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Restless (novel)
''Restless'' is an espionage novel written by William Boyd, published in 2006. It won the Costa Prize for fiction. The novel depicts the tale of a young woman who discovers that her mother was recruited as a spy during World War II. The book continually switches between time periods and, in doing so, from first to third person. According to the author, it is one of the first novels to deal with the British Security Coordination service in New York. The book gained general public interest when it was chosen for inclusion in 'Book Club 2007', on the UK television show ''Richard & Judy''. Plot summary Eva, a young Russian woman, is recruited after her brother's death to work for the British secret service. During this time she falls for her mentor and boss, Lucas Romer. But all is not as it seems as Romer is working as a double agent which ultimately leads to the attempted murder of Eva, alongside the deaths of other agents. The tale is interlinked with the story of Eva's da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Boyd (writer)
William Andrew Murray Boyd (born 7 March 1952) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Biography Boyd was born in Accra, Gold Coast, (present-day Ghana), to Scottish parents, both from Fife, and has two younger sisters. His father Alexander, a doctor specialising in tropical medicine, and Boyd's mother, who was a teacher, moved to the Gold Coast in 1950 to run the health clinic at the University College of the Gold Coast, Legon (now the University of Ghana). In the early 1960s the family moved to western Nigeria, where Boyd's father held a similar position at the University of Ibadan. Boyd spent his early life in Ghana and Nigeria and, at the age of nine, went to a preparatory school and then to Gordonstoun school in Scotland, and, after that, to the University of Nice in France, followed by the University of Glasgow, where he gained an M.A. (Hons) in English & Philosophy, and finally Jesus College, Oxford. His father died of a rare disease when Boyd was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every style of English architecture since late Anglo-Saxon. Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, information technology and science. History The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in the Saxon period. Originally of strategic significance due to its controlling location on the upper reaches of the River Thames at its junction with the River Cherwell, the town grew in national importance during the early Norman period, and in the late 12th century became home to the fledgling University of Oxford. The city was besieged during The Anarchy in 1142. The university rose to dom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006 British Novels
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second smallest composite number, behind 4; its proper divisors are , and . Since 6 equals the sum of its proper divisors, it is a perfect number; 6 is the smallest of the perfect numbers. It is also the smallest Granville number, or \mathcal-perfect number. As a perfect number: *6 is related to the Mersenne prime 3, since . (The next perfect number is 28.) *6 is the only even perfect number that is not the sum of successive odd cubes. *6 is the root of the 6-aliquot tree, and is itself the aliquot sum of only one other number; the square number, . Six is the only number that is both the sum and the product of three consecutive positive numbers. Unrelated to 6's being a perfect number, a Golomb ruler of length 6 is a "perfect ruler". Six is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Costa Book Awards
The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then a brewery and owner of restaurant chains, it was renamed when Costa Coffee, then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship. The companion Costa Short Story Award was established in 2012. Costa Coffee was purchased by the Coca-Cola Company in 2018. The awards were abruptly terminated in 2022. The awards were given both for high literary merit but also for works that are enjoyable reading and whose aim is to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience. As such, they were considered a more populist literary prize than the Booker Prize, which also limits winners to literature written in the UK and Ireland. Awards were separated into six categories: Biography, Children's Books, First Novel, Novel, Poetry, and Shor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in New York City, an India publishing office in New Delhi, an Australia sales office in Sydney CBD and other publishing offices in the UK including in Oxford. The company's growth over the past two decades is primarily attributable to the ''Harry Potter'' series by J. K. Rowling and, from 2008, to the development of its academic and professional publishing division. The Bloomsbury Academic & Professional division won the Bookseller Industry Award for Academic, Educational & Professional Publisher of the Year in both 2013 and 2014. Divisions Bloomsbury Publishing group has two separate publishing divisions—the Consumer division and the Non-Consumer division—supported by group functions, namely Sales and Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlotte Rampling
Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress, known for her work in European arthouse films in English, French, and Italian. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film ''Georgy Girl'', which starred Lynn Redgrave. She soon began making French and Italian arthouse films, notably Luchino Visconti's '' The Damned'' (1969) and Liliana Cavani's ''The Night Porter'' (1974). She went on to star in many European and English-language films, including ''Stardust Memories'' (1980); in ''The Verdict'' (1982); '' Long Live Life'' (1984), and ''The Wings of the Dove'' (1997). In the 2000s, she became the muse of French director François Ozon, appearing in several of his films, notably ''Swimming Pool'' (2003). On television, she is known for her role as Dr. Evelyn Vogel in '' Dexter'' (2013). In 2002 she released an album of recordings in the style of cabaret, titled ''As a Woman''. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon (; born 19 October 1940) is an Irish-English actor. Regarded as one of Ireland and Britain's most distinguished actors, he is known for his work on stage and screen. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. Over his six decade long career he's received three Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four BAFTA Awards. In 1999 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama. Having begun his professional career in the theatre with Olivier at the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic, Gambon appeared in many productions of works by William Shakespeare such as ''Othello'', ''Hamlet'', ''Macbeth'' and ''Coriolanus''. Gambon has been nominated for thirteen Olivier Awards winning three times for '' A Chorus of Disapproval'' (1985), ''A View from the Bridge'' (1987), and '' Man of the Moment'' (1990). In 1997 Gambon made his Broadway debut in David Hare's ''Sk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michelle Dockery
Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English television and film actress. She is best known for her leading performance as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV television period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Dockery made her professional stage debut in ''His Dark Materials'' in 2004. For her role as Eliza Doolittle in the 2007 London revival of ''Pygmalion'', she was nominated for the Evening Standard Award. For her role in the 2009 play ''Burnt by the Sun'', she earned an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Dockery has appeared in the films '' Hanna'' (2011), ''Anna Karenina'' (2012), '' Non-Stop'' (2014), and '' The Gentlemen'' (2019). On television, Dockery has also played lead roles on the drama series '' Good Behavior'' and the Netflix miniseries '' Godless'', for which she received he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rufus Sewell
Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British film and stage actor. In film, he has appeared in '' Carrington'' (1995), '' ''Hamlet'''' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), '' Dark City'' (1998), ''A Knight's Tale ''(2001), ''The Legend of Zorro ''(2005)'','' '' The Illusionist ''(2006)'', Amazing Grace ''(2006)'', The Holiday ''(2006)'', Paris, je t'aime ''(2006)'', Judy ''(2019), '' The Father'' (2020), and '' Old'' (2021). On television, he has starred in ''Middlemarch'' (1994), '' Charles II: The Power and the Passion'' (2003), ''John Adams'' (2008), ''Eleventh Hour'' (2008–2009), ''Zen'' (2011), ''The Pillars of the Earth'' (2010), ''Parade's End'' (2012), ''Victoria'' (2016–2017), ''The Man in the High Castle'' (2014–2019), and ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' (2019)."Rufu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hayley Atwell
Hayley Elizabeth Atwell (born 5 April 1982) is a British and American actress. Born and raised in London, Atwell studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and made her stage debut in a 2005 production of James Kerr's translation of the Ancient Greek tragedy ''Prometheus Bound''. She subsequently appeared in multiple West End productions and on television, and was recognised for her breakthrough role as Lady Elizabeth Foster in '' The Duchess'' (2008), for which she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her leading performance in the miniseries ''The Pillars of the Earth'' (2010) earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film. Atwell rose to international prominence with her portrayal of Agent Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2011), a role she reprised in the short film '' Agent Carter'' (2013) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Hall (director)
Edward Hall (born 27 November 1966) is an English theatre and film director who founded the all-male Propeller Shakespeare company of which he is Artistic Director, in 1997. He also became Artistic Director of Hampstead Theatre in 2010. He is known for directing Shakespeare productions, musicals such as ''Sunny Afternoon'' and multiple screen productions, including William Boyd's TV adaptation of ''Restless''. Career Hall began his professional career as a theatre director at the Watermill Theatre in the early 1990s. At the Watermill, Hall directed a number of Shakespeare plays, including ''Henry V'' and ''The Comedy of Errors''. In 1996 he directed Donald Sinden, Patrick Ryecart and Nigel Davenport in a UK tour of N. J. Crisp's drama ''That Good Night''. In 2002, Hall directed ''Rose Rage'' at the Haymarket Theatre, an adaptation of all three of Shakespeare's '' Henry VI'' plays. It was described by The Guardian as "an exhilaratingly surreal and bloody take on Shakespeare." ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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