Showing titles in 20th Century

Occupied France, 1940. When the staff at a field hospital draw straws to find out who will join the evacuation from Dunkirk, Nurse Cate is left behind. But when the Nazis arrive to claim prisoners of war, she takes her chance and flees into the night, taking one patient with her. Fifty miles away, the surrendering soldiers of the Royal Norfolk Regiment are shot dead by the advancing Germans. Beneath the pile of bodies two men survive, crawling to the safety of a nearby farmhouse, where sisters Elise and Adelaide risk their lives to take them in.

Queenie Brogan wasn't always an East End matriarch. Many years ago, before she married Fergus, she was Philomena Dooley, a daughter of Irish Travellers, planning to wed her childhood sweetheart, Patrick. But when tragedy struck and his narrow-minded sister, Nora, intervened, the lovers were torn apart. Fate can be cruel, and when Queenie arrives in London she finds that Patrick Mahon is her parish priest, and that the love she had tried to suppress flares again in her heart. But now in the final months of WW2, Queenie discovers Father Mahon is dying and must face losing him forever.

The new Anna Jacobs saga continues the story of the younger sisters of Keara Michaels, the heroine of A PENNYWORTH OF SUNSHINE, following their fortunes from nineteenth-century Ireland to the brave new world of Australia. Three sisters. Three journeys. One destination. In 1863 the authorities...

Berlin, 1938: it’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war. When fledgling reporter Georgie Young is posted to Berlin, alongside fellow Londoner Max Spender, she knows they are entering the eye of the storm. Arriving to a city swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis, Georgie feels helpless, witnessing innocent people being torn from their homes. As tensions rise, she realises she and Max have to act - even if it means putting their lives on the line. 

When the Berlin Wall goes up, Karin is on the wrong side of the city. Overnight, she’s trapped under Soviet rule in unforgiving East Berlin and separated from her twin sister, Jutta. Karin and Jutta lead parallel lives for years, cut off by the Wall. But Karin finds one reason to keep going: Otto, the man who gives her hope, even amidst the brutal East German regime. 

War brings them together. Liberation will tear them apart. A POWERFUL PORTRAIT OF WAR. A HEARTBREAKING STORY OF LOVE. THE EXTRAORDINARY NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF WHILE PARIS SLEPT. Paris 1944. Elise Chevalier knows what it is to love...and to hate. Her fiancé, a young French soldier, was...

When investigative journalist Clay MacIntyre stumbles upon a moonstone brooch that transports him back in time to the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, he unwittingly sets off a chain of events that could irrevocably change the entire MacKlenna Clan. Desperate to rescue his friend, Patrick Mallory and a group of family members embark on an adventure to the 1901 Expo, where romance blooms and danger lurks in the shadows.

Following the death of her mother, Becky begins the sad task of sorting through her empty flat. Starting with the letters piling up on the doormat, she finds an envelope post-marked from Cornwall. In it is a letter that will change her life forever. A desperate plea from her mother's elderly cousin, Olivia, to help save her beloved home. Becky arrives at Chynalls to find the beautiful old house crumbling into the ground and Olivia stuck in hospital with no hope of being discharged until her home is made habitable.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Promise from the bestselling author Lesley Pearse. War threatens to take all she has loved and lived for . . . When Belle Reilly's husband Jimmy enlists and heads for the trenches of Northern France, she knows she cannot...

The Brooklands Girls is the heartfelt sequel to The Poppy Girls from Margaret Dickinson, the bestselling ‘Queen of Saga’ (Daily Express) It is the early 1920s and the Maitland family are still coming to terms with the aftermath of the Great War. After her brave work as an ambulance driver...

Mary Stewart transports her readers to mid-century Savoy for a plot of danger and deception, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Barbara Pym. A classic tale by one of the world's most beloved authors. Linda Martin understands what is to be lonely: her parents died when she was young, and she...

Sisters Carol and Jackie haven't had the easiest of childhoods, but as they grow up and begin their own lives, both hope for happier times ahead. Stylish Carol works in Lewis' department store while Jackie dreams of a career on the stage. But the sisters are heartbroken when they discover they have been dating the same man, and an unexpected pregnancy causes a rift between them. As the sisters' troubles spiral, will their sisterly bond be destroyed forever?

A compelling saga from Margaret Dickinson, Fairfield Hall charts the changing fortunes of Annabel Constantine, in the devastating lead up to the First World War. Ruthlessly ambitious Ambrose Constantine is determined that his daughter, Annabel, shall marry into the nobility. A fish merchant and...

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Without a Trace. A compelling story of courage, friendship and love by international number one bestselling author Lesley Pearse, read by Emma Powell. Coronation Day, 1953. In the Somerset village of Sawbridge, young shopkeeper...

She is a servant girl... When her father becomes ill, Emily Carter finds herself sent into service at Priorsfield Manor in order to provide the family with an income. He will be the Lord of the Manor... Emily strikes up an unlikely friendship with the daughters of the house, as well as Nicolas, son of the Earl. But as the threat of war comes ever closer, she becomes even more aware of the vast differences between upstairs and downstairs, servant and master...If you like Downton Abbey you’ll love this!

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Waiting Hours by Ellie Dean, read by Julie Maisey. Slapton Sands, 1943 War has not been kind to Carol Porter. It took her husband and baby, and with them her heart. At last she’s found some peace, working as a land girl at Coombe Farm. But...

‘Truly gripping… I loved it.’ Jill Mansell, Sunday Times bestseller A heartbreakingly beautiful novel which captures the endurance and strength of ordinary people in the darkest of times, and the courage of one woman who put her life on the line to join the resistance. Perfect for fans of...

On the eve of a world war, a forbidden love will blossom in the garden of a stately home, where one young woman will make a choice that will change her life forever. As the storm clouds of war gather, Cordelia seeks refuge in the grounds of her family estate. Handsome landscaper Isaac has recently arrived to tend to the gardens, and the connection between him and Cordelia is as immediate as it is forbidden. Isaac begins to secretly teach her how to cultivate the gardens, so when he and all the young men are called away to war, Cordelia takes over.

Botanical artist Jane Saville is devastated when her manipulative mother banishes her to the countryside to protect someone else's honour. Isolated far from home, she is forced to live an impoverished, secretive life to save the family from public shame. When the paths of these people from two very different worlds collide, Jane begins to hope for a different future, but their new friendship is shattered by jealousy, misunderstanding, duty and treachery. But a chance meeting with a young boy will inspire Jane to defy the powers working against her and prove she is no woman to be outcast.

'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...