Showing titles in 20th Century

Tuscany, 1943. Stranded in war-ravaged Italy, Beatrice’s dream of an escapist year teaching English is shattered. Granted shelter at the Villa delle Colombe, she seeks refuge in Francesca and Edoardo’s beautiful walled garden, hidden from the outside world, with an elaborate cypress maze at its heart. But Beatrice is not the only one seeking an escape here. Francesca has brought children to the safety of the house, as well as other adults, all of them seeking sanctuary on the estate with its mysterious maze.

Eleni has been coming to Crete her entire life, swapping her English home for cherished sun-baked summers with her grandfather in his idyllic shoreside villa. When she arrives in 1936, she believes the long, hot weeks ahead will be no different to so many that have gone before. But someone else is visiting the island that year too: a young German man called Otto. And so begins a summer of innocence lost, and love discovered; one that is finite, but not the end.

Bryan Hale is a damaged man. The stresses of combat flying in England's summer skies during the Battle of Britain, and night-fighting in the icy darkness of the Blitz, together with the loss of friends and a shattered heart, have left him broken and grounded. Fortress Malta, and the unrelenting Nazi siege that aims to grind it away, will be the furnace that forges him anew.

Margot has spent most of her life at St Agnes' Orphanage with her little sister Lucie. She does her best to care for all the children, cradling them under the stars when Sister Helen can't get them to sleep. But she knows that when the Nazis reach the gates of Paris, the Jewish orphans will be in terrible danger. She must help them escape ... One night, Sister Helen tells Margot she has found a rich family to take Lucie in. But there will be no safety for the other children – unless Margot can lead them to the French coast for a ship destined for America.

Germany, 1941: I stroke the blonde curl away from my daughter’s face, and my heart swells. I never imagined having children, and I never thought I’d love someone this much. Clara is the most precious thing to me. I whisper to her that I will do everything I can to keep her safe.

From the night she is rescued as a baby out of the flames of a sinking ship, to the day she joins a pair of daredevil pilots looping and diving over the rugged forests of her childhood, to the thrill of flying Spitfires during the war, the life of Marian Graves has always been marked by a lust for freedom and danger. In 1950, she embarks on her life's dream - to fly a Great Circle around the globe, pole to pole. But after a crash landing, she finds herself stranded on the Antarctic ice without enough fuel.

Sally Harper is busy juggling running London’s Oxford Street Store Harpers and looking after her beautiful new-born daughter, whilst husband Ben is overseas on another dangerous mission; this time to rescue a friend in need. Young Becky Stockbridge finds herself in a difficult situation, which could bring shame to her and her family. Will Becky, with the help of her friends, find her happy ever after and keep her secret? Marion Jackson is blessed with a son as she eagerly awaits the return of her husband, Reggie. But all is not right when Reggie returns.

May 1944. When spy Elisabeth de Mornay, code name Cécile, notices a coded transmission from an agent in the field does not bear his usual signature, she suspects his cover has been blown - something that is happening with increasing frequency. With the situation in occupied France worsening and growing fears that the Resistance has been compromised, Cécile is ordered behind enemy lines.

“A must-read for booklovers.” —Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling author of Next Year in Havana A heartwarming story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of books that bring them together, by the bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London. In...

1940: In south-west Ireland, the young and beautiful Lady Charlotte Rathmore is pronounced dead after she disappears by the lake of Blackwater Hall. In London, on the brink of the Blitz, Nancy Rathmore is grieving Charlotte's death when a letter arrives containing a secret that she is sworn to keep. 2019: Ellie Fitzgerald is forced to leave Dublin disgraced and heartbroken. Abandoning journalism, she returns to rural Kerry to weather out the storm. But, when she discovers a faded letter, tucked inside the pages of an old book, she finds herself drawn in by a long-buried secret.

As the Nazi regime crumbles, Hanni hides from her father on the fringes of Berlin. She develops the photographs she took to record the brutality of the camp - the empty food bowls and hungry eyes - and vows to get justice for the innocent people she couldn’t help. But, on the day she plans to deliver these damning photographs to the Allies, Hanni comes face to face with her father again. Reiner Foss is now working with the British forces, his past safely hidden behind a new identity. He will go to deadly lengths to protect his secrets, but Hanni knows she can’t give up her fight.

London, 1941. The Blitz. When a Royal Navy memo arrives at head office, requesting female recruits to sign up as motorcycle dispatch riders, delivering highly classified orders across the country, three women jump at the chance to sign up for the most dangerous jobs in London.

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...

There might be a war on, but that doesn't stop Georgina Garrett running her business with an iron fist. No one said running the Battersea gang was going to be easy, but her unflinchable nature makes Georgina unstoppable. With a role that requires a ruthless ability to seek revenge and pay out crippling punishments, Georgina's enemies are growing in number. With a target on her back, Georgina knows she must do everything to protect her family. But, with the loss of someone closest to her, can Georgina rise up from the ashes or allow a usurper take her crown?

Enter the world of the rich, charismatic Lytton family and their powerful publishing empire in this passionate family saga that spans from the Edwardian era to World War I and the excesses of the glamorous 1920s. Enter the world of Celia Lytton, a woman who is used to getting her way. Celia makes difficult and often dangerous decisions that affect not only herself, her husband Oliver, and their children, but others.

1939. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, Alfred Kendall is tasked with carrying out a minor mission for the British Intelligence Service. Travelling to Prague, he takes his troubled young son, Hugh, as cover.  When Hitler invades Czechoslovakia, Alfred is given an ultimatum by the Czech Resistance. They will arrange for him to return to England, but only if he leaves his son Hugh behind as collateral. Hugh is soon taken under the wing of a Nazi colonel - Helmuth Scholl. 

Brought to you by Penguin. The brand new Railway Girls novel set in Manchester during WWII. Perfect for fans of Nancy Revell, Daisy Styles and Margaret Dickinson. Love is in the air, and together the railway girls can overcome even the hardest of times. Mabel has finally put the past behind her...

Readers of Robert Harris, Bernard Cornwell and Ken Follett will love this all-action, high-octane wartime thriller from bestselling author and historian James Holland. With its authentic and vivid depiction of war, its gut-punchingly realistic battle scenes and its amazing characterisation, this...

Born Nigerian royalty, Princess Adenrele Ademola trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital in London and stepped up to serve the people of Britain when war broke out – facing both the devastation of the Blitz and the prejudice of some of the people she was trying to help. 80 years later, Ade’s great niece Yemi arrives in London clutching the Princess’s precious diaries and longs to uncover the mysteries they hold.

1939. When the man Georgie has always loved is sent to France on a secret mission, every knock of the door fills her with dread. Beth is determined to do her bit for the war effort. Caught up in a whirlwind romance, she marries only to become a war widow. Desperately trying to make her way back from Paris to her family in England, a fateful and tragic encounter brings Hetty to Chateau de Faubourg, where she joins the resistance.