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Ivanhoe
By Sir Walter Scott. 2014
**One of the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**Read this timeless tale of medieval romance and adventure.It is the…
dark days of King Richard the Lion Heart’'s reign, when the beloved king is fighting in far-off lands, leaving his corrupt brother John in charge of his kingdom. Tensions between Saxon and Norman lords erupt in bouts of bloodshed or foul play; good men are banished, forced to turn outlaw and serve the true king in secrecy and disguise. In this dangerous world, the brave Wilfred of Ivanhoe must grapple with the claims of family, crown, truth and justice if he is ever to win the hand of his true love, the beautiful Lady Rowena.The Innkeeper's Daughter
By Val Wood. 2012
A young girl struggles to realise her dreams when her life is derailed - from the Sunday Times bestselling author…
Val Wood.---------------------Holderness, 1846.For reliable, thirteen-year-old Bella, life isn't turning out quite as she'd hoped. She lives at the Woodman Inn - an ancient hostelry run by her family in the Yorkshire countryside - with her parents and siblings, but when she learns not only that her father is seriously ill, but that her mother is expecting a fifth child, her dreams of leaving home to become a schoolteacher are quickly dashed.Times are hard, and when their father dies Bella also has to take on the role of mother to her baby brother. Her days are brightened by the occasional visit from Jamie Lucan - the eighteen-year-old son of a wealthy landowning neighbour. Also grieving the loss of a parent, Jamie has more in common with Bella than she thinks.When her mother announces out of the blue that she wants to move the family to Hull, Bella is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. They arrive to find that the public house they are now committed to buying is run-down and dilapidated. Could things get any worse? Or could this move turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Bella?If you've liked books by Dilly Court and Katie Flynn, you'll love Val Wood's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.---------------------Praise for Val Wood:'A heart-warming story filled with compelling action' Rosie Goodwin'Hull's answer to Catherine Cookson' BBC Radio 4's Front Row'Wonderfully fully-fleshed characters are the mainstay of [Val Wood's] stories' Peterborough TelegraphI, Mona Lisa
By Natasha Solomons. 2022
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR'A beautifully written, literary tour-de-force' John Ironmonger, author of Not Forgetting the Whale'A wonderfully written story…
of art, but also of obsession, friendship and love - I absolutely adored this novel' Jillian CantorThe Mona Lisa has hung in the Louvre for over two-hundred years. She has watched alone in silence as millions of people have admired her behind the glass.Now, she is finally ready to tell her own story.Over five centuries, from da Vinci's bustling Florentine studio to the opulent French court, Mona will be desired, stolen, heartbroken, curious, furious, and above all, she will be heard.'Solomons' prose is lyrical and her detail immense. No longer can I look at the Mona Lisa without hearing her. But more, now I know her' PRESS ASSOCIATIONBeing a railway girl isn't always easy but together, they can overcome every challenge that stands in their way.___________________Manchester, 1942A…
new year brings renewed hope for the railway girls.Alison's romance with the charming Dr Maitland is blossoming, but then she is posted away from Manchester. Working in a canteen isn't part of her plan, nor is meeting her beau's old girlfriend - one who just happens to want him back.Margaret is supportive of her friend's new relationship until she realises exactly who he is. Torn between keeping her secret and warning Alison, she turns to Joan for help.Working in Lost Property would not be Joan's first choice of job, but with a baby on the way she knows she can't continue being a station porter. As she looks to the future, can she put the troubles of her past behind her?_______________________'The characters are fresh and stand out from the page, there is tension, pathos and heartbreak, but more than that, there is joy!' FROST MagazineReaders LOVE the Railway Girls:'Make yourself a cuppa and find a comfy spot on the sofa because you aren't going to be able to put this down''I simply cannot wait for the next one - I am hooked''Gives a vivid picture of women's lives in wartime Manchester''Dramatic, intriguing and sprinkled with plenty of wit and heart''It is just like catching up with old friends'In Time for Christmas
By Katie Flynn. 2009
Addy and Prue Fairweather live with Nell, their widowed mother, in a flat above her shop on the Scotland Road.…
