Auckland Council Libraries: Historical fiction new titles

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Historical fiction

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Jeremy Poldark  by Winston Graham

Jeremy Poldark

Winston Graham

"Ross Poldark faces the darkest hour of his life. Accused of wrecking two ships, he is to stand trial at the Bodmin Assizes. Despite their stormy married life, Demelza has tried to rally support for her husband. But there are enemies in plenty who would be...

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The four swans  by Winston Graham

The four swans

Winston Graham

"Cornwall, 1795: Although Ross Poldark - now something of a war hero - seems secure in his hard won prosperity, a new dilemma faces him in the sudden infatuation of a young naval officer for his wife Demelza. All four women - the four swans - whose lives touch...

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The French kitchen  by Kristy Cambron

The French kitchen

Kristy Cambron

"Paris, 1952-- Still haunted by the years she spent serving in the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during WWII, ex-pat Kat Fontaine, now living in Paris, finds a simple cookery class led by indomitable chef Julia Child unearths the tangle of...

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A song of war

A song of war

"Troy: city of gold, gatekeeper of the east, haven of the god-born and the lucky, a city destined to last a thousand years. But the Fates have other plans - the Fates, and a woman named Helen. In the shadow of Troy's gates, all must be reborn in the greatest...

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Our last Vineyard summer  by Brooke Lea Foster

Our last Vineyard summer

Brooke Lea Foster

"After suffering through her first year of graduate school at Columbia following her senator father's death, Betsy Whiting is hoping to spend the summer with her boyfriend ... and hopefully end the summer as his fiancée. Instead, her mother - a longtime...

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A promise to Arlette  by Serena Burdick

A promise to Arlette

Serena Burdick

"Sidney and Ida Whipple are living the suburban 1950s American dream, complete with two children and a white picket fence, which didn't seem possible when they first met at the height of WWII in France. Reveling in the present, they can almost convince...

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Roma  by Steven Saylor

Roma

Steven Saylor

"Roma is the story of the ancient city of Rome, from its mythic beginnings as a campsite along a trade route to its emergence as the centre of the most extensive, powerful empire in the ancient world. Beginning with the prehistory days when Roma was a way...

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The lies they told  by Ellen Marie Wiseman

The lies they told

Ellen Marie Wiseman

"In rural 1930s Virginia, a young immigrant mother fights for her dignity and those she loves against America's rising eugenics movement--when widespread support for policies of prejudice drove imprisonment and forced sterilizations based on class, race,...

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The art of a lie  by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

The art of a lie

Laura Shepherd-Robinson

"Following the murder of her husband in what looks like a violent street robbery, Hannah Cole is struggling to keep her head above water. Her confectionary shop on Piccadilly is barely turning a profit, her suppliers conspiring to put her out of business...

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Angel down  by Daniel Kraus

Angel down

Daniel Kraus

"Private Cyril Bagger has managed to survive the unspeakable horrors of the Great War through his wits and deception, swindling fellow soldiers at every opportunity. But his survival instincts are put to the ultimate test when he and four other grunts are...

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L.A. women  by Ella Berman

L.A. women

Ella Berman

"After a steady descent from literary stardom, Lane Warren is back. She's secured a new book deal based off the life of her sometime friend and, more often, rival Gala Margolis. Lane's only problem is that notorious free spirit Gala has been missing for...

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Daikon  by Samuel Jay Hawley

Daikon

Samuel Jay Hawley

"Set in Japan during the final days of World War II, with a shocking historical premise: three atomic bombs were actually delivered to the Pacific--not two--and when one of them falls into the hands of the Japanese, the fate of a couple that has been separated...

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Mrs. Endicott's splendid adventure  by Rhys Bowen

Mrs. Endicott's splendid adventure

Rhys Bowen

"Surrey, England, 1938. After thirty devoted years of marriage, Ellie Endicott is blindsided by her husband's appeal for divorce. It's Ellie's opportunity for change too. The unfaithful cad can have the house. She's taking the Bentley. Ellie, her housekeeper...

