In the dying days of the Raj, Anglo-Indian schoolgirl Adela Robson dreams of a glamorous career on the stage. When she sneaks away from school in the back of handsome Sam Jackman's car, she knows a new life awaits - but it is not the one she imagined.

Abandoned as a baby and raised in a remote lighthouse off the wild Northumberland coast, Alice Fairchild has always dreamed of adventure. When a fierce storm wrecks a ship nearby, she risks everything in an act of bravery that alters the course of her life. Aboard the doomed vessel is the handsome John Sinclair, a Scottish soldier on his way to India. The connection between them is instant, but soon fate intervenes and leaves Alice heartbroken and alone. Determined to take charge of her destiny but secretly hoping her path will cross again with John’s, she too makes a new start in colonial India.

In this evocative tale of life in India between the wars, friendships will be tested and loyalties torn. But can love win the day?

Belle Hatton has embarked upon an exciting new life far from home: a glamorous job as a nightclub singer in 1930s Burma, with a host of sophisticated new friends and admirers. But Belle is haunted by a mystery from her past - an old newspaper clipping found in her parents' belongings after their death, saying that the Hattons were leaving Rangoon after the disappearance of their baby daughter, Elvira. 

Maia D'Apliése and her five sisters were all adopted as babies. When their father dies each of them are given a clue to their true heritage - a clue which takes Maia across the world… Rio de Janeiro, 1927, Izabela Bonifacio convinces her father to allow her to accompany him to Europe. There, in the heady, vibrant cafés of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again…

Ceylon, 1935. Louisa Reeve, the daughter of a successful British gem trader, and her husband, Elliot, a charming, thrill-seeking businessman, seem like the couple who have it all. Except what they long for more than anything: a child. While Louisa struggles with miscarriages, Elliot is increasingly absent, spending much of his time at a nearby cinnamon plantation overlooking the Indian ocean.

Two great loves. One shattering betrayal. A war that changes everything. Harriet and Mae Grafton are 20-year-old identical twins born from a scandalous affair. They grew up in India slighted by gossip and ostracised from polite society. They had each other and that was enough. But when their wealthy benefactor sends them to Singapore, they meet the mysterious Alex Blake and their relationship fractures with devastating consequences. Ivy Harcourt is posted to wartime Singapore amid the looming threat of Japanese invasion. Ivy knows the island will be a far cry from war-torn London, but she is totally unprepared for what awaits her.... 

Present day, London: When Sophie discovers a photograph of her great aunt Vivi from World War II, it throws her into a world of confusion. Because, as she learns about this secret relative, she quickly realizes that the photograph doesn’t fit with her family’s story. It shows Vivi leaving an address associated with a spy network in London - a place she had no reason to be - and it is dated right before she disappeared. 

Rajputana, India, 1930. Since her husband's death, 28-year-old photojournalist Eliza's only companion has been her camera. When the British government sends her to an Indian princely state to photograph the royal family, she's determined to make a name for herself. But when Eliza arrives at the palace, she meets Jay, the Prince's handsome, brooding younger brother. Brought together by their desire to improve conditions for local people, Jay and Eliza find they have more in common than they think. But their families - and society - think otherwise.

Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naive bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom.

1899. Josie has never questioned her life in a mining village on the South Yorkshire coalfield. But everything changes when she meets Tommy from the neighbouring village. Tommy has been destined for a life underground since the moment he was born. But he has far bigger dreams. Josie and Tommy become fast friends, united by their desire for something better and by their fascination with the local gentry who have their keeping. Wealthy and glamorous, the Sedgewicks of Silvermoor inhabit a world that is utterly forbidden to Tommy and Josie. 

It wasn't a privileged childhood, but it was a happy one. Sybil and Lizzie Cream, brought up in a fisherman's cottage on the edge of the cold North Sea, were content to leave privilege where it belonged: with their friends the Wintertons. Christina Winterton was the same age as Sybil, and the two girls were inseparable, but it was Lizzie whom Ralph Winterton, three years older, found irresistible. Then war came to East Anglia, and so did Manchester-born Fenn Kitzmann, now of the American Army Air Force.

Set in 1920s London, this is the inspiring story of Kate Goss' struggle against poverty, hunger and cruel family secrets. Her mother died in a fall, her father has vanished without trace, and now her aunt and cousins treat her viciously. In a freezing, vermin-infested garret, factory girl Kate has only her own brave spirit and dreams of finding her father to keep her going. She has barely enough money to feed herself, or to pay the rent. The factory where she works begins to lay off people and it isn't long before she has fallen into the hands of the violent local money-lender. 

Sara Archer's future as the dutiful wife of a British official in India seems assured, until a chance meeting with the gorgeous and powerful Ravi Sabran changes everything. Under the heat of the Indian sun, the veneer of polite society wears off quickly and soon Sara realises that nothing is as it appears to be, especially her husband, Charles. But in the beautiful jasmine gardens of the Maharajah's palace, Sara follows a forbidden path away from her bullying husband, towards Ravi and the long-buried secrets of her own birth.

Jessie Burton is lively and intelligent - she wants more than the respectable life in service her mother has planned for her. Times are changing; railways are being built across the land, bringing new freedom and possibilities. Jessie tastes that freedom when she meets an ambitious young navvy, newly arrived in Yorkshire. The attraction between them is overwhelming. And Jared Wilde is determined to make Jessie his wife.