Tragedy threatens the Devonshire village of Burracombe... There's trouble afoot in Burracombe... Hilary Napier is upset and angry when her father brings in a new manager for the family estate which she has been running for the past year. Even though she cannot help liking Travis Kellaway, she resents his presence. But before long, she begins to appreciate Travis's strength and compassion, and she finds herself drawn to him. Meanwhile, life in the village is enlivened by the new drama club, formed by energetic young curate Felix Copley. Almost the entire village becomes involved in the pantomime he decides to organise - with results they didn't quite plan for! Then tragedy strikes, making everyone realise exactly what is important in their lives...

Clare Cherrell has come home, fleeing the clutches of her violent, abusive husband. When he pursues her she vows she will never return and sets about fighting him in bitter divorce proceedings. Dinny supports her sister all the way, but she has her own heartache to conquer, a grief which threatens to embitter her life for ever. Will the sisters make it safely over the river, or is the stream of painful memories destined to engulf their future?

It's late 1935, and Sue Reed is living with her parents in Rotherhithe, next door to her best friend Jane. Sue enjoys her day job, working for wealthy car dealer Fred Hunt, but her main love is dancing, and in the evenings she and Jane are always to be found at the local dance hall. When one memorable night the band brings in a devastatingly handsome new singer, Cy Taylor, Sue can't help falling for him and he invites her to visit him in his hotel room. But reality hits hard after the dance when Cy moves on. Just when she thinks life couldn't be worse, tragedy strikes. Will Sue ever find the love and happiness she craves?

London, 1944.

Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While the world remains at war, in East London Clara has created the country's only underground library, built over the tracks in the disused Bethnal Green tube station. Down here a secret community thrives: with thousands of bunk beds, a nursery, a café and a theatre offering shelter, solace and escape from the bombs that fall above.

Along with her glamorous best friend and library assistant Ruby Munroe, Clara ensures the library is the beating heart of life underground. But as the war drags on, the women's determination to remain strong in the face of adversity is tested to the limits when it seems it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive.

Based on true events, The Little Wartime Library is a gripping and heart-wrenching page-turner that remembers one of the greatest resistance stories of the war.

It's 1931 and eighteen-year-old Greta is working in a laundry in Liverpool, where she lives with her widowed mother and thirteen-year-old brother Kenny. When a scruffy black and white collie follows Greta home one day, Kenny wants to keep the animal, but they can't afford to feed him. And so Greta tracks down the owner: Mungo Masters, a wealthy man who runs funfairs in three towns. Mungo falls for Greta, though he's her mother's age, and doesn't bother to tell her that he's married already. When Mungo gives Greta and Kenny jobs at one of his fairs, it seems life is looking up. But Mungo is not good news...

To a select band of dedicated fly fishermen, Star Lake, 'created by man and perfected by God', is their angling Mecca, but now the lake and its trout are threatened by none other than the villain Hardwick and the formidable wife of the 'noble Piscator' who recounts this tale of fish, fishing and fishy goings on. An 'obnoxious harpy' of terrifying strength, she is a woman who inspires terror or lust (often both) in all men who encounter her. Our hero's only protector is his old and malodorous friend Mort, a devious and unprincipled reprobate but a man of magical skill with a fly rod. An absurd and very funny collection of tales of shenanigans among the members of an angling syndicate somewhere in middle England, ranging from a duel and a brush with the occult to the pursuit of a homicidal pig.

What will happen when the truth finally comes out?Blackshirts march through the East End in 1930s London and the Jewish community is under threat of violence. In the midst of this, Jessie Warner discovers a family secret and turns to her mother for answers - but she is met with silence. Over in Bethnal Green, Hannah Blake reluctantly joins the Blackshirts, forced by her cold-hearted mother to do so. Next-door neighbour Emmie Smith looks on, wishing she could tell Hannah the truth about her family and provide her with hope for a brighter future. Meanwhile, Emmie's son Tom, chipper and handsome, has fallen for Jessie Warner who he is desperate to bring home. Their lives intertwine and soon, so do their secrets... A compelling family saga perfect for fans of Ruth Hamilton and Rosie Hendry.

