Historical Fiction Girl

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet runs away from Brighton with George Wickham, but this adaptation of Lydia’s adventures is not your typical story about this brash couple. Mr. Wickham, proving he is no gentleman, does the unthinkable and casts Lydia out of a second-rate coach. Filthy, exhausted, and penniless, Lydia is just facing the beginning of her ordeal!

India, 1926: English Margaret arrives with her new husband Suraj at his family home, set amidst beautiful rolling hills, the air filled with the soft scent of spices and hibiscus flowers. Margaret is unwelcome, homesick and lonely, but her maid Archana, a young woman from an impoverished family, reminds her of her long-lost sister, a tiny glimpse of home in a faraway place.

November 14, 1944: I wax a German ace. The next morning, it’s March 10, 1942. Confused? Welcome to my world. I have no idea how this happened or what the hell is going on, other than the fact that the airfield I found belongs to the 2/81, an all-female fighter squadron operating near Marseille, France.

Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future. Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times. At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of these shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

When journalist Zoe Quint loses her husband and child in a tragic accident, she returns home to Guyana to grieve, but her curiosity leads her to the Americans who have set up camp in a rundown village nearby. Their leader, Jim Jones, dark-eyed and charismatic, claims to be a peaceful man who has promised his followers a paradise. But everything changes when Zoe meets one of his followers, Lucy. Lucy grabs Zoe’s arm, raw terror in her eyes, and passes her a note with a phone number, begging her to call her mother in America. Zoe is determined to help Lucy.

The phony war is over and Hitler is beginning his rampage through Europe. But back home Barbara Sinclair has troubles of her own. With her wedding to Spitfire Pilot Alex Everton imminent, Barbara is worried about a secret she is keeping from her new husband – one that could ruin everything. Determined to try and maintain some normality in her life, the wedding goes ahead, but Alex leaves almost immediately to continue fighting the Germans. Barbara fears for his safety and for the moment, her secret must wait. But when bombs fall on Barbara’s new home, the war feels closer than ever.

Recently married, Barbara should now be enjoying her life as a newlywed, but she is plagued by a secret that she must keep hidden if she wants to keep the family she loves. But no one can keep a secret forever. Barbara knows that if her new husband Alex, a Spitfire pilot, discovers her secret he would surely reject her and their marriage would be over. But when a tragedy almost rips the family apart and then Alex is posted abroad, Barbara has to learn to live without him sooner than she thought.

London, 1916. England is at war. Desperate to help in whatever way they can, Ivy and Louisa enlist as gardeners at Kew, the Royal Botanic Gardens, taking on the jobs of the men who have gone to fight. Under their care, the gardens begin to flourish and become a safe haven for those seeking solace - but not everyone wants women working at Kew. The pair begin to face challenges on the home front. When a tragedy overseas affects the people closest to them, can the women of Kew pull together to support themselves and their country through the darkest of times?

When duty calls, East End girl Minnie Wolton isn’t afraid to do her bit. She’s excited to be joining the ATS girls and although she knows life at the barracks will be tough, she’s not one to quit! She just hopes the other girls are all good sorts. With her husband away fighting, Eileen Ruffel is glad of the break from her unhappy marriage. She just wants to make a success of the ATS girls and maybe find happiness too. Along with the other girls, Minnie and Eileen strike up a firm friendship. The training is hard, but they are determined to prove they are the best new recruits.

Kate has always found life on Brimbles Farm difficult, but she is struggling more than ever to find time for the bookshop, for her friends - and especially for handsome pilot Leo Kinsella. Naomi has found new friends and purpose through the bookshop and is happier than she's been in a long time - until she finds evidence that her husband is being unfaithful. Alice worries for her fiancé Daniel away fighting in the war and frets over the loss of her financial independence following an injury to her hand.

Summer 1939. The glittering Côte d’Azur is having a particularly brilliant season, as the world’s wealthiest vacationers collide with Hollywood’s illustrious movie stars for the first-ever film festival on the French Riviera. Into this hothouse playground comes an American named Annabel Faucon. Having left a dead-end job and a broken heart back in New York, she’s escaped to a summer stint at the fabulous Grand Hotel, where her uncle is the manager.

April 1912: Runaway aristocrats Poppy and Daisy Melville sign on as stewardesses for the Titanic’s maiden voyage. After their harrowing rescue by the Carpathia, they are forbidden from disembarking in New York and sent back to England with the other survivors of the Titanic’s crew.

Inspired by the true story of the Quality Street factory and its loyal workers, this is a nostalgic and compelling novel and the perfect Christmas treat. At 16 years old, Irene ‘Reenie’ Calder is leaving school with little in the way of qualifications. She is delighted to land a seasonal job at Mackintosh’s Quality Street factory. Reenie feels like a kid let loose in a sweet shop, but trouble seems to follow her around, and it isn’t long before she falls foul of the strict rules.

Sunderland, 1941. With a brief break in air raids providing some much-needed respite from the war, things are looking up for head welder Rosie, who has fallen head over heels for Detective Sergeant Miller. But how long can their romance last in such uncertain times? Life remains full of challenges for Gloria, who must face her abusive ex-husband and confront her own guilty conscience about baby Hope’s real father. The secret is tearing her apart but if she admits the truth, she will risk losing everything.

Ruth, a young schoolteacher, volunteers as an escort helping to evacuate children from war-torn Britain to Australia and New Zealand. On the voyage, she forms an unexpected bond with nine-year-old Fergus - and with Bobby, a fellow volunteer who initially infuriates Ruth with his laidback air, yet somehow gets under her skin and throws her ordered life into chaos.

This Mary Shelley's classic short story, The Invisible Girl, is perfect for the fall season. Henry and Rosina's Gothic love story is a classic.

Pythias is her father's daughter, with eyes his exact shade of unlovely, intelligent grey. A slave to his own curiosity and intellect, Aristotle has never been able to resist wit in another - even in a girl child who should be content with the kitchen, the loom and a life dictated by the womb. And oh his little Pytho is smart, able to best his own students in debate and match wits with a roomful of Athenian philosophers. Is she a freak or a harbinger of what women can be? But then Alexander dies a thousand miles from Athens, and sentiment turns against anyone associated with him.

Being dared to kiss a man in the moonlight is all well and good, but men and moonlight do not fall from the skies at will. Until they do. Under instruction from a friend, drab Alice Dowding lingers alone on a moonlit balcony. Not the most sensible course of action for a usually sensible girl. Yet, being sensible has gained Alice a seat among the wallflowers, and her only likely chance of marriage to a man she finds nigh on repulsive. Something must be done.

Dreams of love are all well and good, but all Prunella Chuffington-Smythe wants is to publish her novel. Marriage at the price of her independence is something she will not consider...Robert Adolphus, The Duke of Bedwin, is in no hurry to marry, he’s done it once and repeating that disaster is the last thing he desires...Surely showing the man she’s not actually the meek little wallflower he is looking for should be enough to put paid to his intentions? When Prue is dared by her friends to do something drastic, it seems the perfect opportunity to kill two birds.

Ever since she was 10 years old, Rosalie Wright's eyes have been on the skies. But at the age of 18, on the verge of earning her pilot's license, the English farmer's daughter watches her dreams of becoming an aviatrix fly away without her. Britain's entry into World War II brings civilian aviation to a standstill. Then, Rosalie's father dies, leaving her, her mother, and her brothers to run the farm. Everything changes when she learns that the Air Transport Authority is recruiting women pilots to ferry warplanes across Britain to RAF bases.