Historical Family Saga

Will book-loving Fergus Shackleton find success in business and love despite his overbearing father, Hector? By forging his own path is Fergus going to turn into his father, the very person he is trying to escape? Is chasing success going to change Fergus so much that his girlfriend, Becky, is forced to doubt their future together? Will the price of success be a broken heart?

The son of Maya Angelou, Guy Johnson is a critically acclaimed author and poet in his own right. Echoes of a Distant Summer is the story of Jackson St. Clair Tremain, a San Francisco civil servant who thought he had left his old life far behind. In 1982, Jackson is summoned to Mexico to confer with his dying grandfather, the brutal hustler King Tremain. When King dies, Jackson inherits $50 million - and the unwanted attentions of a malevolent bayou crime lord named Pug DuMont.

Some documents are discovered that threaten the future of more than one family. Julian Fellowes's Belgravia is a story in 11 episodes published week-by-week in the tradition of Charles Dickens. Belgravia is the story of a secret. A secret that unravels behind the porticoed doors of London's grandest postcode. The story behind the secret will be revealed in weekly bite-sized installments complete with twists and turns and cliff-hanger endings.

It’s 1880 in the North Island town of Otaki, where Aroha lives contentedly with her mother, Linda - until a fateful tragedy leaves Aroha traumatized and plagued by a cursed guilt. For the long recovery ahead, Aroha is sent to Rata Station, a thriving sheep farm that Aroha’s mother and grandmother once called home. Linda knows it’s the perfect place for her daughter to heal, find hope, and start a life she can call her own.

Young Maisie Gibbs is a conscientious young woman, though life is harder since both her parents passed away. She is relieved when she finds a position as a housemaid in Kensington, under the watchful eyes of the formidable housekeeper, Mrs Carpenter, and she quickly settles in. When she meets a handsome young soldier, she is tempted to give him his marching orders. But gradually Corporal Daniel Adams starts to win her over.

Ein Jahrhundertwinter sorgt für Trubel. Hamburg, Dezember 1978: Eigentlich träumen die Matriarchinnen Anna und Sofie davon, die gesamte Großfamilie zu Weihnachten in der Villa am Elbstrand zu versammeln. Doch Sofies Enkelin, Journalistin Isabel, hängt hochschwanger in Argentinien fest. Unterdessen bereitet Annas Enkelin Stella das Firmenjubiläum der nach wie vor familiengeführten Reederei Nieland vor. Dabei stößt sie im Archiv auf ein Geheimnis, das viele Jahre in die Vergangenheit zurückreicht.

Thomasin Marwood is one of Queen Catherine's ladies-in-waiting at the court of Henry VIII, and she does not trust Lady Anne Boleyn. But when an accident forces Thomasin and her family to take refuge at the Boleyn family home at Hever Castle, Thomasin is entrusted with an unexpected mission by Anne's mother.

It is 2003 in New Zealand, and Louisa Greenwood and her daughter Ngaroma are on a quest to discover their ancestry. Louisa has a greenstone necklace left to her in her father’s will, and from the first time Ngaroma wears it, she has unusual experiences, both good and bad. It leads her to various locations in New Zealand and England until, through a series of meetings and coincidences, she discovers the final resting place of her five times great grandmother.

Jenny Simmons has always thought of herself as the ugly duckling of her family, so when she blossoms into a swan, she’s not quite sure what to do. When amateur boxer Bryn Thompson walks into her life, it seems happiness really is possible. But then a well-kept family secret rears its ugly head, a secret that could put her very life in danger.... Helen Hall, a newly qualified doctor, may just be able to help her, but will she risk the job she loves in order to do it?

Kostbare Augenblicke. London, 1946: Der Krieg ist vorbei, doch die Hotelerbin Violet Mason findet kaum Zeit, ihr Liebesglück mit Lionel Burke zu genießen. Ein Juwelendieb treibt sein Unwesen im Savoy. Während der Hausdetektiv und Scotland Yard im Dunkeln tappen, stellt Violet eigene Nachforschungen an. Verbirgt sich hinter dem amerikanischen Gast Gary Stewart etwa das Phantom des berüchtigten Juwelenräubers "Descoyne"? Als eine Jugendliebe Lionel Burkes auftaucht, sucht Violet ausgerechnet in den Armen des Hauptverdächtigen Trost.

In 1943, when a frail old white woman shows up in Red Clay, Alabama, at the home of a Black former slave—on the morning following his funeral—his family hardly knows what to expect after she utters the words “… a lifetime ago, my family owned yours.” Adelaide Parker has a story to tell—one of ambition, betrayal, violence, and redemption—that shaped both the fate of her family and that of the late Felix H. Parker. But there are gaps in her knowledge, and she’s come to Red Clay seeking answers from a family with whom she shares a name and a history that neither knows in full.

