren. Her public life is also reviewed and celebrated, from formal occasions to garden parties, walkabouts, ship-launchings and ribbon-cuttings, to her work with charities and presenting awards and honours. The state occasions that have punctuated the Queen’s life – her own wedding; her coronation; other royal weddings; state funerals; state openings of parliament; investitures and trooping the colour – are explored with insightful and gorgeous photographs. The Queen: The Diamond Jubilee is a touching, unique and beautiful book and a perfect way to remember and celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.

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Recipe for Love, by Sasha Wagstaff

Summer in a luxurious Italian villa should be a taste of heaven, shouldn’t it?

Talented, passionate and notoriously private, Italian chef Rocco Disanti never talks to journalists. So why, when Cassia Blake has just three months to organise her wedding, has he suddenly granted her magazine an exclusive, all-access interview? Against Cassia’s better judgement, she hands the wedding planning over to her frosty mother-in-law, and flies out to Italy to spend time with Rocco. But Rocco isn’t exactly looking forward to Cassia’s arrival. Persuaded to do the interview to help publicise his business, he has enough on his plate with his fiery girlfriend, wedding-obsessed sister and fiercely protective grandmother. And now it seems as if someone is trying to sabotage his restaurants too… Cassia’s summer in Sorrento is shaping up to be a recipe for disaster. But could it also be a recipe for love?

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Jubilee Lines, edited by Carol Ann Duffy

To mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy brings together a dazzling array of contemporary poets (sixty in fact) to write about each of the sixty years of Her Majesty’s reign.

An all star line up – which includes such celebrated writers as Simon Armitage, Gillian Clarke, Wendy Cope, Geoffrey Hill, Jackie Kay, Michael Longley, Andrew Motion, Don Paterson and Jo Shapcott, alongside some of the newest young talent around – address a moment or event from their chosen year, be it of personal or political significance or both.

Through a series of specially commissioned poems, Jubilee Lines offers a unique portrayal of the country and times in which we have lived since 1953, culminating in an essential portrait of today: the way we speak, the way we chronicle, the way we love and fight, the way we honour and remember.

Brilliantly introduced by Carol Ann Duffy, Jubilee Lines is an unforgettable commemoration: not only a monarch’s reign but of a way of life.

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You, by Joanna Briscoe

Cecilia’s mother Dora wants the good life. She and her husband moved to Dartmoor so their children could run wild, free to make their own choices and mistakes. But Dora discovers that there is more to the countryside idyll, and indeed to her own marriage, than she assumed, when she finds herself fascinated by the very last, the very worst person she could fall for: the elegant and dangerous Elisabeth Dahl.

Now, after twenty years, Cecilia is coming home, to face Dora, and to face her past. But the excitement and pain she had thought were buried cannot be buried. The past is a dangerous place.

You, the unnerving and exceptional new novel from Joanna Briscoe, is a stunning story of sex, memory and family lies.

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Babysitting George, by Celia Walden

August, 2003. Celia Walden, a young reporter, receives an unusual phone call from her editor. She is to drop everything and fly to Malta in an attempt to track down a legendary footballer and keep him from the press. George Best, an alcoholic with his personal life in chaos, isn’t, however, the easiest man to find. But the unlikely friendship that develops between George and Celia reveals an intelligent and complex human being. Babysitting George is a tender account of a unique relationship between a young woman and a dying star, which questions the exploitative nature of fame and tabloid journalism, the horrors of addiction and the humane, implausible friendships that can change one’s life forever.

To win, answer two simple questions…

• Question 1: In Recipe for Love, what is the name of the magazine Cassia writes for?
  
• Question 2: In You, what is the name of the house Cecilia’s parents buy on Dartmoor?

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries: 15th June 2012.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookdiva. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookdiva website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookdiva employees and their families, or to employees of Bookdiva publishers and their families.