Historical Homes

It's the 1940s. World War II. A New England farm boy is growing up during wartime. That's what Home Front: A Memoir from WWII is about. You'll share his experience - the blackouts, the rationing, the fears, the patriotism, and the unity everyone felt. As the men go off to war, you follow Douglas, our young narrator, as he grows to an obliged maturity, sharing with others, enduring the scarcity of the depression, the fear and patriotism during World War II and then the exuberance in that brief, post-war period when America felt safe and when the middle class was born.

It is 1914 and The Great War is underway. When the call to arms comes, Nicholas Southwell won't be found hanging back. It's a pity he can't be so decisive when it comes to letting his estate manager Paul Haskell know what he feels before he has to leave for the front line. In the trenches Nicholas meets a fellow officer, Phillip Taylor, who takes him into the unclaimed territory of physical love. Which one will he choose, if he's allowed the choice?

Jessica Layton left her Oregon hometown - and her longtime love - for medical school with one thing on her mind: saving lives. Her frontier dreams were filled with more than rural domestic life, even if that life was with the man she was supposed to marry.… Now, years later, Cole Braddock is not pleased to see Dr. Jessica Layton back in Powell Springs. He’s never forgiven her for choosing her career over him. Cole knows that Jess can save their town, but will he let her heal his heart?

Proud, orphaned, Katie MacLeod, along with her younger brother and sisters, left the bitter heartbreak of Texas behind and dared to take up their father's dream of building a ranch in the beautiful Chiricahua Mountains in Southeast Arizona. The MacLeods braved the perils of a harsh, unyielding wilderness, faced Geronimo and his Apaches, and fought Ed Larrimore, the most powerful rancher in the San Simon Valley, for territory.

Madeline Collier, a young, widowed socialite in 1876 Denver City, Colorado, finds solace in charity work and fundraising for a local children’s home. Although her days are full, she longs for her home to be filled with the laughter of children and a husband. In the meantime, she submits the paperwork to adopt an orphan, but is denied because she isn’t married.

Author Julie Cannon’s beloved Homegrown series has brought joy through good country living to countless readers. The third in the series, Those Pearly Gates looks in on Imogene Lavender and her family two years after the death of her husband and her marriage to the Rev. Lemuel Peddigrew. For Imogene and her daughter, Jeanette, life as pastors’ wives is proving more difficult than they first imagined. But a family emergency forces everyone to reevaluate relationships with each other and God.

Norma Hayes has always tried to make Christmas special for her family, but 1944 will make that more difficult with money being tight and wartime rationing making everything hard to come by. Aware of his mother's hardships and the worry from having her eldest son at war, Norma's second son, Dennis, is determined to buy his mother a special gift this Christmas: a lavender blue dress he hopes will bring her comfort.

In a time when the traditional ways of medicine are constantly being questioned by new doctors fresh from medical school, midwife Martha Cade tries to balance her life's calling with the demands of her family. Recently reunited with her estranged 17-year-old daughter, Martha finds herself torn between guiding her child and allowing her to be an adult. At the same time, she must decide whether she'll risk reopening the heart she'd long closed off to love.

Lucien and Norman Parker are as close as twin brothers can be. Together with their father, they run a railway station in Warm Springs, OK, during the Depression. But they never expect a woman to come between them: both Lucien and Norman fall in love with the same girl. Lucien marries her, and soon World War II takes both men away from home, to the Pacific. It is there, as prisoners of war, that their bond breaks: one of them dies, and the other makes the agonizing decision that will change his life forever.

Olivia Marsten never imagined she'd be a war bride. But when her childhood best friend surprises her with a marriage proposal, she reluctantly accepts. She can't bear to send him off to serve in the Navy with a broken heart...even though her heart belongs to someone else. Sparks fly the moment mysterious stranger Peter Becker lays eyes on Olivia. He never hesitated to pull her out of harm's way-risking his own life to save hers. Yet as kind as he is handsome, Peter harbors a dark secret.

