Showing titles in 20th Century

Kent, 1939. Soon to marry her childhood sweetheart, Eliza thinks her life is set. But when war breaks out, everything changes and, while helping the soldiers returning from Dunkirk, she bumps into Lewis, an unforgettable stranger from her past. Eliza’s in-laws’ country home becomes a cell for code breakers receiving messages from the French Resistance, with Eliza as translator. When Lewis is assigned to head up the team, the pair fall dangerously in love. But with the enemy watching across the Channel and rumours of spies in their midst, Eliza is torn between passion and duty.

Sylas Rutledge, former gambler and new owner of the East Line Railway, invests everything he has into this venture, partly to see if he can do it - but mostly to avenge his father. One man holds the key to the railway's success - General William Giles Harding of Nashville's Belle Meade Plantation. But Harding is champagne and thoroughbreds, and Sylas Rutledge is beer and bullocks. Sy needs someone to help him maneuver in high society, and when he meets Alexandra Donelson, he quickly decides he's found his tutor.

The stirring second instalment in Terri Nixon's Penhaligon Saga series. 1910. Anna Garvey and her daughter are still running the Tin Streamer's Arms in Caernoweth, Cornwall, and it finally seems like she has left her tumultuous history behind in Ireland. Meanwhile, Freya Penhaligon has blossomed and is now the object of increasing affection of Hugh, the elder son of the wealthy Batten family.

It is yet another night of air raids, and instead of heading to the basement of her London workplace – risking being in the same vicinity as him, the man who hurt her in the worst way possible – nineteen-year-old Clare runs to the first place she can think of… and makes a decision that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

In 1943, Private Clay Paxton trains hard with the US Army Rangers at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, determined to do his best in the upcoming Allied invasion of France. With his future stolen by his brothers' betrayal, Clay has only one thing to live for - fulfilling the recurring dream of his death. Leah Jones works as a librarian at Camp Forrest, longing to rise above her orphanage upbringing and belong to the community, even as she uses her spare time to search for her real family - the baby sisters she was separated from so long ago.

Lancashire, 1930s. When her mother dies, leaving her an old sewing box and a clue to her father's identity, 22-year-old Maisie Bassett is determined to make a fresh start. Changing her name and moving to the small town of Rivenshaw, she finds a respectable job in a grocery store. But unwanted attentions from a man at her new church make life increasingly difficult - until the shy, handsome Gabriel Harte comes to her rescue.

Plymouth, 1954. The future seems rosy for Plymouth schoolgirl Anna Millington, as she prepares for teacher training college. But Anna's life is not what it seems. Her family is hiding a cruel secret that resulted from the worst night of the Plymouth Blitz. Now, the devastating consequences are about to erupt again. Fearing for her life, Anna leaves her dreams behind and flees to nearby Dartmoor. It isn't long before Anna secures a position as a serving girl at Ashcroft Hall.

When Darcie purchases several old suitcases at auction that had been abandoned in a railway station locker, she doesn't know what to expect. The first is disappointing but as she opens the second, she discovers rare and beautiful dresses for the 1940s, lovingly folded, and a notebook of designs to go with them. Written inside the cover is the name: Nathalie Leroux Why did she leave her most prized possessions at the station eighty years ago? Darcie's quest for answers will draw her into the world of the French resistance as she works to uncover the truth about a devastating wartime secret.

Liverpool, 1945. As the war draws to a close, Alice and Terry Lomax are building a new life with their young daughter Cathy. After years away fighting, Terry is a stranger to his daughter and must work hard to win her trust and love. Alice and old friend Sadie work in the haberdashery of Lewis’s department store, where bomb damage scars the walls and rationing is still in force. Though memories of those lost in the war are fresh, Alice and Sadie look forward to the future.

Artist Marguerite Segal is recruited by British Intelligence into befriending Etienne Valade, a local priest. Her mission is to persuade him to pass on information from the high-ranking German officers who attend his church: evidence of their war crimes. Connected by a passion for art, Marguerite and Etienne soon fall in love, but their association increasingly puts her at danger of violent reprisals. With his church frequented by Nazis, Etienne is a suspected collaborator, and distrust is high.

