Ann Widdecombe

In the first Bloomsbury Lent book, former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe looks at voluntary penance and its relation to repentence

The Bloomsbury Lent

Sackcloth and Ashes

A powerful novel about a family, and how their lives are torn apart in a single, devastating moment. Mark and Claire seem an ideal couple. He is an accountant, she the daughter of a successful businessman. They live in a comfortable middle-class village in Surrey. Then, during a party for their daughter Pippa's baptism, their son Jeremy is knocked down on the road outside. It is their worst nightmare, something they thought could never happen, and the consequences will affect each one of them more than they could possibly imagine. What is Claire's guilty secret, and can her wealthy, self-made father help? Will Mark, desperate to escape, have the nerve to leave? And how will Pippa be affected by the turmoil that began on the day of her own christening?The once ideal marriage is troubled by the stress, the pressure caused by Jeremy's state of health. But is Jeremy the glue that holds the marriage together, however tenuously?

The Clematis Tree

Forthright memoirs of a singular personality - former MP and Strictly Come Dancing star, Ann Widdecombe. In this life story of one of our most outspoken and celebrated politicians, Ann Widdecombe offers a unique insight into her time as a minister in three government departments and the Shadow Cabinet in the 1990s, as well as taking us back to her wandering childhood and explaining the roots of her deeply held views. A rare anti-hunting Tory, who campaigned for prison education and once donned a miner's overalls to go down a coal mine, Ann Widdecombe has never shied away from controversy. Her memoirs reveal a singular personality who lives life to the full. From feisty appearances on Have I Got News for You to her unforgettable and star-turning performances on Strictly Come Dancing, Ann has earned her place in the public's affections and has been heralded as a 'national living treasure' by the Guardian.

The Autobiography

Strictly Ann

'A tale of illicit love, hate and loss in occupied France . . . confirming [Ann Widdecombe] as an eloquent storyteller' GLASGOW HERALD Catherine Dessin, a young French girl living in Paris during the occupation, falls for an older, married German officer. The novel examines the tensions this causes within her family of patriots and resistance workers. Meanwhile Klaus, the German officer, who is Oxford educated and a professed Anglophile, faces his own moral dilemma as he comes to realise, through his love for Catherine and a tragedy in his own family, the true nature of the regime he is serving. 'A gripping read' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'Widdecombe is to be applauded for the range of her ambition within this book: the admirably large cast of characters is well-handled, their dilemmas are believable and the narrative makes for compulsive reading' THE TIMES

An Act of Treachery

Pamela Hansford Johnson

Setter, an eminent Harley Street consultant, is trusted and admired by his circle of friends, devoting himself to the rehabilitation of the lonely and the misunderstood. But deep within himself Setter recognizes a latent streak of sadistic cruelty which enables him to perceive the truth about a delinquent youth whom he suspects of having taken part in a particularly repellent and senseless crime. It is for Setter to choose a punishment—and enforce it. An Error of Judgement is a subtle study of human weakness and conflict. Partly a wry social comedy and partly a study in good and evil, it is brilliantly written and observed, assured and skillful, and a truly modern work.

An Error of Judgement

Alexander McCall Smith

James Runcie

Nick Baines

Bonnie Greer

Giles Fraser

A selection of the best from BBC Radio 4's Lent Talks over the last ten years. With a dynamic introduction from BBC Head of Radio for Religion and Ethics, Christine Morgan, six well-known personalities invite readers to reflect on a range of thoughts and themes from a number of different perspectives.

Ann Widdecombe

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