Showing titles in 20th Century

The setting is the beginning of an Amish settlement in colonial America in the forests of eastern Pennsylvania. There, a young Amish couple, Hans and Kate Zug, are in their ninth year of marriage, still waiting to have a child. Then, one April morning, Kate finds a Native infant, wrapped in deerskin and placed next to the spring where she went to fill her water bucket.

West Cork, Ireland, 1900. The year marks the start of a new century and the birth of three very different women: Kitty Deverill, the flame-haired Anglo-Irish daughter of the castle; Bridie Doyle, the daughter of the Irish cook; and Celia Deverill, Kitty's flamboyant English cousin. Together they grow up in the dreamy grounds of the family's grand estate, Castle Deverill. Yet their peaceful way of life will soon be threatened by Ireland's struggle for independence.

Summer 1924. On the eve of a glittering Society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999. Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet’s suicide. Ghosts awaken and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace’s mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks. A shocking secret threatens to emerge – something history has forgotten but Grace never could.

It is 1925, and the war is long over. But much has been lost, and life will never be quite the same. Castle Deverill, cherished ancestral home to the Deverill family in the west of Ireland, has burned to the ground. Young and flighty Celia Deverill is determined to restore the sad ruins to its former glory. But dark shadows are gathering once more as the financial markets start to shake, and everything that felt so certain is thrown once again into doubt....

After giving birth to her daughter, Kate O'Connor finds herself back in Poor House Lane with some momentous decisions to make. Faced with the opportunity to move out of the slums, she invests her unexpected fortune in a new shoe factory to challenge Eliot Tyson's monopoly over the workforce, regardless of whether or not he is the father of her children...

The Second World War has finally come to a close. Birmingham is welcoming home its menfolk, and a new chapter is beginning in Rachel Booker's life. Her husband has returned, and the family that struggled for survival throughout the uncertain war years is now together. But family life settles into a routine, and Rachel, unsatisfied, starts to yearn for more.

Bristol 1939. At forty years of age, Mary Anne Randall still turns heads. With an abusive husband spending most of his wages on beer, she has resigned herself to be the sole breadwinner to protect her family and keep the wolves from the door. In order to make ends meet, Mary Anne runs a pawnbroking business from the wash house at the end of the garden. Following the outbreak of war an opportunity presents itself to escape her loveless marriage and find true love. Will she take that chance, or carry on living just for her children and not for herself?

A nursing orderly in the WAAF, Ruby Morris is keen to stick with her friends Holly and Meg when they volunteer for the air ambulance, and soon all three are moved to RAF Starsden on the outskirts of London. Nervous not only at flying during wartime but also being responsible for life-or-death decisions, Ruby works hard to overcome her fears, helped by her new friendship with pilot Flight Sergeant Laurie Foster. When it seems like Laurie and Ruby could become more than friends, he starts to blow hot and cold, and she worries her feelings aren't reciprocated.

In 1930s Birmingham, in the impoverished district of Nechells, a young girl bravely endeavours to hold her family together in trying times. A Hopscotch Summer is an emotional journey of determination and resilience from Annie Murray. Read by Penelope Freeman (My Daughter, My Mother) Emma Brown...

A recent widow, Lady Arabella Grey hires the young and unconventional Zandra Lancaster as governess to her children. Despite Zandra's impressive recommendations, Arabella is skeptical and unimpressed by Zandra's youth and artistic nature. But Zandra is brilliant with her daughters, and Arabella's inexplicably drawn to her.

Kent, 1953. The Woolworths Erith store, a beloved cornerstone of the community, faces closure if the December turnover fails to increase. And, as if store manager Betty Billington doesn't have enough on her plate, personnel shortages and a troublesome new employee add to the strife. With...

As the old world begins to fade from view and a new dawn emerges, All Change marks the fifth and final volume in Elizabeth Jane Howard's beloved and bestselling Cazalet Chronicles. 'Compelling, moving, unputdownable . . . Maybe my favourite books ever' - Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My...

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.

Ambitious event planner Daisy Haywood is torn between a safe and steady engagement to Harvey Harris and her lingering love for Max Galant, the adventurous journalist who left her to pursue this career overseas. Daisy must decide if love is a luxury she can afford or the only thing worth fighting for. Reckless Bridie Haywood returns from London under a cloud of mystery; her plight worsens when her movie star good looks attract the attention of notorious Beamer’s factory boss Henry Beamer who is only after one thing.

When heart-broken Sarah Quinn is left to care for her father and siblings when her mother dies, it’s hard to watch their loving dad, Fred, drift into drink and despair. With money tight, Sarah is determined to keep the family together. But they receive a shock when Fred Quinn announces he is to marry Mavis Swindel, the landlady of a boarding house on the edge of the moors. Mavis seems to offer the answer to the family’s problems, and soon they are all moving into her shabby lodgings. It quickly becomes clear that their stepmother has plans for her new family.

No Greater Love is a powerful, heartwarming family drama set in Derbyshire around WW1, from bestselling author and Queen of the Saga, Margaret Dickinson. A troubled family. A young woman seeking refuge . . . Derbyshire, 1904. After a family tragedy and a broken engagement dramatically alter her...

1952: Vivien and Max collide in the thick London smog. Within a few years, their whirlwind romance sees them living a quiet life on the Norfolk coast, blissfully happy with their beautiful daughter—at least, that's how it appears... 2019: Isobel is hoping for a fresh start when she inherits her beloved grandmother Vivien's house in Silverton Bay. But when she discovers an old photograph of Vivien at one of the infamous parties held at Silverton Hall in the 1950s, Isobel is forced to question how well she really knew her grandmother.

Hampshire, 1900. With the sudden death of her father, the life of 15-year-old Harriet Benson changes forever. Forced from her home to escape the advances of her leering stepbrother Norris, Harriet is sent into service to provide for the family. Arriving at the grand Dalton House, she meets the owners' crippled son Joseph, with whom friendship soon blossoms. When circumstances force Joseph to leave the family home, Harriet is happy to accompany him and break free from the controlling influence of her stepmother.

From the author of the Seven Sisters series, Lucinda Riley's The Italian Girl takes you from the back streets of Naples to the world's finest opera houses on a poignant, unforgettable journey of love, betrayal and self-discovery. Read by Yolanda Kettle (Philippa Gregory's The Queen's Fool)...

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...