Showing titles in 20th Century

Brought to you by Penguin. The uplifting and escapist new romcom and perfect holiday read for summer from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Island in the Sun and One Enchanted Evening. In a city full of dreams, will she find her own…? It’s 1968 and it’s cold when Felicity arrives in...

The Pratchett family have to contend with coalman Alfie Pratchett's obsessive jealousy. A bully, his two teenage children, John and Millie, have learned to dodge him and his moods. The main concern of ugly duckling Millie - who looks nothing like her handsome brother John - is to protect their mum, Eileen. When crisis strikes the Pratchetts' home, Alfie is forced to watch his whole world gradually collapse around him. Their old life has gone forever, and a new one has begun - one in which rape, debt, alcoholism and insanity play their parts. And redemption is a long time coming.

Bestselling saga author Anna Jacobs' novel of life in nineteenth-century Lancashire and Australia. A must-read for fans of Dilly Court and the Rivenshaw saga. Love can cross oceans . . . Keara Michaels doesn't want to leave her family in Ireland, but fate sends her first to Lancashire, then...

1940 - Small Heath, in the heart of Birmingham, is facing the darkest days of the war. Two very different girls from this tight-knit community join up as ARP wardens to do their bit for the Home Front. Violet Simms lives with her controlling, widowed mother who runs the local pawn shop. At just...

Against the backdrop of impending war, experience the trials, triumphs and camaraderie behind the Woolworths counter, in Elaine Everest’s historical romance The Woolworths Girls. It's 1938 and as the threat of war hangs over the country, Sarah Caselton is preparing for her new job at...

This is the story of two very different children growing up in a small Irish seaside town in the 50s and 60s. Shouting their hearts' desires into the echo cave, praying that their destiny will lead them far away from the town in which they live. Castlebay, in winter empty and grey with wind and...

The war has ended, and Rita Fairweather is waiting for George Bolton, her childhood sweetheart, to return home to Devon. She wants their future to be a continuing reassurance of their past. But George comes back as a man changed by the horrors he has experienced. Unable to settle back into a small-town life, George decides to travel to Argentina. And Rita promises to wait. But George faces irresistible temptation and an agonising choice. As the years pass, Rita keeps her word, but how long should she wait for the love of the life?

New Horizons for the Woolworths Girls is the emotional and hopeful finale to the beloved Woolworths Girls series by bestselling author Elaine Everest. There are fresh challenges and new beginnings on the horizon for the girls at Woolworths . . . When the Bexleyheath branch of F. W. Woolworths is...

***shortlisted for the RNA's Romantic Thriller of the Year 2026*** Can one house hold a lifetime of secrets? Corfu, 1930 The moment Thirza Caruthers sets foot on Corfu, memories flood back: the scent of jasmine, the green shutters of her family’s home — and her brother Billy’s tragic...

‘A page-turning journey to uncover a past of heroism, betrayal, love, and loss’ Heather Morris, bestselling author of Sisters under the Rising Sun 'So compelling' Sunday Times 'A gorgeous debut' Heat Two lovers caught at the crossroads of history A daughter’s search for the truth Germany...

Life on the Fifteen Streets was a continual struggle for survival. John O'Brien grew up in abject poverty, confined to the hardships of the Fifteen Streets. Labouring on the city's docks and trying to keep his loved ones safe from the drunken wrath of his father and brother, this is the only way of life he knows. Then John O'Brien meets his sister's teacher.

Brought to you by Penguin. NOW A SMASH HIT AMAZON PRIME TV STARRING SAM CLAFLIN, RILEY KEOUGH AND CAMILA MORRONE THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO and the bestselling MALIBU RISING 'I LOVE it . . . I can't remember the last time I...

Mary Stewart transports her readers to mid-century Savoy for a plot of danger and deception, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Barbara Pym. A classic tale by one of the world's most beloved authors. Linda Martin understands what is to be lonely: her parents died when she was young, and she...

Now a major new Channel 4 series starring Brenda Blethyn (Vera) and Jessica Reynolds (Outlander) from OBE‑honoured, award‑winning author Barbara Taylor Bradford One girl. One secret. One unstoppable ascent. In 1905 a young kitchen maid leaves Fairley Hall. Emma Harte is sixteen, single and...

Welcome to The Empire theatre 1922. When Jack Treadwell arrives at The Empire, in the middle of a rehearsal, he is instantly mesmerised. But amid the glitz and glamour, he soon learns that the true magic of the theatre lies in its cast of characters - both on stage and behind the scenes. There's...

1944 - The Isle of Wight: 16 year-old Constance’s life on the island is sheltered until the death of her brother, brings the reality of war crashing down around her. He leaves behind his pregnant widow, Ginny. When Constance meets a handsome Canadian airforce man, she’s eager to escape her grief and be swept up by first love. It’s a love which has ramifications she could never envisage. Present day: When young British backpacker, Isabel Stark happens across a car accident on a lonely stretch of road in the South Island of New Zealand her life changes forever.

Kitty learned early on in her marriage that her husband, Bill Dunbar, isn’t reliable with money. So when they inherit the Dunbar family hotel at the start of the war, she's hopeful that their financial worries are over… until the bailiffs turn up! With Bill away fighting, it’s up to Kitty to turn things around for her family, or risk ruin. Lily worked as a chambermaid at Dunbar’s before the war. She met Daniel there, but their relationship was complicated by class differences and the disapproval of Daniel’s mother.

East London, 1940. At the outbreak of war, hopeless romantic Prue Carmichael and her sister must leave their rural parish behind when their father is posted to a church in Stepney. To Prue, the blitz-ravaged streets of London seem an unlikely place for love to bloom – until a chance encounter throws rakish engineer Jack Quinn into her path. But as their connection deepens, his troubled past begins to emerge, and Prue realises Jack has secrets to hide.

France, 1916. Sophie Lefevre is ordered to serve the German officers who socialise in her hotel. When the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie's portrait - painted by her husband Edouard - a dangerous obsession is born. Almost a century later, Sophie's portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston. A...

Brought to you by Penguin. THREE LOST SOULS. A LONG-BURIED SECRET. THE TRUTH THAT COULD SET THEM FREE... ----- London, 1915: Tarot reader Katerina is trying to hold her life together amid the wartime chaos. When she opens a bakery that offers divination alongside sweet treats, she is hailed as a...