Historical Family Saga

Im Frühjahr 1914 darf Ursula Stolte ihr Studium an der Kunstgewerbeschule in Berlin aufnehmen. Sie ist glücklich, sich endlich der Kunst widmen zu können, und dann begegnet ihr auch noch die lebenslustige Vera, dir Tochter von Paula und Richard Dehmel. In Paulas literarischem Salon lernt Ursula Bücher und Ideen kennen, von denen sie noch nie gehört hat.

Under fyra generationer hinner mycket ske. Speciellt under så händelserika årtionden som 1800- och 1900-talen. Genom kvinnorna Christina, Emilia, Olga och Sigrid går en 150 år lång tråd av historia. Det är en epok som präglas av järnvägsbygge, industrialisering och två världskrig, men också av hårda tider hemma i Sverige. De fyra kvinnorna är knutna till varandra genom blodsband och genom deras ådror verkar en envishet och vilja av stål flyta. Tidvis är verkar detta vara det enda som kan hålla familjen från fördärv.

Vereinigte Staaten, 1855. An Bord der "Golden Star" flieht Abigail, die frühere Lady of Mahony, vor Sir Laurence, ihrem Peiniger und Vergewaltiger und dem Mörder ihres Geliebten Oliver. In Captain Jacob Maroon findet sie überraschend einen Verbündeten. Abigails Ziel ist New York – und eine wertvolle Statue, in die sie einst all ihren Schmuck gießen ließ. Sie wurde der Familie gestohlen und an einen New Yorker Multimillionär veräußert.

Barbados 1818. One fateful night, a terrible tragedy occurs at the Strong family sugar plantation on the paradise island of Barbados. The Strong family quickly move to keep the shocking event a secret. But secrets can’t stay hidden forever. Twenty-two years later Blanche Strong, the living, breathing proof of that night, is left following her mother's sudden death. Now, alone in the world Blanche is determined to get answers about her past.

Thirty-one years after workers first broke ground, the magnificent Hotel Neversink in the Catskills finally opens to the public. Then a young boy disappears. This mysterious vanishing - and the ones that follow - will brand the lives of three generations. At the root of it all is Asher Sikorsky, the ambitious and ruthless patriarch whose purchase of the hotel in 1931 set a haunting legacy into motion.

It’s the summer of 1935, and 11-year-old Stella Walker is preparing to leave her home forever. Forced to evacuate to make way for a new reservoir, the village of Brackendale Green will soon be lost. But before the water has even reached them, a dreadful event threatens to tear Stella’s family apart. Present day, and a fierce summer has dried up the lake and revealed the remnants of the deserted village. Now an old woman, Stella begs her granddaughter Laura to make the journey she can’t.

The Sykes family have lived at Fairley Terrace since their youngest daughter, Rowan, was born. Fiercely clever, Rowan finds it difficult to fit in with the other village children, so when her beloved older sister, Laurel, takes a new job and moves back home, Rowan is overjoyed. Laurel is happy to be with her family - even if she's keeping the real reason for her return to herself. It seems like she's destined to keep repeating the mistakes of her past when it comes to matters of the heart.

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.

As Cholera sweeps through the streets of Bristol, no one is immune. Blanche and her husband Conrad Heinkel, sugar merchant and master sugar baker, are devastated when their seven-year-old daughter, Anne, is taken by the deadly disease. Lost in her own immense grief, her childhood sweetheart Tom Strong is the only man who can heal Blanche’s terrible hurt and reignite the passion for life and love that has died within her.

Hamburg in den Jahren 1912-1914. Alice arbeitet auf dem Vergnügungsmarkt Hamburger Dom. Voller Hoffnung, einem Leben in Armut zu entkommen, ging sie eine Ehe ein. Doch das Leben mit ihrem Mann ist unerträglich. Das wenige hart verdiente Geld behält er ein, Eifersucht und Jähzorn treiben ihn in die Raserei, ihre Tochter Rosa kann sie kaum beschützen. Als Rosa in einen schrecklichen Unfall verwickelt wird, wird Alice dafür verantwortlich gemacht. Wie soll sie je den Schaden begleichen, der ihr zur Last gelegt wird?