The Story Collector tells the story of three people, divided by time and circumstance yet bound by a long-held secret.

Nell Whitaker is 15 when war breaks out and her mother sends her to live with her Auntie Kath in a remote farmhouse on Anglesey. At first Nell hates it, but her friendship with Bryn, who works on the farm whilst waiting for his call-up papers, helps a lot. So when he leaves to join his ship, Nell is counting the days to his return. But her heart is broken when news reaches her that Bryn’s ship has been bombed and he has been drowned. Determined to bury her grief in hard work, Nell finds herself growing closer to Auntie Kath.

Celebrate the miracle of love and the joy of the holiday season on the Western frontier with the Twelve Mail Order Brides of Christmas, a new Christmas Mail Order Bride Series from popular author Emma Morgan!

Nacha is living a normal life in Old Town, Warsaw, when the Nazis invade Poland. After months of heavy shelling, her family believes things can't possibly get any worse. Then the city falls, and she and her family find themselves faced with a level of antisemitism they've never experienced before. They're locked into a ghetto, and she fears they'll never see freedom again. When the Nazis begin rounding up Jews, Janek, a Polish Catholic teenager, doesn’t let the warnings of executions for those caught helping Jewish people stop him.

Als sich Clara und Viktor im Sommer 1965 begegnen, wissen sie nicht, dass sie sich schon einmal als Kleinkinder an einem tragischen Ort begegnet sind, und jeweils nur dank ihrer unfassbar mutigen Mütter überlebt haben. Die beiden jungen Menschen spüren, dass sie ineinander die wahre Liebe gefunden haben. Doch jetzt gibt es Ost und West. Sie riskieren alles und wagen die Flucht aus der DDR. Sie mündet in einer unsagbaren Katastrophe: Claras wird denunziert und landet im berüchtigten Frauen-Gefängnis Hoheneck.

It’s the summer of 1929 and Mhairi MacKinnon is in need of a husband. As the eldest girl among nine children, her father has made it clear he can’t support her past the coming winter. On the small, Scottish island of St Kilda, her options are limited. But the MacKinnons’ neighbour, Donald, has a business acquaintance on distant Harris also in need of a spouse. A plan is hatched for Donald to chaperone Mhairi and make the introduction on his final crossing of the year, before the autumn seas close them off to the outside world.

As one of the Navy’s most skilled mapmakers, Merry knows the very lives of men far away depend on her work in the War Office. But when a family crisis draws her back to her beloved Cornwall, Merry finds herself working alongside an enigmatic American officer on secret operations spanning the rugged coasts of Cornwall and Brittany which she knows so well. But not everything is as clear as the maps she draws. As rumours and suspicion swirl around her family, Merry is increasingly drawn to Jake, despite the defences she’s built around her heart.

French chef Sylvie was sent to Paris as part of the resistance, while German soldier Christoph is doing his duty to save his sister. As the two begin to discover the people beneath their uniforms, the rest of the world, and the war raging on, fades away. But Christoph can never know Sylvie’s identity, which might end up destroying him. Sixty years later, Christoph’s health is declining, and his memories are fading. Having returned to Germany to help her mentor, Julia discovers a book filled with ‘the recipes of us’ and sets out to cook each dish in the hope of reviving Christoph.

As war rages and brave soldiers returning home from the frontline need nurses more than ever, fiercely proud redhead Sylvia Roberts is determined to help in any way she can. In spite of her mother’s belief she isn’t good enough, Sylvia believes that becoming a home front nurse is her calling. Together with the two friends she makes on her first day in the job – Freda and Veronica – she knows she can help save lives. And, as the devastation of war shows no signs of ceasing, their work becomes ever more vital.

The Bahamas, 1941. Newly-widowed Lulu Randolph arrives in Nassau to investigate the Governor and his wife for a New York society magazine whose readers have an insatiable appetite for news of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, that glamorous couple whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to its knees five years earlier.