Once a young girl in Somalia who wanted to be in films and escape the domineering grasp of her father, Adua is now an "Old Lira," a woman who immigrated to Italy during the first wave in the 1970's. With the end of the Somalian civil war, Adua begins to seriously consider returning to the country of her birth. Sitting at the foot of the elephant statue that holds up the obelisk in Santa Maria square in Rome, she recounts her story, attempting to make sense of the past forty years and what the future might hold. When she first arrived in Rome and her film dreams ended in failure and shame, she knew she could not return to totalitarian Somalia and the vice-like purview of her father. Once a translator for the Italian colonial regime, her father's past in Italy and the rest of his life in Somalia were characterized by attempts to live fully under the punishing hand of regimes, while Adua was left to reckon with the after-effects of his choices. Adua is the unforgettable story of a father and daughter grappling with the implications of colonialism, immigration and racism that have bisected both of their lives.

Fred Urquhart's lively collection of stories deals with life in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War and demonstrates his fascination with American culture and its effect on Britain. The title story - a highly amusing satirical novella - presents a young Scotswoman who is desperate to cross the Atlantic as a war bride in order to get to Hollywood, armed with a tartan skirt and a copy of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Other stories portray an eccentric woman who has watched too many films, an American musician who has been luckless in his marriages, and an Edinburgh office where the typists have to cope with a predator. Urquhart takes us to London with a tale of an Aberdeenshire farmer's wife in search of fancy shoes and to occupied Germany, where a horse-loving soldier acquires a wife. In the final piece, two sophisticated women from London find life in the country too much for them. Throughout, Urquhart employs his sharp wit and his unique way with dialogue, creating a gallery of memorable characters.

'Heartwarming historical fiction ... The perfect stocking filler for fans of Nancy Revell, Daisy Styles and Margaret Dickinson' Eastern Daily Press __________________ The sixth heartwarming, feel-good instalment in the much-loved Railway Girls series! Manchester, 1942. There are surprises in store for the railway girls this festive season... When Cordelia's daughter Emily falls for a young chap who doesn't meet the approval of her father, Cordelia is reminded of her own first love - a love that she has never forgotten. Mabel is determined to get to the bottom of a spate of local burglaries. Her heart is in the right place as she sets out on a quest to clear her friend's name, but there will be unforeseen consequences. It's nothing short of a miracle when Colette returns to Manchester. But it's not going to be easy for her to keep living the life she once knew, and an impossible situation lies ahead. There will be more than one storm for the railway girls to weather but with the friendship and support of one another, there's hope that all will be well by Christmas... Readers LOVE the Railway Girls: 'Make yourself a cuppa and find a comfy spot on the sofa because you are not 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's just like catching up with old friends'

From USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Robson-author of Moonlight Over Paris and Somewhere in France-comes a lush historical novel that tells the fascinating story of Ruby Sutton, an ambitious American journalist who moves to London in 1940 to report on the Second World War, and to start a new life an ocean away from her past. In the summer of 1940, ambitious young American journalist Ruby Sutton gets her big break: the chance to report on the European war as a staff writer for Picture Weekly newsmagazine in London. She jumps at the chance, for it's an opportunity not only to prove herself, but also to start fresh in a city and country that know nothing of her humble origins. But life in besieged Britain tests Ruby in ways she never imagined. Although most of Ruby's new colleagues welcome her, a few resent her presence, not only as an American but also as a woman. She is just beginning to find her feet, to feel at home in a country that is so familiar yet so foreign, when the bombs begin to fall. As the nightly horror of the Blitz stretches unbroken into weeks and months, Ruby must set aside her determination to remain an objective observer. When she loses everything but her life, and must depend upon the kindness of strangers, she learns for the first time the depth and measure of true friendship-and what it is to love a man who is burdened by secrets that aren't his to share. Goodnight from London, inspired in part by the wartime experiences of the author's own grandmother, is a captivating, heartfelt, and historically immersive story that readers are sure to embrace.

The bestselling novel which inspired the Hollywood movie starring John Mills. They served it ice-cold in Alex - pale amber Rheingold beer in tall, dewy glasses. This is the image that haunts Captain George Anson. Stationed in the North African desert just before the fall of Tobruk, an ice-cold lager seems a million miles away. When Anson is detailed to escort two nursing sisters to Alexandria, it looks as though his wish is finally about to come true - a routine assignment, with a lager at the end of it as his reward. But what starts out as a routine journey soon becomes an epic. Forced to drive further and further south in order to escape the advancing German Army, Anson and his small party are soon on the edge of the Great Sand Sea. As they battle with the physical agonies of a six-hundred-mile drive through the desert it soon becomes apparent that each member of the group has his or her own private struggles to resolve. Not only that, but with a Nazi agent in their midst, it is clear that not all of them are going to make it to Alexandria ...

'You will look after them for me, my poor orphan children.' Domenica could not hold back the tears. 'I will Mamma, I promise, do not worry about us. We will be alright.' Picinisco, Italy 1945: the war may be over, but for Domenica and her family the struggle for survival carries on. Dealing with the cruel legacy of the battle of Monte Cassino, a now parentless seventeen-year-old Domenica finds herself bound by a promise to care for her 5 younger siblings. Will she be able to provide for them as food grows scarce? Will she hold the family together? Will this promise cost Domenica her own future with the man she loves? A fictionalised account of real events, Domenica weaves a rural tale full of home truths in the idyllic Abruzzo Apennines. Through a single shepherding family and its strong-willed eldest daughter, Serafina Crolla exposes the human cost of war beyond the battlefield in a poignant depiction of love and grief, pain and union.

In 1944, 21-year-old Private Ewen Morrison joins the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry in Sussex and meets his new platoon, including Reggie Johnson, an Indigenous soldier from Ontario's Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve. His new friend supplements the army's training with some of his own, helping to prepare Ewen for scouting missions against the enemy. Landing on Juno Beach, the men confront the brutal reality of war as they advance across northern Europe with the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. Reggie's bravery, skill and authority soon earn him a field promotion, but not necessarily the respect of all the men in his platoon. Based on war diaries and official regimental records, The Hawk and the Hare is inspired by the real-life experience of the author's father.