Showing titles in 20th Century

‘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...

Kathleen Gallagher is sixteen when she shares her first kiss with Liam Flynn, the older brother of her best friend. The bells were ringing in the New Year and snow was falling: it was the perfect romantic moment. But Kathleen knows they can never be together. Three years later, it's 1939, and...

Paris, 1940. The Nazis have occupied the city - and the Ritz. The opulent old hotel, so loved by Parisians, is now full of swaggering officers, their minions and their mistresses. For American Olivia Olsen, working as a chambermaid at the hotel means denying her nationality and living a lie, every day bringing the danger of discovery closer. When Hitler’s right-hand man moves in and makes her his pet, she sees an opportunity to help the Resistance - and draw closer to Jack, her contact, whose brusque instructions may be a shield for something more....

Millie Cameron is furious when she finds herself obliged to sort through the belongings of her aunt Flo, who has died recently. She hardly knew her aunt, and besides, she has her own career to think of.

Young, pretty, full of confidence - or so she likes to pretend - she wants nothing to do with a dull spinster aunt whom her family refuses to talk about. But when she arrives at Flo’s basement flat, Millie’s interest is awakened.

In 1937, seventeen-year-old Ella’s life changes forever when she is sent to spend the summer on the beautiful Île de Ré and meets the charismatic, creative Christophe. They spend the summer together, exploring the island’s sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters, and, for the first time in her life, Ella feels truly free. But the outbreak of war casts everything in a new light. Ella is forced to return to Scotland, where she volunteers for the war effort alongside the dashing Angus. In this new world, Ella feels herself drifting further and further from who she was on the Île de Ré.

It is 1919. Liverpool has been devastated by World War I. But at last the war is over. Emily Parkinson goes back into service and enjoys the return to normality. But her sister, Phoebe-Anne, has ideas beyond her station. Working as a lady's maid, Phoebe-Ann hopes that one day she will be more than just a friend to her mistress's shell-shocked brother James Mercer. When Emily is brutally attacked, the sisters' lives come close to ruin.

Readers will be captivated by this story of love, sacrifice, and destiny, where the past and present collide to rewrite the future. “The Lost Memories gathered me up and swept me away. A beautiful, uplifting tale of life’s many types of love, and how the truest are never forgotten.” Amanda...

1992. Elisavet, a Serbian refugee haunted by loss, finds work on Island Farm Avenue. There, three older women – Cora, Megan, and Gladdie – meet regularly on the old footbridge, a quiet place where stories are shared and wounds are gently laid bare. As they begin to open up about their memories, Elisavet is drawn into their past and the healing power of female friendship. 1944 During the war, a young Cora forms a forbidden bond with Frank, a German prisoner held at Island Farm Camp. A fleeting smile.

Workers in the Clarks shoe factory, at the heart of the village, have left for the army in droves, and news from the Front seems to grow darker by the day. When lifelong friends Louisa, Jeannie and Kate receive the news they had been fearing, all hope seems lost. And Louisa’s world will be rocked further when she makes another discovery, one that will see her cast out by her family, changing her life forever.

September 1939. London is in blackout; war has been declared, but Dulcie Treadwell can think only of American broadcaster, Glenn Reeves, who didn’t say goodbye before leaving for Berlin. Heartbroken, Dulcie is posted to Bletchley Park, where she must concentrate instead on cracking the German Enigma codes. The hours are long and the conditions tough, with little recognition from above. Until she breaks her first code. But when a spiteful act of jealousy leads to Dulcie’s brutal dismissal, her life is left in pieces once more. 

Brought to you by Penguin. ONE WAR. TWO WOMEN. WILL THEY BE ABLE TO SAVE THE ONES THEY LOVE? A sweeping new novel from the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of The Tea Planter's Wife In 1943, Contessa Sofia de' Corsi's peaceful Tuscan villa among the olive groves is upturned by the...

A wartime legacy. A lost love. A friendship to last a lifetime . . . 'An extraordinary book' Marie Claire A decades old secret . . . When Kat Jourdan discovers a priceless collection of Dior gowns hidden in her grandmother's remote cottage, she delves into the mystery of their origin, determined...

From the internationally bestselling author of A Woman of Substance comes the continuing story of indomitable heroine, Emma Harte Emma Harte is now eighty years old and ready to hand over the reins of the vast business empire she has created. To her favourite grandchild, Paula McGill Fairley...

In the India of 1942, two rapes take place simultaneously - that of an English girl in Mayapore, and that of India by the British. In each, physical violence, racial animosity, the coercion of the weak by the strong all play their part, but playing a part too are love, affection, loyalty, and recognition that the last division of all to be overcome is the colour of the skin.

The Girl Below Stairs is the third powerful saga from Jennie Felton, in her Families of Fairley Terrace series, in the grand tradition of Katie Flynn, Dilly Court and Josephine Cox, of secrets, romance, drama and triumph in the wake of a bitter tragedy. Edie Cooper has grown up at number one...

Will Darling is all right. His business is doing well, and so is his illicit relationship with Kim Secretan - disgraced aristocrat, ex-spy, amateur book-dealer. It's starting to feel like he's got his life under control.

Brought to you by Penguin. THE EMOTIONAL CONCLUSION TO THE ROWNTREES GIRL SERIES! January 1945. The end of the war at last feels within reach, and the Rowntrees workers dream of returning to work on chocolate rather than munitions. Within the Freeman household, there are also dreams of a...

The great-grandaughters of Emma Harte, the heroine of A Woman of Substance and Emma’s Secret, follow in her legendary footsteps… The great-grandaughters of Emma Harte, the heroine of A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE and EMMA'S SECRET, follow in her legendary footsteps… Evan Hughes, Emma's American...

Living on the edge of the beautiful Norfolk Broads with her father, the only ripple in Tess Delamere's calm life is the disturbing dream about her dead mother which haunts her. She yearns to know more, but the arrival of a new stepmother heralds the end of Tess' hopes that her father might divulge the past. As she grows up, Tess slowly starts to put together the pieces herself. But the outbreak of war brings tragedy and upheaval, changing Tess' priorities....

The war is over, but its shadows linger. When spirited Lily Brown meets Robert Linford, heir to a prosperous building dynasty, their connection is immediate and electric. But Robert's father, Joseph Linford, sees only danger in his new daughter-to-be. Convinced Lily is a gold-digger and Robert's love a fleeting fancy, Joseph will stop at nothing to protect the family name. What begins as prejudice soon turns into obsession, and Joseph's actions set in motion a lie that will haunt the Linfords for generations.