CHARLOTTE HEATHCOTE

Subtitled The View Of My Life From The Top Of The Number 12 Bus, the GBBO presenter takes a trip from her home in South London to the BBC and, along the way, gives her views on contemporary Britain, shares historical facts, and offers snapshots of her childhood, astonishingly varied working life and her personal struggles. Her memoirs are full of funny anecdotes, and there’s warmth in her love for her family, from her long-suffering wife and three children to her parents. However, the tone is spiky. At university, she was ostracised for being gay and when outed in 1994, death threats forced the family to flee their home under cover of darkness. Though she ends on a positive note, the tone is downbeat.

Nat is a British intelligence veteran and a badminton fiend who becomes friends with Ed, another keen player who rails against Trump and Brexit at every opportunity. Nat finds himself in a difficult situation when Ed’s political beliefs land them in hot water. This relaxed, comic read works best as a series of superb character sketches and is one of le Carré’s most purely enjoyable books.

Viking, £20

Andrews writes fondly about making Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, among other films, and pays tribute to those who helped her, from Disney to Hitchcock. She led a chaotic life juggling work commitments and family ties, so her first marriage foundered, but her second, to Blake Edwards, endured. A wellrounded life was more of a prize than any Oscar.