That elusive dream: the mate who makes your heart skip a beat each time you see them, children you can impart wisdom to and learn from, a comfortable home worth coming home to, and no concern for money. We all want that. What if you got it - every bit - and snapped? Jesse McKlintock did. He received the love of his life, the children, a working ranch, a gold, silver, and copper mine, and a bank.

Titan Dinsmore loves his family, but as the youngest of five, he craves his older siblings’ respect—and a little distance. A chance meeting at the train station with a forlorn young lady turns into a growing attraction between them. But Titan soon discovers there is a difference between wanting to be treated as an adult and truly stepping up to lead. How can he help tenderhearted Nora see beyond her father’s abandonment and rest in the love of her Heavenly Father?

Classic Starts: The stories are abridged; the quality is complete. The discovery of a neglected garden transforms the life of a sullen and unloved little girl-and everyone around her, too. When the newly orphaned Mary Lennox leaves her native India and arrives at her uncle's mansion in Yorkshire, everything seems strange to her. Then Mary hears of a mysterious garden where no one has set foot in 10 years. With the help of some new friends, she plans to uncover its secrets...and make it blossom once again.

December 1941, North East England. Despite the loss of her father, Sarah is settling into her new role at the munitions factory. Her blossoming romance with pitman Stan is a welcome distraction from the dangerous working conditions. But a shocking revelation puts everything on the line. Meanwhile Fran is missing her sweetheart Davey, who has been conscripted to Bletchley Park. Beth is longing for someone too - and it's not her husband on the front line. As the factory girls face hardship on the home front, they will discover that the heroes they need are already by their side.

Edie’s hopes of serving overseas are dashed when she’s sent to be a Land Girl in a sleepy Cumbrian village. Prue has shut the world out since her son went away to fight. Yet when asked to take in a Land Girl and two little evacuees from London, she has no choice. Edie’s heart breaks seeing the children’s cold welcome. But when the evacuees take in a stray puppy, even Prue can’t say no. Edie realises Applefield Manor could become a sanctuary. But can she persuade Prue to open her heart, and her home?

A girl known only as Brat has no family, no home, and no future until she meets Jane the Midwife and becomes her apprentice. As she helps the short-tempered Jane deliver babies, Brat—who renames herself Alyce—gains knowledge, confidence, and the courage to want something in life for the first time.

To say Maeva Stewart is not a patient young woman is an understatement. Full of ideas, she meets life head on—usually with her best friend and neighbor, Ruby Risler. Aside from Ruby’s good qualities as a friend, she also has a brother, Leo. After giving cookies to the men leaving the train station for Camp Douglas, Maeva begins writing letters to those she doesn’t know. Then, drawing upon an untapped well of courage, she writes to tell Leo how she feels about him. A telegram changes everything when Leo is injured in France, and Maeva wants to go to him.

Abraham escapes his comfortable and luxurious life in Germany and immigrates to Israel prior to the breakout of the Second World War. As a means to support his family amidst financial hardship, Abraham enlists in the Israeli branch of the Royal Pioneer Corps under the British Military.

One day, villagers from Lacaune, in the mountains of southern France, returned from the woods with a startling story. They’d glimpsed a naked boy digging in the leaves. A year later - in 1798 - the strange, scarred boy appeared again, and this time woodsmen captured him and marched him down the mountain to the village square, where everyone crowded around to take in the spectacle. And so began the curious public life of the boy known as the Savage of Aveyron, whose journey took him all the way to Paris.

Arriving back in her hometown after spending some time training at the Infirmary for Women in New York, Maud can't wait to put her newfound skills to the test. But in a city built and run by men she must work hard to be accepted. Whilst her nurse friends welcome her back with open arms, there are others who do not wish her well, including the spiteful Nancy Sellers. She will stop at nothing to sabotage Maud's life and soon turns her attention to those Maud holds most dear.