The sisters, however, are very different. Addy is dark-haired, plain and always in trouble whereas Prue is flaxen-haired, blue-eyed and as angelic as her looks imply. To make matters worse, Nell makes no secret of her preference for the younger girl, increasing Addy's jealousy and resentment.On the other side of the coin, Giles Frobisher and his twin sister, Gillian, live in a crumbling mansion near the sea in Devon. The family have lost most of their money in the Depression, so Giles leaves university and joins the Fleet Air Arm. He meets the Fairweather girls briefly on a visit to Liverpool but they lose touch. When they meet again Addy and Prue are no longer children and Giles realises he is falling in love ...Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, this is the emotional third instalment in The Cordwainers series by…
bestselling author Iris Gower.READERS ARE LOVING THE CORDWAINERS!"I have really enjoyed reading this whole series...I would recommend the reading of any of the books by this author." - 5 STARS"Loved these books [-] definitely recommend this series: once you start you will want to read them all" - 5 STARS"One not to miss..." - 5 STARS"Yet another brilliant Iris Gower book..."-5 STARS"You finish one book and you just have to start the next one." - 5 STARS*************************************************************CAN SHE OVERCOME THE PERILS FACING HER AND WIN THE HEART OF THE MAN SHE LOVES?Fon Parks isn't surprised when farmer Jamie O'Conner asked her to marry him - he trusted her and could rely on her: she had nursed his wife until her death and knew his son and the ways of Honey's Farm.She adores Jamie, but her love is unrequited.When the future of the farm is threated by people who want to destroy Jamie and his wife, she determines, with the support of her friend Eline Harries, to take action, stand strong against the dangers confronting her and earn the love of her husband.Honey's Farm is the third title in Iris Gower's Cordwainers series. Have you read The Shoemaker's Daughter and The Oyster Catchers, the previous two books?Homecoming Girls
By Val Wood. 2011
Hull, 1874. The beautiful, mysterious Jewel Newmarch, adopted as a baby, turns heads wherever she goes - her exotic looks…
point to her origins far away from the streets of Hull. Even at her cousin Elizabeth's wedding, she is the belle of the ball. But as she looks on at the happy, newly-married couple she feels a restlessness and intense longing to know her own roots.And so she decides to return to her birthplace in America, taking the bride's twin sister Clara as her companion. In discovering the mysteries of Jewel's past the girls realise that this is a life-changing voyage of discovery for both of them, as they learn important lessons about family, friendship, love and home. But most importantly, love...If you enjoy books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.The Honey and the Sting
By Elizabeth Fremantle. 2020
'A lush, thrilling page-turner humming with its own exquisite dark beauty. I loved it!' Eve Chase, author of The Glass…
House'Fremantle builds the tension with delicious skill in this page-turning thriller' TimesThe compelling, transfixing novel about the bond between three sisters from the author of The Poison Bed**PRE-ORDER DISOBEDIENT, THE GRIPPING NEW NOVEL FROM ELIZABETH FREMANTLE**_______Three sisters.Three secrets.Three ways to fall . . .George Villiers is rich, powerful and has the King's ear. Doctor's daughter Hester is a mere servant - to be cast aside when he has done with her, especially since she is pregnant.Returning to her family, Hester vows that Villiers will never lay eyes on their son. She and her sisters Melis and Hope will protect the boy.But Villiers is a man who will not be defied. He will claim his son - and the secret letters he believes Hester has stolen.What can three defenceless women do against one very powerful man?Yet secret letters are a weakness - and, in the right hands, a weapon . . ._______'Rich and fascinating' Guardian'Wonderfully inventive and darkly satisfying, this story of three sisters resonates with myth and mystery' Andrew Taylor, bestselling author of The Ashes of London 'Gripping and page-turning. Propels a trio of vivid women towards their complex destinies . . . Hugely enjoyable' V.B. Grey, author of the forthcoming Tell Me How It EndsHomecoming (The Cliffehaven Series #18)
By Ellie Dean. 2020
**************THE EIGHTEENTH CLIFFEHAVEN NOVEL BY SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ELLIE DEANPeace has finally been declared in the Far East, but…
for those living at Beach View Boarding House, the news brings mixed emotions. Peggy Reilly is devastated that her husband Jim will not be coming home for Christmas. And Sarah and Jane, who have lived at Beach View throughout much of the conflict, dread what they will find when they go back to Singapore. Life in Cliffehaven is in a whirlwind of change as the men return from the war and Peggy’s evacuee chicks begin to spread their wings and start new lives in different corners of the world.Peggy and Jim have longed to be together after so many years apart, but war has left them profoundly changed. Can they rekindle the loving, close relationship they’d shared before?The Homecoming (The Adams Family #19)
By Mary Jane Staples. 2001
It is 1946, and with the war at last at an end, members of the Adams family who had been…