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The foreshore  by Samantha York

The foreshore

Samantha York

"Eilean Eòin is a tiny scrap of land which is stranded amidst miles of fierce ocean, where the scant population barely cling to a centuries' old way of life. It is here that Flora McKinnon, an aging islander, is brought news of her youngest child's death,...

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A widow's courage  by Elizabeth Gill

A widow's courage

Elizabeth Gill

"1909, Northumberland. Shona has always secretly thought of her husband James's fishing boat as the enemy. She wishes she could ask James to do a different job, a safer job, but it would have made him laugh, and she's too proud to tell him she fears for him...

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Secrets and lies  by June Francis

Secrets and lies

June Francis

"When Olive receives a letter in the post from the father of her daughter - American soldier, Joe - she is shocked. He is losing his sight and, after years of no contact, suddenly wants to reconnect. Now, Olive must decide whether or not to reveal that she has...

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Stormy times for the dockyard girls  by Tracy Baines

Stormy times for the dockyard girls

Tracy Baines

"Great Grimsby, Peace Day July 1919. The Great War is over, and few families have been left untouched. Those who remain face a tough and uncertain future. Letty Hardy has managed to keep her family afloat by running a cafe and chandlers on Grimsby Docks. She's...

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Wartime comes to West India Dock Road  by Renita D'Silva

Wartime comes to West India Dock Road

Renita D'Silva

"1940. The Blitz rages, but life goes on in the heart of London's East End. Charity has spent her life keeping her family together -- raising her younger brothers, running the family boarding house on West India Dock Road, and now shielding her fragile parents...

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The king must die  by Mary Renault

The king must die

Mary Renault

"The true parentage of Theseus, grandson of the King of Troizon, has always been shrouded in mystery. Rumours swirl that his father is Poseidon himself. But when he learns the truth - that he is the son and heir of Aegeus, King of Athens - Theseus sets out on...

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The unworthy  by Roy Jacobsen

The unworthy

Roy Jacobsen

"They're a gang without a name - Olav, Carl, Roar, Jan and Vidar - teenage boys growing up in a working-class area of Oslo under the shadow of Nazi occupation. They live in poverty but earn a crust by creatively swindling their fellow citizens, falsifying...

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Not my child  by Kitty Neale

Not my child

Kitty Neale

"London, 1923. Cyril Black is finally out of prison. Rather than going home to his wife and son, he visits his mistress only to find that she's given birth to his daughter - and wants nothing to do with her. His wife, Florrie, reluctantly agrees to take them...

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The journey of Runs-Far  by Lori Benton

The journey of Runs-Far

Lori Benton

"A final journey uncovers the hidden wounds of an old man's soul, as he clings to hope that the God who redeemed him long ago has saved the greatest miracle for last... Tennessee Country, 1798 Runs-Far, beloved elder of the Cherokee, lays dying. While family...

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Bread of angels  by Tessa Afshar

Bread of angels

Tessa Afshar

Purple. The foundation of an influential trade in a Roman world dominated by men. One woman rises up to take the reins of success in an incredible journey of courage, grit, and friendship. And along the way, she changes the world. But before she was Lydia, the...

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Last light over Galveston  by Jennifer L. Wright

Last light over Galveston

Jennifer L. Wright

"Galveston, Texas. September 1900. Only months ago, Kathleen McDaniel returned from finishing school in Switzerland to her family home in New York's Hudson Valley with a future of promise and privilegeset before her. But one horrific event shattered her...

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The blacker the berry  by Wallace Thurman

The blacker the berry

Wallace Thurman

"Emma Lou Morgan's dark-skinned complexion is a source of sorrow and humiliation - not only to herself, but also to her lighter-skinned family members and the white community of her hometown. Hoping to find acceptance, Emma Lou travels to Harlem, New York, the...

