Showing titles in 20th Century

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.

Bloomsbury presents A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende, read by Edoardo Ballerini. _______________ THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER _______________ 'A powerful love story spanning generations… Full of ambition and humanity' – Sunday Times 'One of the strongest...

USS Bull Shark is running for Pearl Harbor after leaving New London and her victory over the Nazi Q-ship, but all is not well aboard the boat. The Japanese are planning a major offensive and the clock is rapidly ticking – with what will become one of the most decisive battles of the war looming on the horizon, the Navy still doesn’t know exactly where or when it’s going to happen. Can Bull Shark play her part in the Battle of Midway? Or will she meet with Yamamoto’s secret weapon and be swept aside in Japan’s quest for power?

From the globally best-selling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiancé and her brother and regarded by society as a ‘surplus woman’ unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out alone. A new life awaits her in Winchester. Yes, it is one of draughty boarding-houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues; but it is also a life gleaming with independence and opportunity.

When the distressing shadows of war fall across Europe, Olivia Brodie watches the man she loves, Captain Spencer Middleton, lead his men proudly to the front, his final words a promise to return. Left behind among the working-class neighbours she calls family, Olivia clings to hope as the world around her changes forever. Her spirited younger brother, Lachie, eager to prove himself, enlists underage – his letters home filled with bravado and dreams of glory.

Auschwitz, 1942: This unforgettable novel, based on a true story, brings to life history’s most powerful tale of forbidden love. Set within the barbed wire of Auschwitz, a man and a woman fall in love against unimaginable odds. What happens next will restore your faith in humanity and make you believe in hope even where hope should not exist.

The Emperor's Tomb is a magically evocative, haunting elegy to the vanished world of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and to the passing of time and the loss of youth and friends. Prophetic and regretful, intuitive and exact, Roth's acclaimed novel is the tale of one man's struggle to come to terms with the uncongenial society of post-First World War Vienna and the first intimations of Nazi barbarities.

Some houses are NEVER at peace… SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSBORO BOOKS GLASS BELL AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION DEBUT CROWN ‘A gothic gem of intrigue and atmosphere’ HWA Debut Crown Judges England, 1917 Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham...

Paris, 1943. The scent of fresh baguettes hangs in the air as Coralie unbolts the door to her bakery with trembling fingers. She must get out of the city. Hiding her precious leather recipe book inside her coat, she promises never to let the secret locations of the people she worked tirelessly to save fall into German hands… Present day. Raven is unhappy about being shipped off to the other side of the country for the summer to stay with the mysterious French grandmother she barely knows.

Brought to you by Penguin. A master forger transforms a young woman’s life – but what will it cost her? In post-war Flanders, Adelais de Wolf's family is slowly, inexplicably, falling apart: her mother evermore lost to religious devotion, her father to alcohol. But with the death of a...

‘An evocative tale’ Woman Magazine The East End of London has been devastated by the Blitz and the people are struggling to come to terms with their ravaged city. Rationing bites ever deeper and and everything that makes life better is in short supply. For the district nurses, the challenges...

The four Grace sisters love their quiet life in the country village of Chevis Green. To some, their insular world might seem dull, but the sisters never seem to run out of conversation, jokes, and pleasant ways to pass the time together. They truly are the happiest of families. That is, until Aunt Rona comes to town. Rona intends to stay with the Graces indefinitely, and her meddlesome attitude immediately sets the sisters' teeth on edge. Throw in another unexpected houseguest, some potential suitors and a case of mistaken intentions, and the members of the Grace family suddenly find themselves quite out of their element.

Dashing and well-connected, Lanny Budd has earned the trust of the Nazi high command. To Adolf Hitler and his inner circle, the American art dealer is a “true believer” committed to their Fascist cause. But Lanny is actually a secret agent serving as President Franklin Roosevelt’s eyes and ears in Germany. When he learns of the Führer’s plans for conquest, Lanny’s dire warnings to Neville Chamberlain and other reluctant European leaders fall on deaf ears.

Soline Roussel is well schooled in the business of happy endings. For generations her family has kept an exclusive bridal salon in Paris, where magic is worked with needle and thread. It’s said that the bride who wears a Roussel gown is guaranteed a lifetime of joy. But devastating losses during World War II leave Soline’s world and heart in ruins and her faith in love shaken. She boxes up her memories, stowing them away, along with her broken dreams, determined to forget.

A story of sacrifice and betrayal during the Blitz, A Thread of Light is the stunning second novel by Neema Shah, author of Kololo Hill. 'Not just a story of two very different women trying to survive the Second World War, A Thread of Light brings to life a part of British history that is less...

Bloomsbury presents The Girls Who Dared to Love by Diney Costeloe, read by Florence Howard. Three girls seem to have the world at their feet in the summer of 1914. But World War 1 is coming and things will change forever - especially for women. Lucinda McFarlane is engaged to be married to...

