NORTH AND SOUTH (1854) by Elizabeth Gaskell is both a social commentary and the romantic story of a young lady, Margaret Hale, who is relocated with her family from the affluent South of England to the industrial North.

Margaret comes in contact with the difficulties of the working class and her sympathies are engaged. She also encounters the fascinating John Thornton, a wealthy local mill owner and a man of true integrity. Romantic tension ensues, reminiscent of Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. However, unlike an Austen heroine, Margaret lives in a world of harsher realities, with few things whitewashed, and suffering going hand in hand with ultimate exultation.

A classic portrayal of nineteenth century industrialization, and of the complexities of the human heart.

Most white folks refer to Riggins Row as a shanty town. No white man would dare show up there unless it was daylight. No self-respecting white woman would be caught there at all. But for Johnny Ruth and Hessie, it's home. All of their relatives had lived and died right there on the Row.

Johnny Ruth and Hessie grew up together, becoming best friends and neighbors, living side by side on Riggins Row in the middle of a small rural town in Tennessee. It's 1953, and both women are domestic maids who feel privileged to be working for prominent families who treat them well. It's a better situation than most other domestics have in these parts.

Johnny Ruth works for the Porters, the wealthiest family in the county. Charles Porter, a well-to-do attorney, is closely connected to the Ku Klux Klan. His beautiful wife, Savannah, is concealing her sordid, secretive past. Unlike her husband, however, Savannah doesn't have a racist bone in her body. When Charles hires Jasper Thomas, a black man, to be Savannah's driver, he has no idea that Jasper and Savannah will become best friends and confidants, adding fuel to an already smoldering fire within the community.

Quick to notice this friendship, Johnny Ruth warns them of the far-reaching affects this taboo relationship could have-not only on them, but their families, friends, and possibly the whole town.

The Sunday Times bestseller from the bestselling author of The Doll Factory, Elizabeth Macneal. Set in a spectacular circus in the pleasure gardens of Victorian London, Circus of Wonders is an addictive novel about power, fame, and a love that is threatened by a terrible secret. 'Glitters and gleams . . . utterly beguiling' - Daily Mail 1866. In a coastal village in southern England, Nell lives set apart by her community because of the birthmarks that speckle her skin. But when Jasper Jupiter's Circus of Wonders arrives in the village, Nell is kidnapped. Her father has sold her, promising Jasper Jupiter his very own leopard girl. It is the greatest betrayal of Nell's life, but as her fame grows, and she finds friendship with the other performers and Jasper's gentle brother Toby, she begins to wonder if joining the show is the best thing that has ever happened to her. In London, newspapers describe Nell as the eighth wonder of the world. Figurines are cast in her image, and crowds rush to watch her soar through the air. But what happens when her fame eclipses Jasper's own? And as she falls in love with Toby, can he detach himself from his past and the terrible secret that binds him to his brother?

From the top-ten bestselling author of One Snowy Night, Rita Bradshaw, comes The Storm Child, a sweeping family saga set during the run up to WW2 in the north-east of England. It's mid-winter, and in the throes of a fierce blizzard Elsie Redfern and her husband discover an unknown girl in their hay barn about to give birth. After the young mother dies, Elsie takes the infant in and raises her as her own daughter, her precious storm child. Gina grows into a beautiful little girl, but her safe haven turns out to be anything but. Torn away from her home and family, the child finds herself in a nightmare from which there's no waking, but despite her misery and bewilderment, Gina's determined to survive. Years pass. With womanhood comes the Second World War, along with more heartbreak, grief and betrayal. Then, a new but dangerous love beckons; can Gina ever escape the dark legacy of the storm child?

Black Country Orphan is a moving story of the courage and strength of women, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Annie Murray. The early 1900s: Cradley Heath, a town in the Black Country near Birmingham and centre of the world's chain-making trade. Lucy Butler, a young girl crippled by a cruel accident, lives with her two brothers and widowed mother, a chain-maker barely making ends meet. When tragedy strikes, the Butler family is separated and Lucy is taken in by Bertha Hipkiss, another impoverished chain maker, struggling to look after her own family. Lucy, while feeling the loss of her own family, relies on the company of Bertha's two sons, charming Clem and straight-laced John. Though clever at school, Lucy knows she must leave and earn her keep, working many hours in the backyard forge. The five women toiling side by side, inevitably have their own friendships and squabbles. But they're united in their hatred of loathsome middleman Seth Dawson, who treats the women with contempt, and keeps their pay punishingly low. But by the 1910s, there is a movement stirring, as across the country workers begin unionising for their rights. For Lucy, Bertha and the women of Cradley Heath, the promise of a better life seems almost too much to hope for - and the fight may end up costing them everything . . .

"The Golden Lion of Granpere" (1872) by Anthony Trollope is a story of the denizens of the continental village of Granpere, and the inn of the Lion d'Or -- an examination of their loves, courtships, and family relationships.

A fine example of Victorian social mores, in familiar Trollope fashion.

