A beautifully curated compendium of Joanna's favourite thoughts, quotes and writings - perfectly selected for your delight.

'I welcome you with open arms to my book of treasures. It's a book for all seasons and for all occasions; and it comes to you from me, with armfuls of effusive greetings and salutations, trailing clouds of glory and affection, this offering of treasures made specially for you.' Joanna Lumley

Over the years Joanna Lumley has kept private notebooks, filled with her favourite writings, thoughts and quotes. Now, for the first time, she opens her Book of Treasures to share some of her many and varied jottings with readers.

This collection of chosen writings, interspersed with narration from Joanna, features the lines of her best-loved authors, from Shakespeare to Emily Dickinson, pearls of wisdom that she has heard or read, and nuggets of trivia and miscellanea that have made her happy.

The book is full of surprise and variety: the wistful keeps company with the acerbic, the sincere slips in besides the absurd. And the result is a jewel box of delights, filled with fabulous titbits.

Joanna Lumley was born in Kashmir and educated in Malaysia and Sussex. She has spent much of her life in books, reading them night and day, and sometimes even writing them. Reading is the prop and mainstay of her life, but she has wrenched herself away to act in theatre, films and television, criss-crossing the globe with television documentaries and lending her voice to as many deserving causes as she can.

Dazzled by the wit and wisdom of others, she cuts out and keeps treasured pieces she wishes she had written herself. She is married to the conductor Stephen Barlow who reads all the time: theirs is a quiet household.