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Yesterday's girl  by Anna Jacobs

Yesterday's girl

Anna Jacobs

"The Great War opened up an exciting new career for Vi in London. But that was yesterday. Now, the war's over, her husband is dead and she needs to pick up the pieces of her life. On her way home she meets a man who needs her help. Recently demobbed, Joss...

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The betrothed  by Alessandro Manzoni

The betrothed

Alessandro Manzoni

"Set in Lombardy during the Spanish occupation of the late 1620s, The Betrothed tells the story of two young lovers, Renzo and Lucia, prevented from marrying by the petty tyrant Don Rodrigo, who desires Lucia for himself. Forced to flee, they are then cruelly...

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Rise to fall  by Gwendoline S. K. (Novelist) Terry

Rise to fall

Gwendoline S. K. (Novelist) Terry

"It has been two years since Aveline Birgersdottir and Vidar Alvarsson have seen their dear friend, Jan 'Joetunnson' Jarlufson. In the spring of 882, they are pleasantly surprised when he arrives unexpectedly at their door, but little do they know that Jan's...

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Ashes remain  by Gwendoline S. K. Terry

Ashes remain

Gwendoline S. K. Terry

"Aveline is a far cry from the kind, naive woman she once was. A ferocious leader, she must fight for her right to rule in a society dominated by tradition, vicious new enemies, and the ghosts of her past who have returned to haunt her. After the carnage...

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Danethrall  by Gwendoline S. K. (Novelist) Terry

Danethrall

Gwendoline S. K. (Novelist) Terry

"Pillaging. Violence. That is what the Norsemen were infamous for, and when they invaded the Kingdom of the East Angles in autumn 865, that is exactly what they did. Aveline, an Anglo-Saxon child, is taken captive by Birger Bloody Sword and stolen away to...

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The feeling of iron  by Andrea Giaime Alonge

The feeling of iron

Andrea Giaime Alonge

"Shlomo Libowitz and Anton Epstein, two Jewish prisoners subjected to horrific experiments in a Nazi concentration camp, survive the unimaginable. Decades later, their lives converge again as they hunt Hans Lichtblau, the SS officer who tormented them, now...

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The spitfire girl's secret  by Karen (Novelist) Dickson

The spitfire girl's secret

Karen (Novelist) Dickson

"As Europe edges closer to war, Bella's world is focused on avoiding a future like her mother's. She doesn't want to go to secretarial school to become another proper young lady; standing by prettily waiting to be chosen as a wife by her employer or another...

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Julia Eichardt  by Lauren Roche

Julia Eichardt

Lauren Roche

"From famine-ravaged Ireland to the glittering goldfields of Australia and New Zealand comes the captivating true story of Julia Eichardt, a woman who defied every hardship life placed before her. Born into poverty and shaped by loss, Julia's fierce...

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Until the red leaves fall  by Alli Parker

Until the red leaves fall

Alli Parker

"Emmy Darling has a secret. She has a few. Her lemon meringue pie is a recipe from a women's magazine, she's always wanted to be a playwright, and the best parts of her husband Sebastian's plays are the scenes she's written during edits. But when charismatic...

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The Shakespeare secret  by D. J. Nix

The Shakespeare secret

D. J. Nix

"Everyone knows of William Shakespeare, the rakish former actor and famous playwright. But few know the three women writing every word of his plays: Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, a frustrated poet; Emelia Bassano, a court musician with a passion for...

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The entirely true story of the fantastical mesmerist Nora Grey  by Kathleen Kaufman

The entirely true story of the fantastical mesmerist Nora Grey

Kathleen Kaufman

"Leaving behind a quiet life of simple comforts, Nairna Liath traverses the Scottish countryside with her charlatan father, Tavish. From remote cottages to rural fairs, the duo scrapes by on paltry coins as Tavish orchestrates 'encounters' with the departed,...

