Historical Family Saga

Sheffield, 1892. Patrick Halliday rules his family with a rod of iron. He’s hard on both his wife and his elder daughter, Flora, but he spoils his youngest, Mary Ellen, because she reminds him of his beloved mother. When Mary Ellen, aged seventeen, finds that she is pregnant, Patrick throws her out of the family home and Flora goes with her. After wandering the Derbyshire countryside for miles, they find shelter on a farm, working for their keep. When Flora must return to her job as a buffer girl in Sheffield’s cutlery trade, she is reunited with her friend, Evelyn Bonsor.

1939. The threat of war is looming over Blackpool, but Martha and Trisha are determined not to let it dampen their spirits. With two young evacuees for Martha to take care of, and Trisha's market garden business growing as Britain digs for victory, the friends have their hands full. Both are proud to see their daughters making their own way in the world, even in wartime. Sally has become a ballerina and Bonnie is training to become a doctor. The girls' friendship brings them all happiness and hope. But Martha is troubled by her visions for their daughters' futures.

With the outbreak of War, the fishing fleet is confined to port, bringing hardship to the families and businesses of Fishers Wharf. Ruth Evans awaits the safe return of her father’s last trawler carrying her wayward brother Henry, the future of the family business. But unbeknown to their father, Henry sees war as a chance to break free from the constraints of his privileged background and follow his heart. Much is expected of Ruth. Her marriage to Arthur Marshall will help realise her father’s dream uniting two of the largest trawler companies in Grimsby.

1946: The war might be over but for the Gilby family there are still battles to be fought at home. For Birmingham and the Gilby family the war years have been a time of great change. With husband, Len, having left her for another woman, Ann Gilby is finally free to follow her heart. While the neighbours may be scandalised by having a divorcee in their midst, Ann is determined to rise above the local gossip and make a happy home with her former sweetheart, the father of Ann's youngest child.

When their father loses their family fortune, and their mother locks herself away, sisters Grace and Clementine are left to raise themselves in a grand London house that is slowly falling apart around them. Each of them is determined to one day restore their fortunes and their family name and make a promise to do just that. Clementine dreams of being a star on stage, a celebrated ballerina who will tour the world, earning fame and fortune. She is adamant she won't put her fate into a man's hands but take charge of it herself. Grace, in contrast, sees security in a good marriage.

When Babby's dad is killed in a senseless bar room brawl it changes their family forever. She is sent away only to return home a few years later, unmarried and pregnant. Her mother is incandescent with rage and with Callum - Babby's sweetheart - nowhere to be found, persuades her daughter to go to a Mother and Baby Home. But does Babby have no option but to give her baby up.

Wales, 1943. Sara Lewis should be heartbroken when her husband doesn't return from war. But he was never the kind husband she hoped for. And now she's stuck with her cruel mother-in-law on the family farm. Sara must do what is best for her young son. So she leaves the farm for the safety of her sister's home. Despite herself, she begins to notice Carlo, an Italian prisoner of war. Longing looks soon turn into a connection neither of them can sever. But fraternization is forbidden. As their love grows, so does the danger all around them.

Blackpool, 1922. Martha and Trisha may have escaped poverty, but their fortunes have yet to turn. Happy on her wedding day, Trisha's new fairy-tale romance soon darkens as her husband, Walter, keeps her at arms length. Between his secrecy, and her mother-in-law's coldness, Trisha feels a stranger in her own home, and lonelier than ever. Meanwhile a spectre from Martha's past threatens the happiness she has found with Joshua and Bonnie. When she is called to help in her past love's hour of need, she must decide whether to risk exposing a secret that could cost her the trust of her daughter.

Alice George is a headstrong young British woman who finds herself living among the Tuareg, a tribe of nomadic warriors. While the outside world faces the catastrophe of World War I, the Tuareg continue to crisscross the Sahara as a matrilineal society in which the men are veiled, and the women hold property—a world in which anything can happen. It is a world well suited to eighteen-year-old Alice, who discovers a life she could never live in corseted England. In 1917, Alice returns home to a world completely alien to the one she left in the Sahara.

In 1946, a young Ruth begins building a new life in Palestine, haunted by the death of her family in Europe and driven by youthful ideals in a land hostile to her presence. Her sister, Shoshana, survives in the Displaced Persons camps of Germany and joins her in Palestine, but dreams of escaping to distant America. Her lovers, Dov and Israel, die in war, and her children try to serve the land Ruth bled for, only to find their own tragic ends or means of escape.

As Liverpool and its residents begin to heal from the wounds and memories of World War I, life on Weaver Street in 1924 is blessedly peaceful. But as the Depression begins to bite, and the arrival of the Muller family on Weaver Street signals the worrying drumbeats of conflict coming from Germany, the fragile happiness and peace Liverpool has been enjoying looks destined to end. And as the neighbours pull together in the toughest of times, the women on Weaver Street face the prospect of waving their menfolk off to war.

