When we asked Amina the question 'What are you reading?' we were super impressed by the engaging spectrum of books she is currently submerged in!
Here are her thoughts on the three books!
Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner
I’m not a monarchist by any means but like many people I do have a soft spot for Princess Margaret. This memoir by her lady in waiting, Anne Glenconner was a riveting read. The behind the scenes look at the highs and lows of waiting on Princess Margaret was interesting. But it’s really a book about Anne and her family. The patriarchal aristocratic system meant that she could not inherit her ancestral home, writing about it with humour: “I tried awfully hard to be a boy, even weighing 11lb at birth, but I was a girl and there was nothing to be done about it.”
From Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation to LadyinWaiting to Princess Margaret, Lady Anne Glenconner is a unique witness to royal history, as well as an extraordinary survivor of a generation of aristocratic women trapped without inheritance and burdened with social expectations. She married the charismatic but highly volatile Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who became the owner of Mustique. But beneath the glitz and glamour there has also lurked tragedy. On Lord Glenconner's death in 2010 he left his fortune to a former employee. And of their five children, two grown-up sons died, while a third son had to be nursed back from a coma by Anne. In this book, she exposes what life was like in her gilded cage, revealing the role of her great friendship with Princess Margaret, and the freedom she can now finally enjoy in later life.My friend Anna : the true story of a fake heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams
This is a book about Anna Delvey, the self-styled socialite and fraudster. It’s a book that deals with the dangers of social media, the cultivation of a fake persona and the allure of a jet setting lifestyle. You are on tenterhooks as you discover how Anna managed to con the upper classes of New York, posing as a German heiress. Written by a former friend who was defrauded of vast amounts of money, this book is a lesson in trusting your gut instincts.
How does it feel to be betrayed by your closest friend? A close friend who turns out to be the most prolific grifter in New York City. This is thetruestoryofAnna Delvey, thefakeheiress whose dizzying deceit and elaborate con-artistry deceived the Soho hipster scene before her ruse was finally and dramatically exposed. After meeting through mutual friends, the 'Russian heiress' Anna Delvey and Rachel DeLoache Williams soon became inseparable. Theirs was an intoxicating world of endless excess: high dining, personal trainer sessions, a luxury holiday - and Anna footed almost every bill. But after Anna's debit card was declined in a Moroccan medina whilst on holiday in a five-star luxury resort, Rachel began to suspect that her increasingly mysterious friend was not all she seemed. This is the incredible storyof how Anna Sorokin conned the high-rollers ofthe NYC social scene.Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Said to be the most autobiographical of all of Bronte’s books, this is the story of a Lucy Snowe who moves from England to the fictitious town of Villette in France to teach. I am only a quarter of the way through but this book is already full of quietly powerful observations.
With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette. There she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, an initially suspicious headmaster and her own complex feelings.Please check our catalogue for availability and request through Click and Collect.