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Splendor of the land  by Connilyn Cossette

Splendor of the land

Connilyn Cossette

"Led into a troubled lifestyle by the past that haunts him, Gavriel, a soldier in King Saul's army, is sent on a mission to persuade a distant tribe to sever their ties with the Amalekites. Zahana is hidden behind her father's goldsmith legacy, but an...

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The great Mann  by Kyra Davis Lurie

The great Mann

Kyra Davis Lurie

"In 1945, Charlie Trammell steps off a cross-country train into the vibrant tapestry of Los Angeles. Lured by his cousin Marguerite's invitation to the esteemed West Adams Heights, Charlie is immediately captivated by the Black opulence of L.A.'s newly...

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The women of Arlington Hall  by Jane (Freelance journalist) Healey

The women of Arlington Hall

Jane (Freelance journalist) Healey

"1947: Adventurous Radcliffe graduate Catherine 'Cat' Killeen cancels her wedding and upends a future that no longer suits her. At the behest of her professor and hungry for a challenge, Cat arrives in Virginia to work on a confidential military project. A...

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Wedding bells at the wartime bookshop  by Lesley Eames

Wedding bells at the wartime bookshop

Lesley Eames

"Naomi is upset to find a nasty, anonymous letter land on her doorstep. Who could've sent something like this? Naomi, Bert and the Churchwood bookshop organising team are determined to figure out who it is sending her these poison pen letters. Because it must...

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Victory for the Foyles bookshop girls  by Elaine (Novelist) Roberts

Victory for the Foyles bookshop girls

Elaine (Novelist) Roberts

"London, 1918: the war in Europe may be drawing to an end, but there are new challenges for the Foyles bookshop girls. As their dreams of the war ending look like they might finally come true, the girls of London's Foyles bookshop allow themselves to look...

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The Englishman's daughter  by Kay Brellend

The Englishman's daughter

Kay Brellend

"17-year-old Elise Bouchard has always called Northern France home. But when her English father, Sidney Cooper, is captured by the Nazis, her world is shattered. Fearing for her safety, Elise is forced to abandon the only life she has ever known - her beloved...

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Angels of war  by Lana Kortchik

Angels of war

Lana Kortchik

"The Philippines, 1941. Rose Williams arrives in Manila on her first assignment as a US Army nurse, enthralled by the new environment and its promise of adventure. Although worlds away from the land she grew up in, Rose feels connected to her father, who...

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These blue mountains  by Sarah Loudin Thomas

These blue mountains

Sarah Loudin Thomas

"German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda is stunned to see Fritz's name in a photograph of an...

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The home for war orphans  by Jenna Ness

The home for war orphans

Jenna Ness

"Paris, 1940. Golden light bathes the crumbling rooftop of the orphanage. I stroke my little sister's hair and comfort the other war orphans climbing into the rickety truck. We must leave the only home we have left, or the Nazis will find us... Margot has...

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The paradise petition  by Carolyn Brown

The paradise petition

Carolyn Brown

"Daisy Lindberg and Lily Boyle traded a colorful past for a fresh start as seamstresses in Autrie, Texas, and their aim to spark a women's rights movement is raising eyebrows among the town's dumbfounded men. But among the ladies? Tired of being treated like...

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German next door  by Gosia Nealon

German next door

Gosia Nealon

"Poland, 1943. "We owe you our lives" The elderly woman clasps my hands before climbing the attic ladder to hide with her family. I am filled with anger, sadness and fear: but I can't give in to my tears now. Not when this isn't the only secret I'm keeping...

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The Moscow defector  by A. W. (Alex W.) author. Hammond

The Moscow defector

A. W. (Alex W.) author. Hammond

"September, 1948. The Iron Curtain has descended. Behind it is the woman he loves. The Berlin Blockade has begun and Soviet aggression threatens to ignite a new conflict. Now based in the besieged German city, Auguste Duchene finds himself part of a Cold War...