Same as the author's Chinese novels published respectively in California, China, and Taiwan, this English version tells about a Dr. Wang's rocky emotional life. He has been romantically involved with three women at different phases of life. His first adolescent love was an American girl, Cox, who is born in China. In his twenties he meets Dr. Wu, his second love. Both end abruptly against their will in pain because of politics. After barely surviving the cultural Revolution, he comes to America in the late 1970s. Here he meets a young nurse, Guan, from Hong Kong, but twenty years younger. At ending of the story, Dr. Wang and these three women have a chance to meet at a party in Los Angeles. The unspoken passions between Wang and his former loves have persisted across the Pacific over the years. The congregation learns that the 50-year-old bachelor will marry one of the three women. The reunion is bitter and sweet. It reflects Dr. Wang's miseries in his life, an epitome of China's modern history, like 'Dr. Zhivago' for the Russians. What we see here is a special slant on China's modern history that would lead to the current rapid rise, a reaction to its darkest age showcased by Dr. author uses knowledge of the subconscious to create the characters and dreams to enrich the expression in the novel. It was marked by a Chinese national psychiatric journal as 'A living textbook in psychodynamics.

When a young girl is forced to uproot her city life to work on a farm, she finds unexpected happiness . . . and pain. 1955. When nineteen-year-old Tessa Richards' beloved grandmother dies she is forced to live with her Uncle Richard and Aunt Naomi on their farm. However, Deirdre, a bad-tempered girl who was disabled in a riding accident, flourishes under Tessa's guidance . . . and Tessa flourishes under the attention of a friend of Deirdre's father, the distinguished author Giles Lampton. But it is a friendship that will cause heartache as well as happiness, and there are dark clouds on the horizon for them all . . .

Soon to be a major television event from Pascal Pictures, starring Tom Holland. Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man's incredible courage and resilience during one of history's darkest hours. Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager-obsessed with music, food, and girls-but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior. In an attempt to protect him, Pino's parents force him to enlist as a German soldier-a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler's left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich's most mysterious and powerful commanders. Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share. Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.

Flowers spill everyone's secrets...Working on their busy flower stall in Champion Street Market, Lynda and her mother, Betty, have lots of opportunities to observe their customers and speculate about their lives. Sam regularly buys bouquets for his wife, Judy, so why does she always look so worn out and miserable? Then there's Leo, who comes every week for flowers for his mother, but has never bought so much as a rosebud for his elegant wife. As for Lynda's father, he ran off long ago, so is it any wonder that she has such a low opinion of men? But could all that really be about to change? A gripping saga of gossip and parenthood set around a beautiful flower stall in 1950s Manchester, perfect for fans of Pam Howes and Nadine Dorries. Praise for That'll be the Day 'You can't put a price on Freda Lightfoot's stories from Manchester's 1950s Champion Street Market. They bubble with enough life and colour to brighten up the dreariest day and they have characters you can easily take to your heart' Northern Echo 'You won't want to put it down' 5* Reader review 'The twists and turns leave you gasping' 5* Reader review 'The Champion Street Market stories are so realistic' 5* Reader review

Cullercoats Bay, 1895. Titian-haired Kate Lawson is eighteen when the sea claims her beloved and leaves her with a broken heart - and a shameful secret. Banished from home by her violent father, Kate relies on the kindness of her aunt, until she too is cruelly taken from her. When Kate meets Richard Adamson, the owner of a fleet of steam trawlers, she knows she should despise the man who's stealing the livelihood of hardworking fisherfolk - yet she finds herself falling in love with him. Has Kate found her safe harbour at last, or will the sins of the past destroy her chance for happiness?

