Lindsay Shapero

Red Joan

London, England, May 2000. The peaceful life of elderly Joan Stanley is suddenly disrupted when she is arrested by the British Intelligence Service and accused of providing information to communist Russia during the forties.

Madame Tussaud: A Legend in Wax

The remarkable true story of the woman behind the worldwide waxworks empire - Madame Tussaud. In an astonishing life that spanned both the French and Industrial revolutions, this single mother and entrepreneur travelled across the Channel to England, where she overcame the odds to establish her remarkable and enduring brand. Determined to leave an account of who she was and the times she lived through, her memoirs, letters and papers offer a unique insight into the creation of the extraordinary empire which bears her name.

Tea War: The Adventures of Robert Fortune

In the 19th century, China held the monopoly on tea, which was dear and fashionable in the West, and the British Empire exchanged poppies, produced in its Indian colonies and transformed into opium, for Chinese tea. Inundated by the drugs, China was forced to open up its market, and the British consolidated their commercial dominance. In 1839, the Middle Empire introduced prohibition. The Opium War was declared… Great Britain emerged as the winner, but the warning was heeded: it could no longer depend on Chinese tea. The only alternative possible was to produce its own tea. The East India Company therefore entrusted one man with finding the secrets of the precious beverage. His mission was to develop the first plantations in Britain’s Indian colonies. This latter-day James Bond was called Robert Fortune – a botanist. After overcoming innumerable ordeals in the heart of imperial China, he brought back the plants and techniques that gave rise to Darjeeling tea.

Serial Thriller: The Head Hunter

In 1972 the tranquility of a coastal town in California is broken as hitch-hiking girls begin to go missing and corpses start showing up. Welcome to Murder City.

Enid

A poignant biography of one of the most successful and wildly-read writers of the 20th century. Her stories enthralled children everywhere but her personal struggles often proved too much.