EASY READS

In this collection of Carol Ann Duffy's poems, the stories of famous men - Midas, Darwin, Quasimodo, Pontius Pilate, King Kong - are presented from the perspective of the lesser-known wife.

A selection of Helen Dunmore's poetry published from 1975 until 2001 and including some of her poetry for children.

When Barbs, a loud radical, feminist American of distinctly independent means goes missing, her neighbours are in a quandary. Her absence allows them to luxuriate in the loathing they have always felt for her. But when a body is found in the river all sorts of speculations run riot.

Bridget is a thirty-something 'singleton' working in London's publishing industry. Her ambitions are few - she'd like to lose weight and find true love - but remain seemingly unattainable. Her weight is in a state of perpetual flux, and her romantic life in a state of perpetual crisis. While her friends Jude, Sharon and Tom provide her with hopeless advice, Bridget finds herself torn between two men: her charming, sexy, but dangerous boss Daniel Cleaver; and Mark Darcy, an old family friend, who seems at first to be dull and aloof, until his true colours are revealed. Fielding's novel, based on her acclaimed newspaper columns and brought to life on film by Renee Zellweger in the title role, charts Bridget's unsuccessful attempts to control her chaotic life and develop inner poise over the course of a year.

Management Teaching use: While this clearly contains an amusing picture of office liaisons, it does bring into focus the problem of sexual harassment. While Bridget is 'very much enjoying being' sexually harassed by her boss, in many countries in the world such a situation would be taken seriously and could lead to the victim taking legal action. The class might think about the difference between office flirtation and harassment. They should also think about the power relationship between a boss and an employee and how in a different set of circumstances Bridget Jones might be forced into accepting her boss's advances unwillingly.

The badlands of love and jazz, sex and memory. 'Further evidence that much of the most energetic, vital poetry today is by women very seductive both tough and authentic' - Christina Patterson, Independent.

This collection brings together past and present, probing many and varied lives. The title story examines Jane Austen's love life, while others introduce a trio of Kensington widows, mean-spirited and middle-aged; a stranger, awaited with dread; and the mercurial changes in young love.

Perfectly capturing life on a grim high-rise council estate, Graham introduces us to Bridie Gibbs, living on chocolate and musing on her various marriages. The novel is equal parts comedy and tragedy, with vivid characters and an eccentric plot.

Another novel featuring Henderson's engaging amateur detective, sculptress Sam Jones. Pretty Boy sees her travel out of her native London to enjoy a rural New Year's Eve. However, things don't go according to plan and Sam is dragged into a witty and entertaining story involving flirtation, murder, mystery and love, and a cast that ranges from the quirky to the completely weird. Henderson excels in the comic crime genre.

Will Lightman is a Peter Pan for the 1990s. At thirty-six, the terminally hip North Londoner is unmarried, hyper-concerned with his coolness quotient and blithely living off his father's novelty song royalties. But as Will's friends are succumbing to responsibilities and children, he's increasingly left out in the cold. So in search of available women, he invents an imaginary son and starts attending single parent meetings. At SPAT ('Single Parents - Alone Together') he passes himself off as a bereft single dad. What interferes with Will's plans however, is reality - in the shape of a twelve-year-old boy who is in many ways his polar opposite. For Marcus, cool isn't even a possibility, let alone an issue. For starters, he's a victim at his new school. Things at home are pretty awful, too, since his music-therapist mother seems increasingly in need of therapy herself. Gradually, Will and Marcus become friends, and as Will teaches Marcus how to be a cool kid, Marcus helps Will to finally grow up.

Angela's parents moved from Jamaica to England in 1948. Now, 20 years later, Mr Jacob is seriously ill, and moves unsteadily through the care of the NHS. As Angela tries to help her mother through the ordeal, she finds herself reliving her childhood years spent on a council estate in Highbury.