Bloomsbury presents The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende, read by Maria Liatis and Edoardo Ballerini. THE POWERFUL AND MOVING NEW NOVEL FROM LITERARY LEGEND ISABEL ALLENDE PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR 'A grand storyteller' – KHALED HOSSEINI 'A new novel by Isabel Allende is always a treat' –...

1946, Liverpool. Bella Harrison cannot believe the devastating war that stole the lives of her father and sister is truly over at last. She wonders how they will ever rebuild Victory Street with the city in ruins, and half their neighbors gone. But for now, she and her childhood sweetheart, Bobby, are happy newlyweds, doting on Bella’s little son, her child with Black American pilot Earl Franklin Junior.

In Secrets at Bletchley Park by Margaret Dickinson, two young women from very different backgrounds meet in the Second World War and are plunged into a life where security and discretion are paramount. But both have secrets of their own to hide . . . In 1929, life for ten-year-old Mattie Price...

It's 1940, and the London Blitz is raging. Bryan Hale and Bluebird Squadron fight on into the autumn of 1940, chasing down the new threat of 'Jabo' hit-and-run raids by bomb-laden enemy fighters over the capital's rooftops. Bryan's chance encounter in a London pub with Jenny, an acquaintance from his school days, starts them both down the road to a relationship that neither wants or can afford. But the deadly perils of London's Blitz ignite a passion that neither can resist.

December 1940. With the Luftwaffe pounding the city nightly, Londoners seek refuge in underground stations. Aldwych has been taken out of service to provide shelter for the British Museum's priceless Elgin Marbles, as well as civilians escaping the bombing. When the body of a young man is discovered on the tracks, wearing evening dress but barefoot, Detective Chief Inspector Coburg and Sergeant Lampson are on the case. Before long, more bodies are discovered, and Coburg's wife Rosa becomes a target for the brutal killer.

From the bestselling author of A PLACE CALLED WINTER comes MOTHER'S BOY, a superb historical novel of Cornwall, class, desire and two world wars. 'One of the joys of Gale's writing is how even the smallest of characters can appear fully formed, due to a charming wickedness alongside deeper...

After a difficult few years with her husband Victor, Prue's life is about to change in a dramatic and unexpected way. Will she have the strength to carry on into a more positive future? Rookery House is bursting at the seams after Thea welcomes two WAAFs to stay while their accommodation is being built on the new aerodrome.

'John Cook is the Jack Reacher of 1940's Britain' - Damien Lewis EVERYONE IS GRIPPED BY STEPHEN RONSON: 'A brilliant noir thriller set in the darkest days of the Second World War' - Stephen Leather 'A vivid sense of place with tension on every level, The Last Line dripped with historical detail...

THE BRAND-NEW WARTIME SAGA SERIES BY MAGGIE MASON, MUCH-LOVED AUTHOR OF THE HALFPENNY GIRLS Troubles lie ahead - will friendship see them through? BLACKPOOL, 1918. Martha is seventeen and alone in the world. Of Irish descent, her flashing green eyes see into your soul. Foretelling the future is...

London, October 1940. As German bombers increase their nightly raids on the capital, the Blitz Girls must be braver than ever to protect innocent lives and keep the fight against Hitler alive. As each night becomes more dangerous for the Blitz Girls, will they have the strength to help each other through and keep the light alive in the darkness?

“If there’s ever been a more complex and compelling hero in crime fiction than Inspector Rutledge, I can’t think of one.”—Jeffery Deaver In one of his most puzzling cases, Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge must delve deep into a dead man’s life and his past to find a killer...

Peter Stuyckes is a 19-year-old who has just finished his training as a pilot for England’s Royal Air Force (RAF) when he arrives at an aerodrome called Westhill near the town of Melford, England. There he joins an established squadron already in the thick of the fighting but with a less-than-stunning first flight in front of his new colleagues. Stuyckes doesn’t know it then, but he is to become part of what will be called the Battle of Britain, the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces.

It's 1916, and England is at war. Desperate to help in whatever way they can, Ivy and Louisa enlist as gardeners at Kew, taking on the jobs of the men who have gone to fight. Under their care, the gardens begin to flourish - but Ivy and Louisa aren't being treated fairly, and not everyone wants them there. Without women's rights, the pair begins to struggle - but can the support of the Suffragettes help their cause? And when a tragedy overseas affects the people closest to them, can the women of Kew pull together to support themselves and their country through the darkest of times? 

Nick Turnhouse is now a senior captain, some two thirds of the way up the List, perhaps as little as five years short of automatic promotion to Rear Admiral. As such, he must accept more responsibility, and he will be expected to offer more than blind obedience to his orders. It is time to...