Elegant, opulent, authentisch: Der erste Teil von Katja Maybachs großer historischer Familiengeschichte spielt in einem mondänen Kurort am Vorabend des 1. Weltkriegs. Leicht und sommerlich-träge ziehen 1914 die Tage in einem eleganten Kurort nahe der deutsch-französischen Grenze vorüber: Selbst am Vorabend des 1. Weltkriegs will niemand so recht wahrhaben, was sich in Europa zusammenbraut - auch nicht die Geschwister Franz, Luise und Victoria Laverne, die einmal das mondäne Grandhotel Deutscher Kaiser erben werden.

Hamburg, 1909: Die Adelige Theresa von Eiben muss schon in jungen Jahren einen schweren Verlust ertragen. Ihr Verlobter ist in Berlin tödlich verunglückt. Es war ihr gemeinsamer Traum, ein Musikhaus zu errichten, aber nun ist alles anders. Um die Ländereien der Familie zu retten, soll sie einen Geschäftsmann heiraten, obwohl sich alles in ihr dagegen sträubt. Kurz vor der Hochzeit erhält sie jedoch ein merkwürdiges Paket ohne Absender: Eine wertvolle Geige aus einer Berliner Manufaktur. Theresa erkennt darin ihre Chance, vor der ungewollten Ehe zu fliehen.

Thorstein Thomsens meget roste romaner, "Bare vi har hinanden", "Roser til mor" og "Han er min bror" kommer nu i en flot omnibusudgave. Persongalleriet i de tre romaner er beboere i det samme boligkompleks i Lyngby, og bøgerne giver et flot tidsbillede af forstadslivet fra 1950'erne til slutningen af 1980'erne - med øget velfærd, ungdomsoprør, ny musik, uddannelsesboom, kvinder på arbejdsmarkedet og opbrud i kernefamilien.

Lovisa Lindegren lever sit drømmeliv i London. Men da hun pludselig mister sit job og bliver forladt af sin forlovede, beslutter hun sig for at vende tilbage til den lille svenske kystby Halleholm. Hun har arvet sine bedsteforældres bageri – og hele den tilhørende ejendom ved torvet – hvor farfar John engang bagte sine berømte kanelboller, og farmor Amelia syede haute couture på førstesalen. Testamentet indeholder dog en særlig betingelse: Hvis Lovisa vil sælge ejendommen, før hun fylder 30, skal hun sælge til familiens arvefjender – Halleholm-slægten.

Anna Weber har styret familiens handelskammer i flere år efter sin mands pludselige død. Nu vender hendes ældste søn, Joakim Weber den yngre, tilbage fra Lübeck for at indtage pladsen som købmandsslægtens overhoved. Anna må træde et skridt tilbage og får i stedet til opgave at bortgifte sine tvillingedøtre, Hanne og Hilda. Hilda bliver forlovet med en rig, ældre enkemand – en svær skæbne for en ung kvinde, selv den livlige og energiske Hilda. Hanne er derimod ulykkeligt forelsket i sin mors hengivne beundrer, som også får Annas krop til at gløde igen.

Kaffee wärmt die Seele! Es ist lange her, doch die tiefe Schuld, die ihre Familie einst auf sich genommen hat, nagt noch immer an Corinne: Als regimetreuer Nazi hat ihr Urgroßvater eine jüdische Familie verraten und in eine grausame Zukunft geschickt. Im Tagebuch ihres Großvaters hat Corinne von Sarahs Geschichte erfahren und weiß inzwischen: Sarah lebt. Erst zögerlich hat sie Kontakt zu ihr aufgenommen, um diese Schuld endlich zu tilgen und kann nun selbst kaum glauben, dass Sarah ihr zu einer guten Freundin geworden ist. Die Gespräche mit der älteren Frau geben ihr Halt und Kraft.

In 1915, as World War 1 rages in Europe and the numbers of dead and injured continue to grow, Australian nurse, Sister Cora Barker, leaves her home in Australia for England, determined to use her skills for King and country. When she arrives at Harefield House—donated to the Australian Army by its expatriate Australian owners—she helps transform it into a hospital that is also a little piece of home for recuperating Australian soldiers.

The war is over and so are the jobs (and freedoms) of tens of thousands of Australian women. The armaments factories are making washing machines instead of bullets and war correspondent Tilly Galloway has hung up her uniform and been forced to work on the women's pages of her newspaper—the only job available to her—where she struggles to write advice on fashion and make-up. As Sydney swells with returning servicemen and the city bustles back to post-war life, Tilly finds her world is anything but normal.

All her life, London-born Angelika has been intrigued by her mother's secret past. Now planning her wedding, she feels she must visit the remote Crete village her mother grew up in. Angie's estranged elderly grandmother, Maria, is dying. She welcomes Angie with open arms - it's time to unburden herself and tell the story she'll otherwise take to her grave. It's the story of the Nazi occupation of Crete during the Second World War, of horror, of courage and of the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her children.