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A thread of light  by Neema Shah

A thread of light

Neema Shah

"London, 1941. As the city thrums with Blitz bombers, lonely air raid warden Ruby is drawn into the unfamiliar world of the India Forum, where a group of Londoners are working tirelessly to free India from British rule. Ruby has her own secret motives for...

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We are green and trembling  by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

We are green and trembling

Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

"From deep in the wilds of the New World, Antonio writes a letter to his aunt, the prioress of the same Basque convent he escaped as a young girl. Since transforming into Antonio, he has had monumental adventures and taken on numerous guises. He has been a...

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Designed with love  by Tracie Peterson

Designed with love

Tracie Peterson

"After being widowed on her wedding day, Emma Johnson moves to Cheyenne with her sister-in-law to start over. Emma's life has been marked by wild living and a desire for fun, but the death of her husband forces her to reconsider her priorities. Her...

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The secret diary of Anne Boleyn  by Robin Maxwell

The secret diary of Anne Boleyn

Robin Maxwell

"When the young Queen Elizabeth I is entrusted with Anne Boleyn's secret diary, she discovers a great deal about the much-maligned mother she never knew. And on learning the truth about her lascivious and despotic father, Henry VIII, she vows never to...

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The summer bride  by AnneMarie Brear

The summer bride

AnneMarie Brear

"Lincolnshire, 1854.After much reflection, Caroline Lawson has accepted Max Cavendishs marriage proposal. Yet, their peaceful life on the farm is soon threatened by a series of mishaps and the strange deaths of livestock. As the pressure mounts for Max to make...

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Bleak times at Orchard Cottage Hospital  by Lizzie Lane

Bleak times at Orchard Cottage Hospital

Lizzie Lane

"Somerset, 1932. In the dead of night, a young woman is abandoned on the steps of Orchard Cottage Hospital and a man is seen fleeing. Nobody knows their identities. When the young woman dies, Doctor Frances Brakespeare is keen to solve the mystery of her...

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Betsy's war  by Elizabeth Morton

Betsy's war

Elizabeth Morton

"Betsy Drew has one thing on her mind. And that's the hope that Alvis Dooley might glance in her direction. But it's the outbreak of World War II in Liverpool and whilst everyone is fearful of what Hitler might do next, Betsy is full of dreams for a future...

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A scandal at Christmas  by Catherine Cookson

A scandal at Christmas

Catherine Cookson

"At fifteen years old, Gail Blenheim is the truly the apple of her father, Harry's, eye. Sweet, mild-mannered, with the promise to grow into a true beauty, she'll always bring her father joy, which is something he'll never take for granted. But Gail knows that...

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The East End girls  by Jean Fullerton

The East End girls

Jean Fullerton

"East London, 1942: With the men at war, can the women of the East End band together to defend their loved ones, their city and their country?Chestnut-haired Corporal Effie Weston has grit beyond her twenty years. Determined to do her duty, she has joined up...

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Heartache for the tram girls  by Lynn (Novelist) author. Johnson

Heartache for the tram girls

Lynn (Novelist) author. Johnson

"After the death of her mother, whom she had spent her life caring for, Ruth Latham is lucky to find work as a typist at the Potteries Tramway Company in Stoke. While conscription forces more men to leave for the battlefields, Ruth finds herself growing closer...

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A bomb placed close to the heart  by Nishant Batsha

A bomb placed close to the heart

Nishant Batsha

"At a party near Stanford University's campus in 1917, Cora Trent, a graduate student raised in the rugged mining towns of the American West, meets Indra Mukherjee, an Indian revolutionary newly arrived in California. Indra is grieving the recent loss of a...

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American sky  by Carolyn Dasher

American sky

Carolyn Dasher

"In 1943, Georgeanne "George" Ector joins the WASP program to pursue her dream of flying, inspired by her mother, a fearless Oklahoma farm girl with a gift for mechanics. George finds a kindred spirit in Vivian Shaw, and together they achieve their goals as...

