Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Historical

England, 1351. The Pestilence has ravaged the land. Villages lie abandoned but for crows and corpses. Highways are patrolled by marauders and murderers. In these dark and dangerous times, the wise keep to themselves. But Gerard Fox cannot afford to be wise. The young knight has been robbed of his ancestral home, his family name tarnished. To regain his lands and reputation, he sets forth to petition the one man who can restore them. Fate places Fox on the wrong road at the wrong time as he hurtles towards a chance encounter. 

936 AD. Brittany is torn apart by war. Many nobles have sought refuge in King aethelstan's England, including Louis, prospective king of Francia. Einar and the Wolf Coats, disillusioned by events in Norway, are also at aethelstan's court. When Louis decides to take up his throne, aethelstan sees a way to make a crucial ally: a powerful noble whose support Louis needs. And aethelstan has just the men he needs to carry his message... and undertake a secret mission.The Wolf Coats' quest is fraught with danger and foreboding, for the world is changing. 

Italy, 1351. English knight Gerard Fox and the resourceful Willa have come through a death-defying journey across war-torn Europe. Now looking towards their future together, they must first find a way to reconcile with their difficult pasts. In a small village between Florence and Siena, Fox and Willa are caught up in a deadly ambush. After rescuing the enigmatic woman who is the target of the attack, they take refuge in her opulent villa and learn her heartbreaking story—a tale of loss, deception... and a burning desire for freedom. 

Although the rightful Jarl of Orkney, Einar is not yet strong enough to overcome his rival, King Eirik. Einar and the Wolf Coats raid the pagan ceremony that will confirm Eirik's power, but due to his injured sword hand, Einar fails to kill Eirik and he and his men must flee. They seek the protection of the King of the English. In exchange for his help, the crew must undertake a perilous mission: sail to Brittany and bring a renowned scholar back to England. 

Sophie Dupont assists her father in his studio, keeping her own artwork out of sight. In private she paints the Devon coast, popular with artists - including handsome Wesley Overtree. Captain Stephen Overtree is accustomed to taking on his brother Wesley's responsibilities. However, Stephen is stunned to learn Wesley has sailed for Italy and left his host's daughter in serious trouble. Stephen feels duty-bound to act and so proposes to Sophie to save her from scandal.

Abigail Foster is the practical daughter, and she fears she will end up a spinster. Facing financial ruin, Abigail and her father search for more affordable lodgings, until a strange solicitor arrives with an astounding offer: the use of a distant manor house that has been abandoned for 18 years. The handsome local curate welcomes them but offers a stern warning: beware of rumours that Pembrooke Park contains a secret room filled with treasure.

Best-selling author Tracie Peterson begins a compelling new series set on the 1840s Frontier. Grace Martindale has known more than her share of hardship. After her parents died, raising her two younger sisters became her responsibility. A hasty marriage to a minister who is heading to the untamed West seemed like an opportunity for a fresh start, but a cholera outbreak along the wagon trail has left Grace a widow in a very precarious position. Having learned natural remedies and midwifery from her mother, Grace seeks an opportunity to use her skills for the benefit of others. 

Hope Flanagan survived the massacre at the Whitman Mission but at terrible personal cost. Safe now in Oregon City, she lives with her sisters, Grace and Mercy, and Grace's new husband, Alex. As she spends her days tending their flock of sheep, Hope's mind and soul are slowly healing. Yet, though she was once surrounded by suitors, she has no interest in giving her heart again after the man she loved died in her arms. Hope's precarious new peace is shattered when those responsible for the massacre are captured and put on trial.

Britannia, 58 AD. Fergus MacAmergin is a man out of place. An Irish Celt, he passes as a Gaul and rides with the Roman cavalry, affirming Nero's control over the province. Fergus dreams of escaping the fetters ofhis birth and living freely as a citizen of Rome. When Fergus's commander makes a battlefield error, Fergus is blamed. He and his men are given a thankless task: a quest that spells danger, despair, and near-certain death. The mission: to find the Holy Lance, the spear that wounded Christ on the Cross.