serving with the forces begin to come home. Boots is reunited with Polly and their twins, his son Tim returns to the welcoming arms of Felicity, and with so many others coming back, Chinese Lady finds herself once more the watchful matriarch of the family. But grandson Daniel is still serving in an army unit out in Palestine, where he is caught up in life-threatening circumstances, and his American fiancee, Patsy, counts the days until his return.Boots, Polly and Mr Finch attend the Nuremberg trials, where they discover the full horrors of the Third Reich and witness Germany's major war criminals being brought to justice. And while the new Labour government struggles with the problems of a country drained by the war, Sammy pursues his business interests with post-war energy and unfailing optimism.In the Absence of Men
By Philippe Besson. 2002
'An astonishing love story, beautifully told' Time Out'I am sixteen. I am as old as the century'It is 1916. Vincent…
is sixteen, on the brink of manhood. Vincent is aristocratic and privileged, frequenting the salons of Paris while France is at war and the city almost deserted of men. In that brutal summer, Vincent's beauty and precocity captivate two men: Marcel, thirty years his senior, a writer and celebrated socialite; and Arthur, the twenty-one year old son of one of the servants, who is now a soldier at the front. As both relationships develop Vincent intuitively tries to keep his passions separate, but over the weeks of indolent Parisian summer and far-off war, confidences are made, absences endured, secrets revealed. All of these men will suffer, and Vincent will lose the last vestiges of his childhood innocence. In the Absence of Men is a stunning first novel to discover this pride season: in its daring in representation and celebration of gay sexuality, in the beauty of its prose and in its delicacy of feeling.A Home for Alice: A gritty, heartwarming family saga for fans of Poldark
By Gloria Cook. 2008
All she wants is a roof over her head...After her plans to elope with her married lover fall through, Rachel…
Kivell is broken-hearted, and saddened that she must remain in her small Cornish mining town, with all of its dark secrets.But her brooding is put to an end when the loving but childlike Alice Bowden turns up on her doorstep. Poor orphaned Alice has nowhere to go, but Rachel cannot see herself taking on the responsibilities of a child. Can she put her worries aside, or will Alice never find a place to call home? Note: Previously published as All in a DayHms Inflexible: The war in the Pacific is reaching its climax…
By A E Langsford. 1991
1945. The battle against Japan in the Pacific is reaching its climax. One way or another, Inflexible will be Captain…
Thurston's last command of the war.Captain Thurston VC is a navy man to his bones. Offered a cushy office job to see out the last months of the war, he resists: instead he's handed command of HMS Inflexible, a proud and powerful aircraft carrier.It is no easy task. The overwhelming determination of the Japanese fighters and the cruel weather conditions make Thurston's command fraught with difficulties, but the struggle to provide air support for the US and Commonwealth troops must continue.Home is on the other side of the world, barely a reality, and Thurston finds that he is striving to do the right thing, not only as the Captain of the Inflexible but also in his private life. For a while he and his men are under daily attack from a deadly enemy, Thurston is plagued by feelings of guilt and remorse for the woman he has left behind.A. E. Langford's compelling naval adventure is an evocative account of life at sea during one of the most perilous and hard-fought battles of this century.The Hypnotist
By Laurence Anholt. 2016
WINNER OF THE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION'S YOUNG QUILLS AWARD 2017Jack has left his native Ireland and is making a new life…
as Professor of Neurology at a university in the American South. He has certain skills, honed over his lifetime, that he mostly keeps hidden. Skills in hypnotism and mind control . . .Thirteen-year-old Pip is plucked out of an orphanage by a farmer, hired as a farm-hand, and as carer for the farmer's wife. But Pip is black. The farmer and his wife are white. And this is 1960s America, where race defines you and overshadows everything.As racial tensions reach boiling point with a danger closer to home and more terrifying than either thought possible, Jack and Pip's lives become inextricably linked. And Jack's hypnotic skills are called on as never before . . .The History of Henry Esmond
By John Sutherland, William Thackeray. 1970
'What spectacle is more august than that of a great king in exile? Who is more worthy of respect than…
a brave man in misfortune?' When "Henry Esmond" appeared in 1852, noted writers and critics of the time acclaimed it as the best historical novel ever written. Set in the reign of Queen Anne, the story follows the troubled progress of a gentleman and an officer in Marlborough's army, as he painfully wrestles with an emotional allegiance to the old Tory-Catholic England until, disillusioned, he comes to terms of a kind with the Whiggish-Protestant future. This change also entails a very uncomfortable switch in his affections. The love story of Henry Esmond is charged with sombre, unconscious emotions, yet is skilfully embedded into historical events which are convincing but never too prominent.Hunting the Eagles (Eagles of Rome #2)