Viktoriaanisen ajan Australia hehkuu rakkautta ja häikäilemättömyyttä. Kun 17-vuotiaan Nora Tamasinin isä kuolee etsiessään kultaa Australiasta, tämä jättää tyttärensä yhtiökumppaninsa, pahamaineisen Charles Herrickin huostaan. Nora jättää taakseen Englannin ja muuttaa Australiaan akaasioiden, eukalyptusten ja kultakuumeen maahan. Uudessa kotimaassaan Nora tuntee vetoa Herrickin poikaan Stirlingiin. Herrickillä on kuitenkin muita suunnitelmia hänen varalleen. Pian Nora saa huomata, että Charles Herrick on mies, joka haluaa kostaa kokemansa vääryydet – hinnalla millä hyvänsä.

Twenty-one years have passed since Charlotte Booth fought to keep Ferndale Mill and her home at Windfell Manor following her traumatic first marriage. Now, highly regarded in local society and happily married to her childhood sweetheart, Archie Atkinson, she seeks only the best for their children, Isabelle and Danny. But history has a habit of repeating itself, and Danny's head is turned by a local girl of ill repute, despite his promise of marriage to the far more respectable Harriet Armstrong.

Sixteen-year-old Bessie works long hours as a weaver in Blackburn, helping to support her family. Meanwhile, her older sister, Peggy, works as an apprentice at the Girls' School, hoping for a more prosperous future as a schoolteacher. Jennet and Titus Eastwood have always made decisions for their daughters' futures. But as the sisters near adulthood, they are determined to make their own choices. And with temptation in the way, will the girls find love - or infatuation - leads them astray?

It is 1953 - Coronation year - and like all of Cockney London the members of the Adams family are looking forward to the celebrations. Chinese Lady, now Lady Finch, worries that her friends will think she is too grand to mingle with them. But her husband has a more pressing worry - the sudden appearance of the lovely but mysterious Katje Galicia, who knows more than she should about his own chequered past.

Excitement is running high in the Adams family. Mr Finch, after a long career in secret government work, is to be knighted - which means that Chinese Lady will become a real 'Lady'! What with having to find a new outfit suitable for the occasion, and worrying about whether she'll have to curtsey to the king, the redoubtable matriarch of the Adams family scarcely knows if she's coming or going.

It is summer 1941 and the country is still at war. In the Devon village of Ashleigh, however, evacuees from the London blitz are living in an atmosphere of rural peacefulness, although Daisy Ricketts of Bermondsey isn't sure if she'll ever get on with carping Mrs Mumford, the subject of whispers because of her husband's mysterious disappearance. David, the elder son of Tommy and Vi Adams, meets Kate Trimble, a cockney girl from Camberwell who has just arrived in Ashleigh with her aunt.

In 1941, the United Kingdom was in desperate straits, standing alone with its troops against the colossal war machine of Nazi Germany. There was always Prime Minister Winston Churchill, however, who growled his defiance to Hitler and induced in his people a determination to endure. The Adams family shared that determination and their own kind of optimism.

Susie Brown is overjoyed when her brother, Will, turns up unexpectedly on leave from service in time for her wedding to Sammy Adams. But Will's leave is an extended one due to bad health, and he's unsure whether the army will keep him or whether he'll be able to find a job in the slump of the '20s. To make matters worse, he's at risk of falling in love with the young and personable Annie Ford.

Can she win the heart of the man she loves? Sammy has always had an eye for business and a good deal and is determined to expand the family business. But as his mighty empire grows, his assistant Susie Brown has plans of her own.... Susie has always adored Sammy and has decided that he will be the man she marries. But marriage doesn't figure in Sammy's plans. Will he fall into line? Does he stand a chance against a determined woman and the rest of the Adams family?

The Adams family were poor, cheerful and, above all, respectable. There was Mrs Adams, a widow having lost her husband in the Boer War; Boots, the bright one; Tommy, the quiet one; Sammy, a wheeler dealer in the making; and Lizzy. Lizzy was a real pearl - one of the prettiest girls in Walworth. Then Lizzy falls in love it is 1914. War is coming, and everyone is going to be affected. Will the Adams family - gutsy, tough and cheeky - pull through? Down Lambeth Way is the first in Mary Jane Staples' Adams Family series. Their story continues in Our Emily.