A gripping and poignant wartime saga following the highs and lows of the young, courageous members of the Women's Army. January 1941. Peggy Collins has learned a lot during her time as a Spark Girl. Posted to Swansea, as a driver to the squadron leader, she often hears things she shouldn't and she knows to be discreet, understanding how serious the phrase loose lips sink ships really is. Peggy meets and falls in love with pilot Jim Hudson, but her heart is broken when he becomes missing in action and Peggy is left fearing the worst. That isn't the end of the shocks in store for Peggy and she is forced to remember a promise made long ago. But can she keep her word while the bombs fall? Full of wartime adventure, romance and heartbreak, A Wartime Promise is perfect for fans of Daisy Styles, Kate Thompson and Ellie Dean. Praise for The Spark Girl, Ruby's heart-warming debut (published as Fiona Ford): 'A fabulous debut from an immensely talented author' Annie Groves 'A compelling first novel which I promise you won't be able to put down' Daisy Styles 'Ford gets to the heart of what it was like to live through the dangerous war years in this warm, captivating, down-to-earth story which is brimming with engaging characters, adventure, romance and heartbreak.' Lancashire Post

Kay Clifton has waited five, long, lonely years for her husband Bob to come home from the war. Despite her excitement at his return, their whirlwind romance prior to his departure makes her feel as though she hardly knows him, so it's not surprising that Kay is apprehensive when she meets him at the station. Kay's hopes of starting their blissfully happy marriage are dashed by the presence of Bob's fellow soldier Tony. Bob is indebted to Tony for saving his life and seems hell bent on repaying that debt to the couple's detriment. But as Tony starts acting more and more strangely, Kay worries that something else happened during the war that Bob is keeping secret. And Bob himself isn't behaving like the man whom she waved off so tearfully all those years ago. But with the love and encouragement of her family and friends, Kay is determined that whatever it takes she will bring out the Bob with whom she first fell in love and forge the future that they had envisaged before the war wreaked its havoc.

A heartwarming romance set in Merseyside during and after World War I. Lovely young Cathy is left pregnant with her first child when her husband is killed in the war. For a while she lives with her in-laws, but she leaps at the chance to return as a maid to the household where she worked before her marriage. With the birth of her daughter she is compelled to return to her parents-in-law, a less than ideal situation, particularly when in due course Cathy is being courted by dear old friend. When Cathy marries again and sets up in the antiques business with her husband, it looks like at last she will find the happiness she deserves, but she has made an enemy who can't bear to see Cathy enjoying her life...

Two sets of cousins, Boer and Brit, find their destinies inexorably intertwined in the politics and mayhem that led up to and encompassed the Anglo Boer War of 1899-1902. From Transvaal to Victorian England, the cousins form strong bonds, which are tested on the battlefields of South Africa.

Martin de Winter, nurtured to lead his country of birth, Transvaal, into the twentieth century, instead finds himself excelling as a gifted young general, fighting a desperate war to keep his nation from ruins, all the while being haunted by his love for a British woman. James Henderson, cavalry officer, is forced by his father, a military aristocrat, to marry or face expulsion from his regiment. Bound for India, the regiment is diverted to South Africa to fight the Boers. James rides to glory and honor but is at the mercy of his loyalty to his country and his compassion for his Boer family.

In the drawing rooms of Cape Town and Pretoria, Stefanie de Winter, celebrated pianist, is viewed from both sides with suspicion. Fiercely loyal to her brother Martin but in love with a British officer, she embarks on a dangerous path to keep them both. Dr. Charles Henderson tends to the slaughter on the battlefields. He is devastated by the willful destruction of his adopted country, Transvaal, and anguished by the part his brother, James, plays in this. Karel and Rudolf de Winter, twin brothers devoted to each other and their horses to the exclusion of all else, fight a battle against the bullet that might separate them forever.

Through anger, injustice, and betrayal, the family discovers that there is a force stronger than war. They only have to call on it to find that love transcends all.