By Ben Kane. 2016
From 'the rising star of historical fiction' (Wilbur Smith) a new Eagles of Rome novel, by the Sunday Times bestselling…
author of Eagles at War.JUSTICE , HONOUR, REVENGE AD 14: Five long years have passed since the annihilation of three legions in the wilds of Germania. Demoted, battle-scarred and hell-bent on revenge, Centurion Tullus and his legionaries begin their fightback. Ranged against them is the charismatic chieftan Arminius, determined to crush the Romans for a second time. Convinced that the eagle belonging to his old legion is close at hand, Tullus drives ever deeper into enemy lands. But with Arminius and his warriors closing in on the Romans, a murderous battle is about to begin…The Hungry Tide
By Val Wood. 2011
As the sea claims the land, can she claim the love she deserves?In the old fishing town of Hull, Sarah…
Foster's parents have been fighting a constant battle with poverty, disease and crime. When her father Will, a whaling man, is involved in a terrible accident at sea, their lives became even harder.But Will's good deeds of the past pay off as John Rayner decides to rescue the Fosters. John provides them with work and a house on the estate owned by his wealthy family. It is at this new home on the crumbling coastline of Holderness that Sarah is born - and grows into a bright and beautiful girl, and a great source of strength to those around her.As John grows closer to Sarah, he becomes increasingly aware of his love for her. But could these two very different people ever make their love story truly work?If you enjoy books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.The Hungry Road: The gripping and heartbreaking novel of the Great Irish Famine
By Marita Conlon-McKenna. 2020
The No.1 bestselling novel of the Great Irish Famine from one of Ireland's most beloved writersIreland's hopes for freedom are…
dashed with the arrival of a deadly potato blight that strikes terror in the heart of its people.1845. Seamstress Mary Sullivan's dreams of a better future are shattered as she looks out over their ruined crop. Refusing to give in to despair, she must use every ounce of courage and strength to protect her family as they fight to survive.Dr Dan Donovan is Medical Officer to the Skibbereen Union. The arrival of 'The Hunger' soon brings starving men, women and children crowding into the town and the workhouse, desperate for assistance.Fr John Fitzpatrick's faith is tested by the suffering that surrounds him as his pleas for help fall on deaf ears.Inspired by true Irish heroes, The Hungry Road is the heartbreaking story of the Great Irish Famine told by one of Ireland's best loved writers.__________'Compelling ... An essential book' Sunday Times'Heartbreaking and powerful' Her.ie'Gripping' Business Post'Captivating' Sunday Independent'Powerful ... illustrate[s] the enormity of the tragedy' Irish IndependentIntermission
By Owen Martell. 2013
Captivating and hypnotic writing from a prize-winning novelist, whose prose is reminiscent of Marilynne Robinson's and Paul Harding's.New York, June…
1961. The Bill Evans Trio, featuring twenty-five year old Scott LaFaro on bass, play a series of concerts at the Village Vanguard that will go down in musical history. Shortly afterwards, LaFaro is killed in a car accident, and Evans disappears. Intermission tells the story of what happens next.In measured, evocative prose, Intermission takes a period from the life of one of America’s great artists and fashions it into a fiction of extraordinary imaginative skill and ambition. The novel inhabits the lives of four people in orbit around a tragedy, presenting an intense and moving portrait of the burden of grief, and of a man lost to his family and to himself. It is also a conjuring of a pivotal moment in American music and culture, and a unique representation of the jazz scene in the early 1960s. Intermission is a novel of pure control and power, certain to establish Owen Martell as one of the most promising young writers in Britain today.Hrafnkel's Saga and Other Icelandic Stories
By Anonymous. 1971
Written around the thirteenth century AD by Icelandic monks, the seven tales collected here offer a combination of pagan elements…
tightly woven into the pattern of Christian ethics. They take as their subjects figures who are heroic, but do not fit into the mould of traditional heroes. Some stories concern characters in Iceland - among them Hrafknel's Saga, in which a poor man's son is murdered by his powerful neighbour, and Thorstein the Staff-Struck, which describes an ageing warrior's struggle to settle into a peaceful rural community. Others focus on the adventures of Icelanders abroad, including the compelling Audun's Story, which depicts a farmhand's pilgrimage to Rome. These fascinating tales deal with powerful human emotions, suffering and dignity at a time of profound transition, when traditional ideals were gradually yielding to a more peaceful pastoral lifestyle.