Fifty Shades of Grey has become the fastest selling paperback since records began, beating Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code.

Today's romantic comedies and louche celebrities set a poor example for the modern woman. So should we take lessons from a literary great instead? Emily Jupp tries Jane Austen's morals and values for size.

Novelist examines marriage in a social media age, writes Nicky Pellegrino.

For those of us afflicted, read-walking can be almost a compulsion.

As Ireland prepare to face the All Blacks at Eden Park today, Dean Parker recalls how the New Zealand battle cry influenced one of their greatest writers

Parallel plots warm Nicky Pellegrino's heart and capture her sympathy.

Margaret Rhodes, a self-confessed "publishing sensation", takes the cake for what must be one of the worst book covers ever

Shelley Harris' remarkably assured debut novel is rooted in the Silver Jubilee celebrations of June 1977.

Robert Hardman has had access to "every level" of the Royal Household, he trumpets in the introduction to this exhaustive study of HRH.

A stunning exploration in black and white of the New Zealand countryside and the spirits haunting it.

Writer Michael Frayn tells Boyd Tonkin about his new farce dealing with an imposter and his victim.

What happens when children finally leave the nest? Best-selling author Nicci Gerrard recalls tears when the moment arrived — and the chance to turn a time of loss into a new sense of liberation.

Everyday conversations draw in Nicky Pellegrino.

Gigi Fenster has made a standout debut with her novel, The Intentions Book. The writing is tight, the protagonist memorable and the revelations stitched with a subtle finesse.

Anything by John Irving is going to be memorable. And powerful. And provocative. So it is with his 13th novel, the story of five decades in the life of bisexual Billy.