Weaving together a multitude of narratives, Wuhan is a historical-fiction epic that pulls no punches: the heart-in-mouth story of a peasant family forced onto a thousand-mile refugee death-march; the story of Lao She - the influential Chinese novelist - who leaves his family in a war-zone to assist with the propaganda effort in Wuhan; the hellish battlefields of the Sino-Japanese war; the incipient global conflict seen through a host of colourful characters - from Chiang Kai-Shek, China's nationalist leader, to Peter Fleming, British journalist based in Wuhan.

Rosemary Gresham has no family beyond the band of former urchins that helped her survive as a girl in the mean streets of London. Grown now, they concentrate on stealing high-value items and have learned how to blend into upper-class society. But when Rosemary must determine whether a certain wealthy gentleman is loyal to Britain or to Germany, she is in for the challenge of a lifetime. How does one steal a family's history, their very name? Peter Holstein, given his family's German blood, writes his popular series of adventure novels under a pen name. 

For Nicholas Hawthorne, the Catholic heir to Measham Hall in Derbyshire, subterfuge is part of everyday life. But there are deeper and darker secrets even than his family's outlawed religion: why is his father, Sir William, so reclusive? What became of his mother, and his aunt Alethea? And who fatally betrayed his cousin Matthew?

Sophie van Riijn needs access to the highest spot in her village to report accurate weather readings. Fascinated by Dierenpark, an abandoned mansion atop a windswept cliff, Sophie knows no better option despite a lack of permission from the absent owners. Quentin Vandermark intends to put an end to the rumours that have plagued his family by tearing down the mansion. But when the secrets of the Vandermarks are no longer content to stay in the past, will tragedy triumph, or will hope prevail?

Living with the two Miss Groves in Ivy Cottage, impoverished gentlewoman Rachel Ashford is determined to earn her own livelihood - somehow. When the village women encourage her to open a subscription library with the many books she has inherited or acquired through donations, Rachel discovers two mysteries hidden among them. A man who once broke her heart helps her search for clues, but will both find more than they bargained for? 

England, 1665. It is five years since King Charles II returned from exile, the scars of the Civil Wars are yet to heal and now the Great Plague engulfs the land. Alethea Hawthorne is safe inside the walls of the Calverton household as a lady's companion waiting in anticipation of the day she can return to her ancestral home of Measham Hall.

When a series of circumstances beyond her control leave Rosalyn Bernay alone and penniless in London, she chances upon a job backstage at a theatre that is presenting the most popular show in London. A talented musician and singer, she feels immediately at home and soon becomes enthralled with the idea of pursuing a career on the stage. A hand injury during a skirmish in India has forced Nate Moran out of the army until he recovers. Filling his time at a stable of horses for hire in London, he has also spent the past two months working nights as a stagehand....

Sisters Rebecca and Flora Hawes are not typical Victorian ladies. Their love of adventure and their desire to use their God-given talents has brought them to the Sinai Desert, on a quest to find an important biblical manuscript. As the journey becomes more dangerous and uncertain, they sift through memories of their past, recalling the events that shaped them and the circumstances that brought them to this time and place.

Telegraph operator Lucy Drake is a master of Morse code, but the presence of Sir Colin Beckwith at a rival news agency puts her livelihood at risk. Despite their rivalry, Lucy realises Colin's connections could be just what her family needs to turn the tide of their long legal battle over their stolen fortune. When she negotiates an unlikely alliance with him, neither of them realises how far the web of treachery they're wading into will take them.

When an armed man massacres several people in central London, Claudine witnesses the whole thing. To her horror, one of the victims is her brother, Jethro. Riven by grief, Claudine retreats to the house in the Fens where she and Jethro grew up. When the police contact her, she is left reeling when they tell her Jethro orchestrated the attack. Why would a gentle, if troubled, middle-aged man cause such bloodshed – and why would he include himself in the list of victims? Claudine finds herself down a rabbit hole of mystery, caught up in Jethro's research on a medieval cult.

Already well versed in the natural healing properties of herbs and oils, Jennie Pickett longs to become a doctor. Jennie cares for an elderly woman using skills she's developed on her own. When her patient dies, Jennie discovers that her heart has become entangled with the woman's widowed husband, a man many years her senior. Their unlikely romance may lead her to her ultimate goal, but the road will be winding, and the way forward will not always be clear.