Showing titles in 20th Century

Twenty-three-year-old Katy Speed is fascinated by the house across the street. The woman who lives there, Gloria, is the most glamorous neighbour on the avenue, owning a fashionable dress shop in Bexhill-on-Sea. But who is the woman who arrives in the black car most Saturdays while Gloria is at work? Sometimes she brings women to the house, other times they have children. Hilda, Katy's mother, disapproves of Gloria. She wonders if these mysterious visitors have just been released from prison. Is Gloria secretly bringing criminals, or worse, into the heart of the community?

1942. When Helda Dahlstrøm flees her abusive husband and Nazi-occupied Norway with her eight-year-old son she doesn't know if they'll make it out alive. In her desperate journey to safety she'll find safety on the rocky shores of the Shetland Islands, rescued by Canadian Flight Sergeant Bill Gauthier. As WWII's destruction rages at their doorsteps, can love find its way through the rubble?

Glamorous debutantes, heartbreak and discovering just what is worth fighting for in the new historical novel from Sunday Times best seller Adele Parks. It's1914. Vivian, a young, impassioned debutante is hurried into a pedestrian marriage to cover a scandal. War breaks out on her wedding day - domestically and across Europe.

Lancashire, 1930s. When her mother dies, leaving her an old sewing box and a clue to her father's identity, 22-year-old Maisie Bassett is determined to make a fresh start. Changing her name and moving to the small town of Rivenshaw, she finds a respectable job in a grocery store. But unwanted attentions from a man at her new church make life increasingly difficult - until the shy, handsome Gabriel Harte comes to her rescue.

Bristol, 1939. School leaver Maisie Miles suspects her father, a small-time crook, has an ulterior motive for insisting she gets a job at the W. D. & H. O. Wills tobacco factory but keeps it to herself. She's befriended by effervescent Phyllis Mason and kind-hearted Bridget Milligan who take pity on her and take Maisie under their wing. But beneath their happy-go-lucky exteriors, they all harbour dreams and worries about what the future holds.

Christmas may be the season of goodwill and festive cheer, but not for the poor of 1950s Liverpool. And for St Angelus Hospital in Lovely Lane, it is frantically busy. There are the old, the dying, the children and the emergencies.

The nurses, known locally as the Angels of Lovely Lane, are run off their feet. Dana, Beth, Pammy and Victoria hardly have time to catch their breath, let alone have a Christmas of their own.

The compelling new Second World War novel from the author of Always in My Heart. In defending herself against her brutal husband, eighteen-year-old Ruby Clark is forced to flee London. She has no idea where Cliffehaven is, or what she will find there, but she knows that she will never be able to return home again. At first it seems she’s fallen on her feet. She gets a job at the local armaments factory, and the couple she is billeted with are kind and supportive.

Forced to leave their family home in London after it is bombed, Maddie and her two daughters take refuge at Knyghton, the beautiful country house in Norfolk where Maddie’s husband, Philip, spent the summers of his childhood. But Philip is gone, believed to have been killed in action in northern France. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Maddie refuses to give up hope that she and Philip will some day be reunited. Arriving at Knyghton, Maddie feels closer to her missing husband, but she soon realises that there’s a reason Philip has never spoken to her about his past.

London, 1944. Two young nurses meet at a train station with a common purpose: to join the war effort. Scarlet longs for the chance to find her missing fiancé, Thomas, and to prove to her family - and to herself - that she's stronger than everybody thinks. Nursing is in Ellie's blood, but her humble background is vastly different from Scarlet's privileged upbringing. Though Ellie puts on a brave face, she's just as nervous as Scarlet about what awaits them in France.

Martha Owen has not had an easy start in life. Her abusive father dominates the family and she has lost her only friend after a painful falling-out. When her father's reliance on the bottle, and his increasingly violent temper, causes more turmoil for Martha, her mother and her three siblings, as well as World War One causing more strain on the home front, her prospects look bleak. With no money or qualifications to speak of, starting a job at the Potteries feels like a lifeline, but Martha finds herself wanting more than the production line job she works on.

Liverpool, 1939. As winter descends on Tuppenny Corner and rumours of war float across the canals, 15-year-old Rosie O’Leary must come to terms with her own dramatic upheaval. Forced to say good-bye to all she holds dear and embark on a new life aboard The Kingfisher, her world is suddenly full of uncertainty. But new beginnings open up new possibilities.... When fellow bargee Tim Bradley offers to show Rosie the sights of Liverpool, she jumps at the chance, and it’s not long before their friendship grows into something more.

Liverpool, 1925. Fourteen-year-old Lillian Taylor has spent her childhood in a loveless orphanage after the death of her mother. When a well-dressed young woman claiming to be her aunt arrives and whisks her away to her large townhouse, Lillian hopes it signals a change in her fortunes. However there's more to Aunt Joan than meets the eye and when Joan discovers Lillian's budding romance with one of her coworkers she swiftly threatens his family. Events take a tragic turn when Joan becomes ill and reveals the secrets she's been keeping that will change Lillian's life forever....

Inspired by the true story of the Quality Street factory and its loyal workers, this is a nostalgic and compelling novel and the perfect Christmas treat. At 16 years old, Irene ‘Reenie’ Calder is leaving school with little in the way of qualifications. She is delighted to land a seasonal job at Mackintosh’s Quality Street factory. Reenie feels like a kid let loose in a sweet shop, but trouble seems to follow her around, and it isn’t long before she falls foul of the strict rules.

In the drab Yorkshire town of Garsthwaite, Lacey Barraclough works hard in the textile mill, determined to fight for improvements to the dismal working conditions. But she hadn't reckoned on falling in love with the boss' son, Nathan. Before Nathan and Lacey can make a life together, World War I breaks out and Nathan enlists to fight. When Nathan heads off to the Front, Lucy must find a new way to face the future. As hard times come to Garsthwaite, will there be a home for the returning heroes to come back to?

1925: Berlin. Englishman Philip Gibson, in Germany to seek the answers to a tantalising mystery surrounding the Grand Duchess Anastasia, witnesses an attack on Natasha, a young woman who has fled from Russia. When Philip takes the fragile, lonely Natasha in to help her recuperate, she quickly falls for his kind and caring nature. But when further threats are made on her life, Philip finds himself at the heart of another mystery. What is it that links Natasha to this mysterious, damaged woman? And will her love for Philip survive the secrets that will be unearthed?

Malta, 1943. The war in the air above Malta is over, but the battle for Europe is about to begin. Margarita, a young singer in a Valletta nightclub, has not seen her former lover Henry Dunn since breaking off their affair. His wife Vera, an enigmatic archaeologist, arrives at the club to tell her that Henry has disappeared, presumed dead. While investigating, Margarita stumbles upon the hunt for a notorious and dangerous spy: Nero. As an unlikely bond develops between the two women, and strange secrets emerge, an urgent quest to unmask Nero starts.

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

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.

Pretty Amy Curran was just 18 years old when she met Barney Patterson, the love of her life, on Southport pier in 1939. Their romantic, passionate marriage was made in heaven, or so they both believed. But when Britain declared war on Germany, Barney volunteered to fight and the couple were eventually separated for five long years. When he returned to Liverpool after VE Day he wasn't the same person - and neither was Amy.

Dympna Byrne lives a simple life with her family on the Connemara coast. She adores her father Micheál, and does her best to help her family by working hard and expecting little. But beneath the surface there are hidden secrets. Dympna’s mother idolises her clever eldest son, yet her attitude to Dympna is puzzling. So when her family find themselves in desperate need of money, it is Dympna who crosses the water to Liverpool to seek a better life.