Showing titles in 20th Century

Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close, but when a long lost letter arrives with the return address of Milderhurst Castle, Kent, printed on its envelope, Edie begins to suspect that her mother’s emotional distance masks an old secret. Evacuated from London as a 13-year-old girl, Edie’s mother is chosen by the mysterious Juniper Blythe, and taken to live at Milderhurst Castle with the Blythe family.

Retired US detective Emil Janowitz has lied to his wife for more than forty years. Losing his entire family as an inmate of Auschwitz Concentration Camp he found it easier than facing the demons buried deep inside. A letter from an unknown Aleksy Markowski sends him off on a journey, to hunt down and denounce vicious Kapos who were supposedly gassed in the last days before liberation. The truth, they fled justice and still live and flourish and must be brought to justice. Emil’s journey triggers memories he's long locked away and his journey opens him up to a life he'd put in the past.

Be swept away by the enchanting and devastatingly romantic new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Veronica Henry - available now! 'A rich, compelling story of love, family and forgiveness. I loved it' SARAH MORGAN 'A wonderful escape' AJ PEARCE 'Romance, heartbreak and secrets, I loved...

Jackdaws by Ken Follett is an irresistible novel of the French Resistance, love, courage and revenge set in the Second World War, read by Emilia Fox, who expertly brings the story to life. A Failed Mission Two weeks before D-Day, the French Resistance try to destroy a telephone exchange vital to...

September 1942. Esme Donaldson is still grieving the devastating loss of her husband, Anthony, when she’s forced out of her dream job by wartime budget cuts. Left with few options, Esme faces an uncertain future – until a chance encounter sends her to Redcliffe Manor, a grand estate deep in the Somerset countryside, and an unexpected role as the manor’s librarian. As Esme settles in, she discovers the house is no ordinary country estate. The grounds have been requisitioned by an American military hospital, while the house is sheltering a displaced girls’ boarding school.

Readers of Robert Harris, Bernard Cornwell and Ken Follett will love this gripping, edge-of-your-seat wartime thriller from bestselling author and historian James Holland. Guaranteed to keep you turning the pages! 'Old-fashioned, testosterone-fuelled escapism and Tanner is a chiselled...

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.

1940. With the Germans about to enter Paris, Claire Bouchard flees France for England. Two years later she is recruited by the Special Operations Executive and sent back into occupied France to work alongside the Resistance. Working undercover as a teacher in Brittany, Claire accidentally befriends the wife of the German Commandant of Rennes, and the blossoming friendship is about to become a dangerous mission. Claire begins a double life as a Gestapo Commandant’s mistress to retrieve information, but ghosts from her past make the deception more painful than she could have imagined.

Ava and Joseph Simon reluctantly put their nine-year-old son, Henry, and four-year-old daughter, Catherine, in the care of their son’s teacher, who will escort them on a boat to mainland England. Just as the ferry is about to leave, the teacher’s sister Lily appears. The two trade places: Helen doesn’t want to leave Guernsey, and Lily is desperate for a fresh start.

The first in Ken Follett's breathtaking Century Trilogy, Fall of Giants is a captivating tale that follows five families through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for votes for women. A World in Chaos 1911, a thirteen-year-old boy, Billy...

The unputdownable new rollercoaster read from the Sunday Times bestseller Jeffrey Archer – a must read book of 2024! ‘An absolute page-turner’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader review ‘Impossible to put down’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader review ‘So many turns and twists’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader...

Manchester, 1943. Kitty's new venture, hosting wedding receptions at Dunbar's Hotel, has got off to a flying start, and she's looking to the future. With the tide of the war turning and victory on the distant horizon, Kitty is keen to keep her independence once the men come home. Beatrice's work in welfare is hugely rewarding, and she loves the children's clubs she runs at Dunbar's. But when a spate of thefts breaks out locally, the police become involved. Former hotel maid Lily knows she still loves her estranged husband, Daniel.

Following the breakdown of her marriage, Theo has bought a tumbledown cottage on the banks of the river Tamar which divides Cornwall and Devon. The peace and tranquillity of Boatman’s Cottage, nestled by the water, is just what she needs to heal. Yet soon after her arrival, Theo discovers a stash of hidden letters tied with a ribbon, untouched for more than a century. The letters—sent from the battlefields of France during WWI—tell of a young servant from the nearby manor house, Abbotswood, and his love for a woman he was destined to lose.

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...

"A sparkling travelogue and a poignant journey of self-discovery all in one. . . . Alka Joshi is simply the best!" —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Rose Code From the New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist, this sweeping novel of...

Brought to you by Penguin. The gripping and atmospheric new thriller from the award-winning, million-copy-bestselling author. THE CLOSER YOU GET, THE FURTHER YOU HAVE TO FALL . . . Munich, 1936. All eyes are on the Bavarian capital for the upcoming Olympic Games. As athletes fight for gold and...

USA TODAY BESTSELLER · SOUTHERN INDIE BESTSELLER · A BRENDA NOVAK BOOK GROUP PICK · GLOSS BOOK CLUB PICK · THE GIRLFRIEND BOOK CLUB PICK · A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025 (SheReads) · Margaret never really meant to start a book club . . . or a feminist revolution, for that matter in this...

A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK 'As heart-wrenching as it is achingly beautiful' Sadeqa Johnson, author of The House of Eve 'Heartbreaking and life affirming' Adrienne Brodeur, author of Little Monsters 'Courage, friendship, loyalty, hardship, love – this novel has everything' Mary Beth Keane...

he Sweet family have run the local bakery for as long as anyone can remember. Twins Ruby and Mary Sweet help their widowed father out when they can. Mary loves baking and has no intention of leaving their small Gloucestershire village. while Ruby dreams of life in London. But as war threatens, there will be changes for all of the Sweet family, with brother Charlie off to serve and cousin Frances facing evacuation. But there will be opportunities, too, as the twins' baking talent catches the attention of the Ministry of Food.

As the Nazis bring Denmark to its knees, a resistance forms – and make a discovery that could turn the tide of war. From the master storyteller Ken Follett, Hornet Flight is a startling thriller set amidst the Danish Resistance of the Second World War. Europe in Darkness 1941. The Nazis have...