The seventh novel in Julia Quinn’s globally beloved and bestselling Bridgerton Family series, set in Regency times and now a series created by Shonda Rhimes for Netflix. This is Hyacinth’s story: she’s all grown up and ready to cause havoc . . .

All the town agrees: there is no one quite like Hyacinth Bridgerton. Fiendishly smart, devilishly outspoken and – according to some, particularly Gareth St. Clair – probably best in small doses. But there’s something about her – something charming and vexing – that grabs one and won’t quite let go.

Gareth and Hyacinth cross paths at the annual – and annually discordant – Smythe-Smith musicale. To Hyacinth, Gareth’s every word seems a dare, and she offers to help him out with a knotty inheritance problem he’s facing. However, as they delve into the mysterious St Clair history, they discover that the answers they seek lie not in the past – but in each other; and that there is nothing as simple – or as complicated – as a single, perfect kiss.

In "Laurel Grove, " the sequel to "Rebel's Crossing," the lives of the next generation of the Knollwood family are changed forever as sins of the past sweep through the placid Southern town.

Vince Knollwood, the stable, responsible heir discovers love-but family conflict and a brother's jealousy jeopardize his happiness. Can he shoulder the burdens of his errant kin and still be with the woman he loves?

Kate Knollwood's pledge to David Overby can't stop her growing dependence and love for Art Wheeler. A reckoning is inevitable, and Kate must cope with a nightmare of a marriage and the tragic death of a man she loves.

After the impetuous, spoiled Quin Knollwood elopes, she is shocked to learn her new husband isn't the man she thought. The final revelation will shatter the careless young girl's self-assurance.

Will the Knollwood family survive the vengeance that stalks the town from all sides?

Last Train From Berlin serves up a surprising and haunting conclusion to the von Renz dynasty, the remarkable Berlin family that readers first came to know in Coach From Warsaw, followed by Night Crossing to Athens. In this final installment of the trilogy ancestral ties and age-old traditions are pitted against a ruthless regime at war. Fighting on the Russian front, Fritz is facing the Soviets and a bloody, bitter winter, while his young family in Berlin tries to survive the constant barrage of devastating bomb attacks. Death, starvation, and Nazi interrogations are daily realities but escape from the city is not an option; the countryside is flooded with desperate refugees. When Lisbet loses her home, she is left with no choice but to take shelter with Dorrit hiding in plain sight from the Nazis and safeguarding a secret that, if known, would become their combined death sentence. Salvation materializes from unexpected quarters. But the price is high. Someone must risk everything. With Herr Hitler's signature on a military deferment in his pocket and believing that he is taking his wife and children out of harm's way, Max abruptly leaves Berlin, driving south toward Turkey and, hopefully, a safe haven at his former archaeological excavation site. Traveling through foreign, hazardous rebel-occupied territory and crossing borders before they close, he forges headlong into a trap, placing his family in mortal danger. Last Train From Berlin is an unforgettable Berlin story with journeys stretching south to Yugoslavia and north to Denmark. Irene Magers once again proves that she is an extraordinary storyteller, sweeping us into a maelstrom of shattered lives set against the backdrop of a burning continent where rules are discarded and survival is bought and sold. In the midst of the madness and deadly chaos, the reader will be profoundly moved and uplifted by the love and self-sacrifice that beats in the human heart at a time when suffering is at its worst.

When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new school master, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. Ichabod knows that as an itinerant schoolteacher of little social standing, he has nothing to offer the wealthy Katrina - unlike her childhood friend turned enemy, Brom Van Brunt, who is the suitor Katrina's father favours. But when romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together - all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow's legendary Headless Horseman. That is, until All Hallows's Eve, when Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position. Enlisting the help of her friend - and rumored witch - Charlotte Jansen, Katrina seeks the truth of Ichabod Crane's disappearance, investigating the forest around Sleepy Hollow using unconventional - often magical - means. What they find forces Katrina to question everything she once knew, and to wonder if the Headless Horseman is perhaps more than just a story after all. In Alyssa Palombo's The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel nothing is as it seems, and love is a thing even death won't erase.

Lachann MacMillan's watched his older brother, the laird of his clan, find a passionate marriage, but he suffers no illusions that his path will be the same - especially as the woman he loved was stolen from him years ago. He's ready to leave his homeland and make his mark. He'll even enter into a passionless marriage to the daughter of the Laird of Kilogorra if it means a chance at his own land and leaving behind his painful memories. A simple enough plan until he meets Anna MacIver, a mere serving maid with the face of an angel who ignites a fire in him that is anything but angelic. Anna has been a lowly servant in her uncle, the Laird of Kilogorra's home, since her mother died years ago. She has no envy for her cousin's matrimonial fate as observation of has taught her that freedom - no matter the serving chains - is far more precious that being under the command of a husband. But when Lachlann arrives to marry Anna's cousin, she finds herself longing for something she never knew she wanted. Together the maid and the highlander may find that some things are worth having, no matter the cost.