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Twisted strands  by Margaret Dickinson

Twisted strands

Margaret Dickinson

"It is 1914, and Eveleen Hardcastle, now in her early thirties, has married Richard. As World War I breaks out, Eveleen, a sophisticated young woman, is left to manage the factory while Richard goes off to fight for his country."--Provided by publisher.

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Fenwick houses  by Catherine Cookson

Fenwick houses

Catherine Cookson

"In Christine Winter's youth, her family home was always full of love and laughter. Along with her brother Ronnie and their neighbours, Don and Sam Dowling, Chrissie passed a happy, untroubled childhood, even when the strains of the outside world darkened her...

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Daughter of scandal  by Catherine Cookson

Daughter of scandal

Catherine Cookson

"A rags-to-riches story of a young woman who must overcome the scandal of her past to forge a new life. In Heap Hollow cottage in County Durham live what appears to be a close and loving family. But across the happy facade lies a shadow that has lengthened and...

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Her secret son  by Catherine Cookson

Her secret son

Catherine Cookson

"Cock Shield Farm, 1881 After Molly Geary finds herself pregnant with landowner Angus McBain's child, she is left distraught and ruined. Dishonoured by being the secret mistress of McBain, she must find an alternative suitor to save her reputation, or else the...

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The cobbler's daughter  by Catherine Cookson

The cobbler's daughter

Catherine Cookson

"After making his money as a respected manufacturer of an array of shoes, Samuel Fairbrother decides to find a new home for his business and family. When a grand mansion becomes available Samuel buys it - and with it, inherits the servants. But when his...

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An unsuitable match  by Catherine Cookson

An unsuitable match

Catherine Cookson

"Just two years after the death of their mother, Hector Stewart tells his children he plans to remarry and has chosen a distant relative from Ireland to be his bride. Money is tight and the only thing the children remember about Moira Connelly is that she...

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The hatmaker's gift  by Catherine Cookson

The hatmaker's gift

Catherine Cookson

"Willington Place, London, 1879. In London's bustling streets, business is booming for Mabel Arkwright's hat shop. But as her health declines, she must entrust Emily Pearson, her capable and beloved employee, with more responsibility. After Mabel's death,...

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The voice of an angel  by Catherine Cookson

The voice of an angel

Catherine Cookson

"Everyone expects Ward Gibson, an honest, hardworking farmer, to marry Daisy Mason, a girl he has known all his life. But when Stephanie McQueen, dancing as The Maltese Angel at the Empire Music Hall, steals his heart away, he proposes marriage and she...

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Katie Mulholland's journey  by Catherine Cookson

Katie Mulholland's journey

Catherine Cookson

"Born into poverty, Katie has to take up work as a maid in the house of a wealthy family. Cursed with beauty, Katie captures the eye of her employer's son and, when he forces himself on her, is left pregnant. To avoid the scandal, Katie marries the cruel...

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A sister's obsession  by Catherine Cookson

A sister's obsession

Catherine Cookson

"Rosie finds it hard to cope with her eldest sister's over-possessive nature. Since the death of their mother Beatrice has been insufferably dominating, taking over the running of the house and ruling their father and servants with an iron hand. She glories in...

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The smuggler's secret  by Catherine Cookson

The smuggler's secret

Catherine Cookson

"Born into grinding poverty, young Freddie Musgrave relies on his wits to survive and help feed his family. He earns a few shillings by navigating his little boat across the swift-flowing waters of the Tyne, running messages and smuggling goods between the...

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The rag maid  by Catherine Cookson

The rag maid

Catherine Cookson

"When Millie's mother abandons her one late afternoon in 1854, fate brings the seven-year-old to Aggie's door - and life will never be the same for either of them. Known locally as 'Raggie Aggie' for her business of trading rags and old clothes, the older...

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The black candle  by Catherine Cookson

The black candle

Catherine Cookson

"Yorkshire, 1880s. At nineteen years old, Bridget Dean Mordaunt inherits her father's candle and blacking factories. Determined to restore the businesses to their former glory, by the time she turns twenty-three she is running them as confidently as any man....

