Paperback choice

2:59pm Thursday 21st August 2008

The Duchess: Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire Amanda Foreman (Harper Perennial, £7.99)

Foreman has been criticised by more staid biographers for sexing up this story about an 18th-century heiress. She makes much of the fact that Georgiana was the great-great-great-great aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, with echoes of phrases such as "there are three people in this marriage". But it's a great story, with plenty of intrigue and adultery, told in a readable way. Georgiana was a compulsive gambler, a political savant and a crafty operator, a drug addict, an adulteress - and the darling of the common people, we are told. Foreman, who wrote the book at the age of 24 while researching her doctorate at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, has made her fortune. This edition of the book coincides with the release of a film starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes, out on September 5.

French Tales Trs Helen Constantine (OUP, £9.99)

Armchair travellers who haven't managed to get away yet can travel the regions of France with this collection, translated by Oxford linguist Helen Constantine. While they vary enormously in type, most stories have an earthy, peasant feel to them. Zola's story The Flood and Paul Hervieu's The Bull from Jouvet create pictures that linger in the mind like the best French cinema. Many of the pieces are travellers' tales and should give Francophiles plenty to chew on.

The Draining Lake Arnaldur Indridason (Vintage, £6.99)

Don't be put off by the difficult names - detectives Erlendur, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli are such rounded characters that we soon forget to try to pronounce them. Their investigation of a skeleton found in an Icelandic Lake takes them back to Cold War Leipzig, the end of socialist dreams and the promise of youth. At first, the style seems a little plodding (maybe it's the translation) but the story soon has you caught in its icy grip. And the scenery is spectacular.

Clean: A history of personal hygiene and purity Virginia Smith (OUP, £9.99)

Historian Smith pulls together a fascinating account of cleanliness from prehistory up to the present day. Fascinating anecdotes, including the fact that Charlemagne used to hold court in his hot bathing pools at Aachen. Hot baths were also a feature of medieval diplomacy, but - with cosmetics - were considered sinful by many people in England until the early 19th century. Now we all have showers.

Editor's choice