PERFECT SCONES:

the ultimate in comfort baking with our classic recipe, plus six delicious variations

Chanel’s Riviera by Anne De Courcy, Hachette

De Courcy whisks us off to the Riviera, circa 1930s, for the golden coastline and Coco Chanel. Unlike the rich who flocked to Cannes and Nice, Coco followed the Fitzgeralds and Hemingways to the cheaper Riviera. She was dating the Duke of Westminster, and it was from his yacht in 1927 she espied the house, La Pausa, where Mary Magdalene paused after fleeing the Holy Land. Coco wanted a simple house “without footmen at every door”. In 1938 the burning question at Coco’s was not what Germany was going to do next, but “would curtsey win over correctness?” when meeting the Duchess of Windsor.

FOURTEEN by Shannon Molloy, Simon & Schuster

Journalist Shannon Molloy’s memoir about his 14th year, a time of torment, self-loathing and near tragedy, is heartbreaking. At an all-boys Catholic school in coastal Yeppoon, Shannon was always an outcast and soon became a victim of extreme violence. He didn’t know he was gay, just that he was different and that meant he was reviled. Shannon’s bitter struggle is painfully recognisable and happening in playgrounds around the world. But he not only triumphs, he relives his past using his best weapon: beautiful words.

MORE MYSELF by Alicia Keys, Macmillan

This is Alicia up close and personal on her challenging relationship with her father, her desire to sing from age four and her battle with imposed ideals of female perfection.