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Kate Hannigan  by Catherine Cookson

Kate Hannigan

Catherine Cookson

"Dr Rodney Prince has never seen a girl look more out of place in the grime of the Fifteen Streets than Kate Hannigan. Her beauty and intelligence far outshine that of his hard, brittle, calculating wife. And as their paths continue to cross, Rodney cannot...

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Isola  by Allegra Goodman

Isola

Allegra Goodman

"In sixteenth-century France, as the heiress to an aristocratic fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of privilege. Then she is orphaned, and her enigmatic and volatile guardian squanders her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to...

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No stone unturend  by Jenelle Hovde

No stone unturend

Jenelle Hovde

"She wants to uncover the past. He wishes to build a future. In this Regency romance set in the rolling hills of West Sussex, two opposing wills discover their fate may lie in the common ground. Miss Bridget Littleton's passion for history and antiquities...

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The eyewitness report  by Albert Maltz

The eyewitness report

Albert Maltz

"The scene opens in Moscow in August 1968. Forty-two-year-old Daniil Petrovich Barkov is a prizewinning writer whose life is at a crossroads. His wife is slowly dying in a hospital bed, and his faith in his country is shaken by the anti-democratic invasion of...

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Great Eastern Hotel  by Ruchir Joshi

Great Eastern Hotel

Ruchir Joshi

"August 1941. The world is at war. At the Great Eastern, Calcutta's most luxurious hotel, amidst the feasting, dancing and laughter, we witness the metropolis in the last moments before disaster strikes. On the day the revered poet Rabindranath Tagore dies,...

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The silence and the rage  by Pierre Lemaître

The silence and the rage

Pierre Lemaître

"It is 1952 and the grown children of Louis Pelletier, a prominent businessman with a dark past, have settled in Paris. Jean, the menacing eldest brother, is trapped in a stifling marriage, his days lightened only by his love for his three-year-old daughter....

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A foundling at the Wartime bookshop  by Lesley Eames

A foundling at the Wartime bookshop

Lesley Eames

Victoria is astonished when she discovers an abandoned newborn baby on her doorstep, along with a note begging her to 'take care of little Rose'. Who is the mother? Victoria, Naomi and the Churchwood bookshop organising team set about trying to identify her,...

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Not my will ...  by Jerry B. Jenkins

Not my will ...

Jerry B. Jenkins

"Beginning with His triumphant entry into Jerusalem astride a donkey's colt, the story covers a side of Jesus we haven't seen before: His righteous rage at the moneychangers in the temple. The story delves deeply into the minds of the disciples and other close...

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The golden hour  by Kate Lord Brown

The golden hour

Kate Lord Brown

"As her home, the 'Paris of the East', Beirut, teeters on the brink of war in the '70s, Polly Fitzgerald has one last story to tell from her deathbed. It's the story of her childhood best friend Juno and their life in 30s Cairo. Lucie travels home to be with...

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May's stony road  by Beryl P. Brown

May's stony road

Beryl P. Brown

"Devoted mother, foster mother and farmer, May Sheppard, can't stop taking on everyone else's problems. Life is hard eighteen months after VE Day. And then the worst winter of the century sets in. Struggling to cope, May is knocked sideways by a further threat...

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The room on Rue Amélie  by Kristin Harmel

The room on Rue Amélie

Kristin Harmel

"When newlywed Ruby Henderson Benoit arrives in Paris in 1939 with her French husband Marcel, she imagines strolling arm in arm along the grand boulevards, awash in the golden afternoon light. But war is looming on the horizon, and as France falls to the...

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Dear Miss Lake  by A. J. (Amanda-Jane) Pearce

Dear Miss Lake

A. J. (Amanda-Jane) Pearce

"London, July 1944. Journalist Emmy Lake's career is soaring: Woman's Friend magazine is a huge success, and she is finally realizing her dream of becoming a Lady War Correspondent. On the personal front, Emmy's husband Charles has been posted closer to home,...

