Showing titles in 20th Century

Britain is in the throes of war, but Katharina Valentine feels sidelined. Employed as a shorthand-typist in the War Office, she is transferred to the basement below – having had no idea that this dark, airless, underground maze, home of the top-secret Cabinet War Rooms, even existed, let alone what her work will entail. Unexpected staff shortages present an opportunity to work directly for Winston Churchill himself, and Katie jumps at the chance. And as she grows closer to Wing Commander Baxter Edwards, things start to look up…

1940. Aiyi Shao is a young heiress and the owner of a formerly popular and glamorous Shanghai nightclub. Ernest Reismann is a penniless Jewish refugee driven out of Germany, an outsider searching for shelter in a city wary of strangers. He loses nearly all hope until he crosses paths with Aiyi. When she hires Ernest to play piano at her club, her defiance of custom causes a sensation. His instant fame makes Aiyi’s club once again the hottest spot in Shanghai. Soon they realize they share more than a passion for jazz - but their differences seem insurmountable....

As the promise of victory draws closer, this Christmas will surely be one to remember. It should be a magical time for Dorothy, who has just been proposed to by her sweetheart, Toby. But with each day that passes, Dorothy's feelings for someone else are growing stronger. Gloria is thrilled that her sweetheart, Jack, is finally home after more than two years away. But his past is continuing to catch up with them both. Meanwhile Helen must contend with the fall-out of a shocking family secret that has repercussions for all the Shipyard Girls.

The Somme, 1916. James Falconer, once a barrow boy on a London market, stands in the trenches, awaiting the command to go over the top. Away from his business empire in London, he is simply a soldier, war the great leveller. But, unlike his men, and unknown to them, deep down, Falconer doesn’t care if he lives or dies. When a face from the past offers James the chance to repair his fractured relationship with his estranged daughter, Leonie, he must decide if he can hold different things dear – and make space in his life for love.

1923. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer’s job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets. A sister with a secret 1944. Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before.

White Waltham, 1943. As Italy surrenders and victory looms on the horizon, Ellie's doing what she does best - flying. And this time, she's rising to the sky in four-engine Halifaxes. Determined to keep doing her bit, Ellie's successes in the airfield mount, but so do tensions with her new beau, Squadron Leader Jack Reynolds. When Ellie and Jack find their dream home, they discover they've bought more than they bargained for. With a cellar full of secrets, Jack and Ellie must stand united in the face of mystery, war and loss

Vienna 1938: Austria’s leading couturier, Christina Lehmann, sits at the pinnacle of Viennese society. Her lover, the renowned painter Max Hauser, is at the height of his career. But Max harbors a secret, and it is only a matter of time before the Gestapo finds out. The situation takes a dramatic turn on Kristallnacht, when the pogrom against the Austrian Jews escalates and one of Christina’s Jewish seamstresses is brutally murdered.

The second book in Jeffrey Archer’s highly acclaimed The Clifton Chronicles, The Sins of the Father takes the reader on a breath-taking journey from the backstreets of Bristol to the boardrooms of Manhattan.The book opens in New York, 1939. Harry Clifton, under the new identity of Tom Bradshaw, finds himself arrested for first degree murder.

Audrey Parker's life changes forever when Pearl Harbor is attacked on December 7, 1941. Her brother, a talented young Navy pilot, had been stationed there, poised to fulfill their late father's distinguished legacy. Fresh out of nursing school with a passion and a born gift for helping others, both Audrey and her friend, Lizzie, suddenly find their nation on the brink of war. Driven to do whatever they can to serve, they enlist in the Army and embark on a new adventure as flight nurses.

Charlie’s experiences at the Battle of Kohima and the months he spent lost in the remote jungles of Nagaland during the Second World War are now history. Home and settled on a farm in Norfolk and newly married to Claire, he is one of the lucky survivors. Starting a family and working the land seem the best things a man can be doing. But a chasm exists between them. Memories flood Charlie’s mind; at night, on rain-slicked roads and misty mornings in the fields, the past can feel more real than the present.

It is 1939, and working-class Evie Bishop has received a scholarship to study mathematics at Oxford when tragedy turns her life upside down. Evie must seek a new future for herself and, inspired to contribute to the war effort, joins the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force as an Ops Room plotter. Posted to a fighter station on the Sussex Coast, Evie befriends two other WAAFs. But the German bombers seem to know more than they should about the base’s operations, and soon Evie, May and Jess are caught up in a world more dangerous than they ever imagined.

The sixth and final book in the War at Home series by the author of The Morland Dynasty novels. Set against the evocative backdrop of World War I, this is an epic family drama featuring the Hunters and their servants.

Against the backdrop of Auschwitz-Birkenau's ever-present brutality, Felcia tends to the plants needed for one of the Reich's most ambitious experiments—one that could tip the war in favor of the Nazis. When Sabina Kupka discovers the horrifying nature of her father's job at a coal mine run by Nazis, she agrees to work with an increasingly defiant resistance. What starts small but significant soon propels her into a frontline role—dangerous enough to cost her her life if caught.

Tuscany, 1943. Stranded in war-ravaged Italy, Beatrice’s dream of an escapist year teaching English is shattered. Granted shelter at the Villa delle Colombe, she seeks refuge in Francesca and Edoardo’s beautiful walled garden, hidden from the outside world, with an elaborate cypress maze at its heart. But Beatrice is not the only one seeking an escape here. Francesca has brought children to the safety of the house, as well as other adults, all of them seeking sanctuary on the estate with its mysterious maze.

Berlin, 1940: Edith Creutzen is 29-years-old and recently widowed when Hitler invites her to be his personal fortune teller. Terrified, she agrees. After all, how can she say no to the most dangerous man in the world? But as she guides his days and builds his trust, she realises the extent of her power and joins forces with British Intelligence to misguide Hitler. But in her way lies Stefan, Hitler's right-hand man. Is he friend or foe, and what will he do if he finds out who she's really working for?

May 1944. When spy Elisabeth de Mornay, code name Cécile, notices a coded transmission from an agent in the field does not bear his usual signature, she suspects his cover has been blown - something that is happening with increasing frequency. With the situation in occupied France worsening and growing fears that the Resistance has been compromised, Cécile is ordered behind enemy lines.

As war is declared once more, a shadow falls over Britain. The staff at the luxurious Buckingham hotel must do all that they can to keep their important guests happy, but behind the scenes, they are scared. Away from the glitz and the glamour of the ballroom, they must face this new reality. Newlywed Nancy knows that her brave husband, debonair dancer Raymond de Guise, will want to fight for his country and enlist. She loves and supports him but is heartbroken at the thought of them being apart and the dangers he will face.

It is 1914, and Maria, a shy teenager, is appointed to Buckingham Palace as a seamstress for the royal family. There, she is lucky enough to meet the prince of Wales and is soon captivated by his glamour and intensity. But theirs is a doomed love affair, and before long Maria’s life takes a tragic turn. Torn between passion and integrity, she makes a choice that has devastating consequences.... Can a beautiful quilt, discovered many years later, reveal the truth behind what happened to Maria?

From the globally best-selling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiancé and her brother and regarded by society as a ‘surplus woman’ unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out alone. A new life awaits her in Winchester. Yes, it is one of draughty boarding-houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues; but it is also a life gleaming with independence and opportunity.

London, October 1940. As German bombers increase their nightly raids on the capital, the Blitz Girls must be braver than ever to protect innocent lives and keep the fight against Hitler alive. As each night becomes more dangerous for the Blitz Girls, will they have the strength to help each other through and keep the light alive in the darkness?