Showing titles in 20th Century

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.

Brought to you by Penguin. From Sunday Times bestselling author Katie Flynn, Forgotten Child is a heartbreaking, uplifting and totally transporting novel to curl up with by the fire. Scotland, 1940: Isla Donaghue is just sixteen when her mother dies, and her idyllic life comes to an abrupt end...

Brought to you by Penguin. A heartbreaking story of love and forgiveness from Sunday Times bestselling author Donna Douglas. Perfect for fans of Call the Midwife! London's East End, 1940: a frightened young woman gives birth to a tiny baby. Clearly alone, she refuses to hold the child: she...

1925 - The Midland Canals. Born on the canals, feisty Beth Dawson, knows danger lurks in the shadows. When she falls victim to a vicious attack and knowing she might be pregnant, she quickly marries a fellow boatman. Her mundane existence is interrupted by the arrival of Anthony Wesley whose mission is to organise the impoverished boatmen for strike action. Anthony makes her feel valued and she wants to help the cause in any way she can. Along the way she makes friends with rebellious Abigail Gatehouse, daughter of the owner of the company. She too is in love with Anthony.

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.

London, 1941. The East End Angels - Frankie, Bella and Winnie - are settled into life as ambulance crew members at LAAS Station Seventy-Five. The threat of air raids and other atrocities are a constant worry, but life continues regardless, and the weight of responsibility weighs heavy on each of them. Frankie's grandfather is unwell, and she promised him she would always look after Ivy, her stepgrandmother, but things between the two women are becoming increasingly strained. And then Frankie discovers something that turns everything she thought she knew about herself on its head.

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?

From one of our most beloved authors, Mary Stewart, comes a thrilling tale set in a France as beautiful as it is deadly, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Barbara Pym. High in the rugged Pyrenees lies the Valley of the Storms, where a tiny convent clings to the beautiful but lonely...

Brought to you by Penguin. Cliffehaven, December 1946 From a hill above the town of Cliffehaven, a young woman makes a heart-breaking choice that will change the course of her life forever. Hours later, a baby is found in the Nativity crib of the local church. Who could have left him there, and...

When Tess Angel receives a solicitor's letter inviting her to claim her inheritance - the Villa Sirena, perched on a clifftop in Sicily - she is stunned. Her only link to the island is through her mother, Flavia, who left Sicily during World War II and cut all contact with her family. Initially resistant to Tess going back to her roots, Flavia realises the secrets from her past are about to be revealed and decides to try to explain her actions.

The first installment in the breathtaking Kershaw Sisters series. They say you only regret the things you don't do . . . Lizzie Kershaw is an independent spirit; ever since her father's death she has had to be a survivor. Home life is harsh, though, and desperate to escape it, she makes an...

Sing As We Go is a heart-rending wartime novel from the much-loved author of The Clippie Girls, Margaret Dickinson. Kathy Burton longs to escape the drudgery of her life as an unpaid labourer on her father's farm. With only the local church choir and the occasional dance at the village hall for...

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.

Pearl has given up on her dreams of being a journalist after being denied a promotion because of her gender. Joining the WAAF as a radio telephone operator for Bomber Command, Pearl's new job at RAF Fenthorpe serves two purposes – providing an income for her grandmother, and keeping a close eye on her younger sister, Thea, an instrument repairer at another Lincolnshire bomber station.

If you love the bestselling historical fiction author Molly Green, her newest heartfelt, engrossing World War Two saga is out now: make sure you read The Wartime Librarian's Secret! Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms are full of secrets … June, 1941 Britain is in the throes of war, but Katharina...

Harry Blenheim wasn't what you might call a good-looking fellow, but his face was full of character, with the kindest eyes God ever made. That's what his wife Esther had said, back in the days when they'd loved and laughed together. Now, it was five years since they had even kissed goodnight. Still, everyone in Fellburn respected Harry, even if there was no love lost between him and his hard-headed father-in-law. No one was more surprised than Harry that he should let himself become involved in a fling with an office girl.

In Chocolate Girls, read by actress Frances Barber, three very different women work together at Cadbury's Bournville factory, and their lives become entwined by war and work - and a child called David. Edie, the main character, marries young to escape her unhappy family home. Widowed at nineteen...

From the top-ten bestselling author of Beneath a Frosty Moon, Rita Bradshaw, comes One Snowy Night, a sweeping family saga set between the two world wars in the north-east of England. It’s 1922 and the Depression is just beginning to rear its head in Britain, but Ruby Morgan is about to marry...

The Teashop Girls is a warm and moving tale of friendship and love in wartime, by the bestselling author of the Woolworths series, Elaine Everest. It is early 1940 and World War Two has already taken a hold on the country. Rose Neville works as a Lyon’s Teashop Nippy on the Kent coast...

In 1960s Marrakech a young girl travels to meet her estranged grandmother. Vicky Baudin steps on to the train through Morocco looking for the truth about the woman who gave her father up for adoption decades before. Clemence Petier lives in a kasbah on the edge of the Atlas Mountains, her background shrouded in mystery. But the past holds secrets that threaten them both. A face from Clemence’s childhood threatens to expose everything she has built a life to hide.