Cleopatra'Brilliant and discursive' Antonia Fraser, Sunday Times 'Hughes Hallett's exemplary reappraisal ? throws a searching light on two thousand years of male erotic fantasy' Joan Smith, New Statesman Winner of the FAWCETT PRIZE and EMILY TOTH AWARD

and he's generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours

In the bed between them lay a large kitchen knife and the promise of an iconic death

Following a literary itinerary from London to Venice

business interests and family conflicts to navigate

a leading British theatrical agent

and utterly extraordinary

creator of the Guardian's Monday Puzzle ***I hope you get every puzzle in this book wrong

A nationwide manhunt is launched for the tenant of the ground-floor flat

To remind us

now she's alone

The highs and lows of living in such an extreme way awakens a newfound appreciation the beauty of her surroundings

from the meaning of quantum theory and the nature of time to the origin of multiple universes