First World War Fiction

It’s Christmastime, 1919. Three years before, seventeen-year-old Margot Allan, a respectable vicar’s daughter, fell passionately in love. But she lost her fiancé, Harry, to the Great War. In turn, she gained a desperate secret, one with the power to ruin her life and her family’s reputation, a secret she guards at all costs. Now Margot’s family is gathering at the vicarage for the first time since the War ended. And Harry, it turns out, isn’t dead. He’s alive and well, and looking for answers.

WWI is waning in Europe, but Lieutenant Barksdale’s near-constant aerial combat missions have taken their toll. Lura Lee Dunn is an aspiring concert pianist whose own personal battle is just beginning. The women’s suffrage movement is on the rise, emboldening her to break free from her prominent father’s outdated expectations. Unexpectedly, at a posh Hollis House gala, she meets a young pilot, one just home from fighting the Jerries over France. Try as she might to avoid the young aviator, Lura finds herself drawn to him.

It is 1916, and war rages across Europe and the Middle East. Patrick Duffy is fighting in the fields of France, his cousin Matthew in the skies above Egypt. Meanwhile, at home, George Macintosh is passing information to the Germans, seeking to consolidate his power within the family company.

Joined by Peter Pienaar, the old Boer Scout; John S. Blenkiron, the American determined to fight the Kaiser; and Sandy Arbuthnot, adventurer Richard Hannay travels across war-torn Europe in search of the grotesque Stumm and the evil beauty of Hilda von Einem. This espionage novel set during the First World War features thrilling disguises, despicable plots, and some of the most devious spies in literature.

March, 1914. When talented artist Isobel embarks on a journey to Egypt, it's to reunite her best friend, Alice, with her husband, Wilfred—and to use the stunning sights of Cairo as inspiration for her own paintings. A whirlwind romance was the last thing she expected, but when Isobel meets Wilfred's handsome brother, Edward, neither can deny the strong connection between them—especially when unexpected tragedy strikes, leaving them all reeling. Just as they get to grips with their grief, WW1 erupts, and the lovers are forced to separate.

July 1914. Britain is in turmoil as WW1 begins to change the world. While the young men disappear off to foreign battlefields, the women left at home throw themselves into jobs meant for the boys. Hiding her privileged background and her suffragette past, Constance Copeland signs up to be a Clippie on the trams in Staffordshire, despite her parents' disapproval. Constance, known as Connie, soon makes fast friends with lively fellow Clippies, Betty and Jean, as well as growing closer to the charming, gentle Inspector Robert Caldwell.

West Yorkshire, 1914. Newly married to Noah Jackson, Beth is happily content working on her family's market stall while Noah fulfils his dreams of being a teacher. When war erupts, Beth's peaceful life is shattered by events beyond her control. Noah enlists to fight alongside his brothers. A devastating accident occurs that changes all their lives. Once a loving home, Beaumont Farm becomes Beth's responsibility.

1917. Private Daniel Dawkins fights at Messines Ridge and Passchendaele. He writes home to his true love, Joyce, but reveals little of his extreme bravery, his kindness, his loyalty to his comrades and the horrors they experience on the Western Front. 1920. Captain Peter Harding is tasked with a secret mission to assist in the selection of a body dug up from the battlefields of Flanders to be buried in Westminster Abbey as the 'Unknown Warrior'.

This latest instalment in the popular series sees Lily finally on her way to realising her dream of becoming a teacher. Nellie's older sister, Johanna, starts walking out with Harry the footman, and is extremely worried when he enlists and goes off to fight in World War I. He send letters to the girls from the front and tells them all about the Christmas Day truce in 1914...but then a telegram comes. Harry is missing, presumed dead. Will he return to Lissadell, safe and sound?

On an orange-tinted evening in September 1905, Scheherazade is born to an opium-dazed mother in the ancient city of Smyrna. At the very same moment, a dashing Indian spy arrives in the harbour with a secret mission from the British Empire. He sails in to golden-hued spires and minarets, scents of fig and sycamore and the cries of street hawkers selling their wares. When he leaves, 17 years later, it will be to the heavy smell of kerosene and smoke as the city, and its people, are engulfed in flames.

Leeds, 1918. When Amy visits her husband, Jude, at Beckett's Park Hospital, he doesn't recognise her. Broken after serving four devastating years in the First World War, Jude is a shadow of the man he once was. Can he ever again be the man Amy knew and loved? Barnsborough, 1912. The first time Jude and Amy meet, the connection between them is instant and electric. While a librarian's assistant and a collier might not be the most conventional pair, the two come together over a love of books that quickly turns into more.

The First World War has ended, but it hasn’t gone away. When Natty has to move to a new village, she meets two young soldiers who are still battling the effects of war. Huw can’t forget the terrible things he’s seen, but Johnny doesn’t even remember who he is. As Natty tries to keep a secret and unravel a mystery, she finds her own way to fight for what she believes in - and learns that some things should never be forgotten....