Showing titles in 20th Century

In many ways, my life has been rather like a record of the lost and found. Perhaps all lives are like that. It’s when life started in earnest HERTFORDSHIRE, 1928 The paths of Tom and Alice collide against a haze of youthful, carefree exuberance. And so begins a love story that finds its feet...

'This impeccably researched wartime thriller had me gripped from the opening pages – I loved it.' Eliza Graham 'A nail-biting read from start to finish … a must for WW2 fiction fans' Tessa Harris Holland, 1944: Undercover British agent Nancy Callaghan has been given her toughest case yet. A...

Spain, 1939: Following the wishes of her parents to keep her safe during the war, a young girl, Julia, enters a convent in Barcelona. Looking for a way to maintain her links to the outside world, she volunteers to help in a maternity clinic. But worrying adoption practices in the clinic force Sister Julia to decide how far she will go to help those placed in her care. England, 2011: Six months after her parents' shocking death, 34-year-old journalist and jazz enthusiast Ruby Rae has finally found the strength to pack away their possessions and sell the family home. But as she does so, she unearths a devastating secret....

'Love, passion, drama, violence, menace and peril, and characters you fall in love with!’ – Santa Montefiore, author of Shadows in the Moonlight The mystery of St Kilda's residents are all revealed in the epic conclusion to Karen Swan's historical series set in Scotland. Jayne Ferguson has...

Britain, March, 1944. After a desperate aerial battle over Somerset, a German bomber goes down in flames. When Joan discovers the Luftwaffe pilot hiding in her barn, her first instinct is to turn him in – against her better judgment, she offers him shelter instead. As they work side by side in the fields, a forbidden love begins to flourish. As the walls close in on their unlikely affair, Dieter and Joan's lives become fraught with danger, until passion and patriotism finally collide.

The legendary Emma Harte, heroine of A Woman of Substance, returns… The legendary Emma Harte, heroine of A Woman of Substance, returns… At the centre of this sweeping saga stands Paula O'Neill, beloved granddaughter of Emma and the guardian of her vast business empire. Paula believes that...

Told with exceptional grace and read beatifully by Indira Varma, The Light Years is a modern classic of twentieth-century English life and is the first novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s extraordinary, bestselling family saga, The Cazalet Chronicles. 'Compelling, moving, unputdownable...

Violet Ellis is living in the shadows of her father’s ruined reputation. So, when wealthy widower James Atherton offers her employment, she immediately begins the treacherous journey to his home on the remote Cornish island of Aoife’s Bay – despite the bone-chilling allegations surrounding his late wife Elizabeth’s death. In James’s company, Violet begins to feel the love that has been missing all her life. But when anonymous letters start to plague the bay’s residents, threatening to expose what really happened to Elizabeth, Violet feels the hostility towards her grow.

'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 Secret Sewing Society is a sweeping, heartbreaking tale about a devastating family mystery, a doomed love affair, and generations of women coming together against the odds. Fans of Evie Woods, Fiona Valpy and The Keeper of Happy Endings will be utterly swept away.

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...

Once there was a girl who loved saffron. She loved its secrets and its mystery, and best of all she loved its hint of magic. After the death of her beloved mother, Nell travels from rural Cornwall to the colour and chaos of Marrakech. Her marriage may be on the rocks, but exploring the heady delights of Moroccan cuisine could help her fulfil her dream of opening her own restaurant. It's there she meets Amy - a young photographer trying to unravel the story behind her family's involvement in the Vietnam War.

White Waltham, 1943. As Italy surrenders and victory looms on the horizon, Ellie's doing what she does best - flying. And this time, she's rising to the sky in four-engine Halifaxes. Determined to keep doing her bit, Ellie's successes in the airfield mount, but so do tensions with her new beau, Squadron Leader Jack Reynolds. When Ellie and Jack find their dream home, they discover they've bought more than they bargained for. With a cellar full of secrets, Jack and Ellie must stand united in the face of mystery, war and loss

Brought to you by Penguin. AN IMMERSIVE AND HEARTFELT EXPLORATION OF FAMILY AND LOVE 'A beautiful bittersweet story of love, loss and families all set in the most irresistible of locations. Tears were shed!' Graham Norton 'A moving and powerful novel from one of Ireland's finest new writers'...

The dramatic story of a young woman’s war – full of heartache and triumph from the bestselling author of Christmas on the Mersey and London Belles Kitty has seen her fair share of tragedy and instead of thinking about romance, is determined to do her bit for King and country. Her life as a...

The third book in beloved and bestselling Anna Jacobs' Lancashire-based Ellindale saga Lancashire, 1932 Widower Harry Makepeace lives in Manchester with his sickly daughter Cathie, scrimping and saving to get by. But after she suffers a violent asthma attack, the doctors say she must move to the...

Penny is hell-bent on revenge on the man who caused her to flee France as a fourteen-year-old with little more than the clothes on her back. She lost everything, her friends, her home and her family. Stifled by the restrictions of her father's family, she aches to contribute more to the war effort. A brush with death puts her face all over the newspapers and almost breaks her heart in the process. 

It’s 1945, the war is over and the soldiers are coming back to the bomb-ravaged East End. Tom Smith is one of the thousands who are returning home. He can’t wait to see his wife, Jessie, their son, Billy, and the new baby daughter he hasn’t even laid eyes on. But life back home wasn’t easy, especially once Jessie’s army pension was stopped after Tom deserted. So when she was told to put her infant daughter Emma-Rose into a home for her own good, she thought it was for the best. But how will Tom take the news?

July 1947. Britain is still gripped by rationing, even as the excitement of Princess Elizabeth’s engagement sweeps the nation. In the Woolworths’ canteen, Freda is still dreaming of meeting her own Prince Charming. So far she’s been unlucky in love. When she has an accident on her...

A heart-wrenching family saga about the strength of friendship and the costs of war. Liverpool, 1945. As the war draws to a close, Alice and Terry Lomax are building a new life with their young daughter Cathy. After years away fighting, Terry is a stranger to his daughter and must work hard to...