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Paradise on the Pike  by Sarah Angleton

Paradise on the Pike

Sarah Angleton

"Twenty-year-old Max Eyer is still reeling from his father's recent death when a mysterious stranger's offer to buy the family farm outside of Hamburg, Germany presents to him and his mother an unexpected opportunity to make a fresh start in America. Welcomed...

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The good people  by Hannah Kent

The good people

Hannah Kent

"In 1825, in a remote valley in Ireland, three women are brought together by troubling events. Nóra cares for her orphaned four-year-old grandson, who can neither walk nor speak. She hires a servant girl, Mary, to help her. Soon, Mary hears rumours in the...

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The Marchesa  by Sarah Dunant

The Marchesa

Sarah Dunant

"From the acclaimed author of The Birth of Venus and In the Company of the Courtesan comes a vibrant exploration of the Italian Renaissance through the character of Isabella d'Este, the first female art collector and patron of her time. Her famed collection...

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The Vatican princess  by C. W. Gortner

The Vatican princess

C. W. Gortner

"With the ascension of the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI, a new era has dawned in Rome. Benefitting from their father's elevation are the new pope's illegitimate children--his rival sons, Cesare and Juan, and beautiful young daughter...

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The colony of lost souls  by Kelsey (Novelist) James

The colony of lost souls

Kelsey (Novelist) James

"Born a year apart, May and June Anderson were once as close as twins. Time and a loveless marriage changed the once vibrant May into June's timid counterpart. Now, two years after June abruptly disappeared, May receives a letter from her sister, inviting her...

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The socialites  by Caroline Lamond

The socialites

Caroline Lamond

"One ordinary school. Three extraordinary women. In the 1920s, three young girls enter a strict, cheerless convent school in a quiet London suburb. Six years later they leave, to change the world. Maureen was the movie star, whose role as Tarzan's Jane helped...

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Call me Ishmaelle  by Xiaolu Guo

Call me Ishmaelle

Xiaolu Guo

"1843. Ishmaelle is born in a small village on the stormy Kent coast where she grows up swimming with dolphins. After her parents and infant sister die, her brother, Joseph, leaves to find work as a sailor. Abandoned and desperate for a life at sea, Ishmaelle...

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The echo of valor  by Hannah Byron

The echo of valor

Hannah Byron

"In the seaside town of Torquay on England's south coast, Dr Mia Thompson's encounter with her reclusive client, Eileen Nearne, sparks an unexpected discovery. Eileen's quiet life belies her extraordinary past as an SOE secret agent in Nazi-occupied France...

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The singer behind the wire  by Shari J. Ryan

The singer behind the wire

Shari J. Ryan

"Auschwitz, 1943. Ella tries to ignore the coughs and crying, the whispered prayers. Her eyelids grow heavier, but then a melody floats through the block as if on a breeze. Her lips open on a gasp, joy making her heart sing even as it shatters. She would know...

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Fanny  by Edmund White

Fanny

Edmund White

"In her fifties, Mrs. Frances Trollope became famous overnight for her book attacking the United States. Twenty-five years later, she sharpens her pen for her most controversial work yet - the biography of her old friend, the radical and feminist Fanny Wright....

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Hotel de Dream  by Edmund White

Hotel de Dream

Edmund White

"A tale inspired by the final days of literary master Stephen Crane is set in the underworld of turn-of-the-century New York and follows his death-bed dictation of his final novel, 'The Painted Boy,' while biding farewell to a long-time love."--Publisher.

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Sixty seconds  by Steven (Fiction writer) Mayfield

Sixty seconds

Steven (Fiction writer) Mayfield

"As the clock ticks down the final minute of World War II in Europe, Sixty seconds tells the stories of nine people on both sides of the Atlantic - a legendary war correspondent, a madwoman and her unwitting accomplice in a deranged assassination attempt, a...

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