The second book in the page-turning Worktown Girls at War series, from the bestselling author of A Shilling for a Wife, perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin. At seventeen, Renee Rushmore lives at home with her father Ivan - a cruel man who rules the house with an iron fist and keeps Renee isolated and alone. She is desperate to escape him, but with no friends to help her, what hope does she have? Then war breaks out. With factories and farms looking to take on female workers, Renee dares to hope that her freedom might be within grasp. And when she hears through a kindly local farmhand named Jimmy that Oak Valley Farm is in need of help, she might just have found her chance. But her father's eyes are on her day and night. With the help of Jimmy, will Renee be able to escape Ivan's cruelty and find happiness at last? Readers love Emma Hornby: 'Similar to Rosie Goodwin and Dilly Court, Emma Hornby tells a brilliant story' 'Emma Hornby's books just keep getting better and better' 'Keep writing Emma, you are very talented and can't wait for your next book' 'Emma is a wonderful storyteller and I can't wait for the next one!' 'Thank you again Emma Hornby for a captivating read' 'Another beautifully written story by Emma Hornby'

The Liverpool-based World War II saga from the new Katie Flynn

When Sam Grey joins the ATS, and is posted to Liverpool she wants to show that she s as brave as any man, and when she doesn t get the chance her lively nature leads her into confrontation with her authoritarian boss. Sparks also fly when she encounters Johnny, whose heroic work in bomb disposal makes him very attractive to many women but Sam s determined not to fall for his charm.

Sally wants nothing more than to protect her small children while her husband is a prisoner of war. She works hard doing shifts in a factory and singing at the Grafton ballroom, confessing to no-one the shameful reason why she needs two jobs. But help is at hand, from a most unlikely source.

This stirring tale of women fighting together to do their bit for their country, keep their families together and finding love and fulfilment in the process will delight her fans and win her many more."

It's July 1930 and Lorna Mathews couldn't be happier. She thought she was about to lose her job but instead the business's new owner, Mr Wyndham, wants to keep her on. Lorna's mother, though, is horrified by the news and finally confesses that Lorna was the result of an affair with Oliver Wyndham, whose family cast her out when Oliver died and the pregnancy was revealed. Shocked to the core to learn that the man she has always thought to be her beloved father simply adopted her at birth, Lorna resolves to find out everything she can about the past and especially about the tragic death of Oliver Wyndham. Working with the Wyndhams, she soon begins to stir up old secrets and the truth starts to emerge. But Lorna hasn't reckoned with falling in love with a member of the family she should hate...

From debut Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Mapepa comes the saga of the four Taha sisters, and the indomitable matriarch who carried her daughters—and her community—through times of drought and violence in their Harare neighborhood.

From the red soil of her garden in Southgate 1, a crowded suburb of Harare, Nyeredzi watches the world. She knows not to venture beyond the grasses that fence them off from the bush, where the city’s violent criminals and young lovers claim the night. But on this red soil, she is sovereign. It is here where she learns how to kill snakes, how to fight off a man, and how to take what she is due. It is here where Nyeredzi and her three older sisters are raised, and where they will each find a different destiny.

Decades prior, a young woman abandons a position of great power to seek justice in the second Chimurenga War, only to return to find her world in shambles. So Zuva Mutongi sets off to build a world of her own, raising four daughters—Nyeredzi, Hannah, Abigail, and Ruth—and defending them from the evils beyond their small Harare home. But when a letter from her long-estranged brother calls her back to a past life, Zuva must reconcile with her duty and heal the broken community she left behind.

Tsitsi Mapepa’s vibrant debut is the history of a new Zimbabwe, with resilient women and men who raised a nation from its ashes. It is the chronicle of an L-shaped house, long awaited and much beloved, and the guests, welcome and unwelcome, who cross its threshold. It is the coming-of-age of four sisters, who will discover the secrets of womanhood on the volatile streets of Harare. But above all, it is a love song to one woman—a soldier, healer, chief, and mother—whose fierce devotion to her people is a testament to the bonds of blood that bind us all.

Michael Zabinsky is an iconoclastic science teacher with a revolutionary zeal to enrich the lives of his pupils and create a better world. Driven by the idealism of youth as a volunteer in 1970s Botswana, he finds his dedication to teaching tested to destruction on returning to England. But Michael doesn't just teach - he thinks. He contemplates the human condition. He confronts racism and political correctness, and after 9/11, Islamism. He tries to juggle the demands of his job with those of his personal life. And there is a twist. At a reunion with Michael's fellow Botswana volunteers, it transpires that something unforeseen has happened to the village where they used to teach. What has become of their former pupils? Does Michael need to reevaluate his time in Africa?