Showing titles in 20th Century

1941. The Blitz rages over London. And even in Cornwall, the war is being fought. When Violet loses her sister in the Blitz, she must take her nieces to safety in Cornwall. On the coast, she meets carefree chorus girl Eva, who is also running from the dangers of London. But Porthcurno hides a secret military base, and soon Violet and Eva realise there’s a battle to fight in Cornwall, too. Together with local Hazel, who works on the base, they must come together to help the war effort. But will their friendship be enough to keep them safe?

The new Anna Jacobs saga continues the story of the younger sisters of Keara Michaels, the heroine of A PENNYWORTH OF SUNSHINE, following their fortunes from nineteenth-century Ireland to the brave new world of Australia. Three sisters. Three journeys. One destination. In 1863 the authorities...

Brought to you by Penguin. The fifth brilliantly heart-warming novel in the Wartime Bookshop series, perfect for fans of Maisie Thomas and Elaine Everest. Victoria is astonished when she discovers an abandoned newborn baby on her doorstep, along with a note begging her to 'take care of little...

The Number One Kindle best seller guaranteed to break your heart. Every so often a love story comes along to remind us that sometimes, in our darkest hour, hope shines a candle to light our way. Discover the Number One best seller that has captured thousands of hearts worldwide.... Tina Craig longs to escape her violent husband. She works all the hours God sends to save up enough money to leave him, also volunteering in a charity shop to avoid her unhappy home.

In Chocolate Girls, read by actress Frances Barber, three very different women work together at Cadbury's Bournville factory, and their lives become entwined by war and work - and a child called David. Edie, the main character, marries young to escape her unhappy family home. Widowed at nineteen...

Paullina Simons's internationally bestselling blockbuster The Bronze Horseman told the heart-soaring tale of a young Russian woman's transcendent love affair with a Red Army soldier during the siege of Leningrad in the dark days of World War Two. The epic story continues in Tatiana and Alexander—a novel of the enduring power of love and commitment against the devastating forces of war and the equally dangerous forces of keeping the peace. A sweeping, intensely compelling romantic historical saga, Tatiana and Alexander is a Russian Thorn Birds and a truly unforgettable listening experience.

Liverpool, 1939. Bella Rogers thought her life was just starting; she can’t wait to get married to her childhood sweetheart, Bobby. But when war is declared and Bobby is called up, his letters stop, leaving Bella heartbroken and alone. Then her family is torn apart by tragedy when her angelic 5-year-old sister dies from a terrible illness. They can barely afford a funeral, but the church is packed with the entire community, devastated for their loss. Grieving for her sister and lost love, Bella finds a job at the Bryant and May factory, making matches.

In 1895, a Northumbrian island welcomes two new residents. Clara and Jimmy are born on the same night, to families poles apart. Clara is an islander through and through; content to live among the rhythms and barren beauty of Holy Island. Jimmy's future is set in stone; fishing with the father he despises on the family boat. When tragedy forces them from their island and each other, they join the herring season in a bid to survive. Jimmy strikes out for Seahouses, where he joins a Scots herring crew.

From the best-selling author of The Beekeeper’s Promise comes a gripping story of three young women faced with impossible choices. How will history - and their families - judge them? Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets. War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne’s involvement is something she can’t reveal to either of them.

Dana and Caitlin meet on the ferry from Ireland, both in search of new lives in Liverpool, having left their secrets behind in Ireland. But Dana is ambitious, and when the opportunity comes to own their own tearoom she persuades her friend to join her. No one is willing to rent property to a couple of girls, so when Caitlin’s new man-friend says he’ll back them, they are delighted. Soon the tearoom is thriving.

On a June day, a young woman in a summer dress steps off a Chicago-bound bus into a small midwestern town. She doesn't intend to stay. She is just passing through. Yet her stopping here has a reason and it is part of a story that you will never forget. The time is the 1950s, when life was...

In this radical reinterpretation of six brilliant Arnold Bennett novels, it’s the 19th-century Midlands and over 10-and-a-half sweeping hours individuals rise and fall, they age, flourish, and try to keep up as the world around them changes into something unrecognisable, transformed by new technology. Fortunes are made and lost, hearts broken, empires built and deals made. These tales of aspiration and passion, damage and danger are told with Bennett's forensic, (journalist’s) eye for human psychology and a surprising degree of witty comedy.

The dramatic story of a young woman’s war – full of heartache and triumph from the bestselling author of Christmas on the Mersey and London Belles Kitty has seen her fair share of tragedy and instead of thinking about romance, is determined to do her bit for King and country. Her life as a...

Cliffehaven, June 1944. As the planes continue to circle over Cliffehaven, Peggy Reilly’s sister, Doris, must seek refuge after a V-1 blast destroys her home. Rita, Sarah and the other residents at Beach View Boarding House quickly find their peace disturbed, and it’s not long before even Peggy loses her patience. But with more bad news to come, will Doris finally be forced to swallow her pride? Meanwhile Peggy’s father-in-law, Ron Reilly, is delighted when his sweetheart, Rosie, returns home. Until a heartbreaking confession suggests things may never be the same between them.

Left an orphan, five-year-old Rosie Harris is found and raised by Maria, a Romany gypsy. Life on the road is hard, but the little girl soon feels one of the tribe with the travelers. As she grows older, Rosie realises she has 'second sight' and is able to read people's palms and see into their futures. Needing to make a living of her own, she befriends the canal folk, known as the 'cut-rats' traversing the Black Country waterways with their cargo, and so offers readings to anyone who can pay. Pursued by Jake Harding, Rosie instead finds herself falling in love with a married man.

After the heartbreak of World War Two, newlywed midwife Cathy hoped Liverpool life would offer some joy. But a terrible miscarriage and the escape of her abusive stepfather Jack from prison make happiness hard to find. Meanwhile, Cathy’s beloved granny is ailing. Whilst at the hospital, Cathy sees her midwifery friends, who are planning to open a home for unmarried mothers. After losing a baby of her own, Cathy would love to help, but for now, she must take care of her grandmother.

Jack Barlow has a dream. For generations his family have been in service at Trenwith Estate. If he can survive the ravages of war, he’ll return home to build his own mechanic business and become master of his own destiny. Louise Saint-Claire is battling against the odds to run her family farmhouse in German occupied France after her abusive husband is taken prisoner by the Germans. She is determined to survive this brutal and bloody war. But fate throws Jack and Louise together when she finds the wounded British soldier and she decides to risk everything to keep him safe

Snowflakes in the Wind is a heartwarming story of triumph over adversity by Rita Bradshaw, author of the number one bestselling Dancing in the Moonlight. It's Christmas Eve 1920 when nine-year-old Abby Kirby's family is ripped apart by a terrible tragedy. Leaving everything she's ever known...

Claire arrives at her new job as researcher at a grand English country house, nursing a broken heart. But tucked into the back of a long-forgotten drawer she finds a letter written in an elegant hand. It tells of a wartime secret about the beautiful Lady Violet – whose passionate affair with an Italian prisoner of war scandalised the village and ended in tragedy. Captivated, Claire promises to find Violet’s daughter, Tabitha, and reunite her with a priceless piece of her mother’s jewellery. With only the name of an Italian bakery, Pasticceria Mancini, to guide her, and the help of her handsome neighbour Jim, Claire travels to Tabitha’s last known location – Florence.

Frances Sweet can’t really remember her real parents. Brought up by her uncle, her cousins Ruby and Mary have always treated her like their little sister. As the war continues to keep her cousins separated from the men they love – Frances is growing up fast enough to catch the eye of dashing American soldier Declan. But she also has a greater longing – to find the mother who abandoned her years before.