In the foothills of the Himalayas, the picturesque mountain village of Poshkarbal is home to lush cherry and apple orchards and a thriving community—one divided by a patrolled border. Aisha and her mother Noorjahan live on the outskirts—two women alone in a world dominated by men. As the village midwife, Noorjahan teaches Aisha how to heal using local herbs and remedies. Isolated but content, Aisha is shocked when Noorjahan decides it is time for her to attend the village school as few girls do.

Nuneaton, 1935. Kathy has grown up at Treetops home for children, where Sunday and Tom Branning have always cared for her as one of their own. She enjoys her life at Treetops Manor, surrounded by her beloved horses, and with a future as a nurse ahead of her, she could wish for nothing more. Her foster sister Livvy is not as driven as Kathy. Sunday is keen to see both her girls married, but Livvy has no intentions of settling down and would much rather spend time with her friends. When Kathy falls for the wrong man, her ambitions are soon forgotten as she embarks on a secret affair.

Phillip Richards puts little value on his life. He avoids close relationships and blames himself for the sexual abuse his sister suffered at the hands of their grandfather. To drown his sorrows and evade his guilt, Phillip drinks too much and engages in dangerous activities. When his father dies, two more life-changing events take place. Phillip meets Edith, a free-spirited poet, with whom he feels an instant connection. He also comes across a manuscript, a stolen narrative that chronicles the Civil War relationship between his ancestor, Russell, and Fever, the slave who became his wife.

When Stefan Jochum returns from England to Berlin in August 1945, it is to find a city counting the cost of the Second World War. The Hotel Quadriga is in ruins, his father is dead and his sister, Monika, is living in the Soviet-occupied zone. Determined to survive despite unconquerable odds, his mother Viktoria ekes out an existence from the cellar of the Cafe Jochum.

The son of a sweetmaker, Karl Jochum has ambitions for a life beyond his father's shop. Through hard work and perseverance he determines to open a cafe in Berlin where the Emperor will one day dine. As the city grows and prospers, so too does Karl's business empire, and he rises to become the proprietor of Europe's finest and most luxurious hotel. Situated close to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, the Hotel Quadriga is a glorious monument to Imperialist Germany.

When her family is struck by a terrible tragedy, Sarah Nightingale is forced to go into service at Grey Friars House as an under-nursery-maid. Although the situation wasn’t of her making Sarah thrives there, but life for her younger brother Alfie is not as easy. Desperate to avoid being sent to the workhouse, Alfie runs away to London to seek his fortune. But young and inexperienced with the dangerous streets of London, Alfie is tricked and sold to work as a slave on a coal barge. Sarah misses her brother terribly but knows she must find a way to survive if she ever wants them to be reunited.

Tammy and her mother, Grace, are desperate to escape Tammy’s violent bully of a father. But when an unforeseen tragedy strikes, mother and daughter must flee Scotland in the dead of night. To survive the severest of penalties, they leave behind everything they know and love – including one another. Under new identities, Tammy and Grace must start afresh. Tammy joins the services and there she meets a dashing officer who begins to break her guard down. But can the course of love ever run smooth with Tammy unable to reveal her true self?

Familie ist Pflicht – Magie ist Macht – Ehre ist alles! Seit Jahrhunderten ist die magische Jade das Lebenselixier der Insel Kekon. Ihretwegen wird gekämpft, gestohlen und gemordet, denn sie verleiht den ehrenhaften Kriegern der Green Bones ihre außergewöhnlichen Fähigkeiten. Doch nun ist eine mächtige Droge aufgetaucht, die es auch Fremden ermöglicht, die Jade zu nutzen. Diese neue Bedrohung für Kekon lässt die alte Blutfehde zwischen den rivalisierenden Familien Kaul und Ayt eskalieren.

Hamburg 1939. Der Krieg hat die Jugendfreunde Kurt und Fanni auseinandergerissen. Kurt, der als Jude mit einem Kindertransport nach England verschickt wurde, wächst nicht in einer fürsorglichen Familie, sondern im Heim auf. Als er im Mai 1940 als "feindlicher Ausländer" interniert werden soll, gelingt es ihm über einige abenteuerliche Umwege der Royal Air Force beizutreten. Er ahnt nicht, dass Fanni zur gleichen Zeit trotz einiger Zweifel dem insgeheim schon länger von ihr verehrten Blankeneser Kinderarzt Otto Casparius näherkommt. Eines Tages soll Kurt an einem Luftangriff auf seine alte Heimat teilnehmen.