Historical Homes

It's summer and renowned actress, Dame Pamela Harcourt, has organized a treat: the first Purley Hall Jane Austen holiday - to the home of Mr. Darcy no less. With Katherine and Warwick, Robyn, Doris Norris and the rest of the gang, it's going to be a trip to remember.

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.

Mary was born in New York City and due to the Spanish Influenza, her father realized she needed a special gift to distract her from loneliness. Mary cherished this gift, but it was tragically destroyed in an accident. Mary never forgot her favorite gift, and 80 years later, when she retired to Alabama, Mary experienced culture shock as well as a Christmas miracle. This is a humorous and sweet story that everyone in the family will love.

El cuerpo de un amigo destrozado por la metralla, la voz de un hombre que pide clemencia, la mano de una niña que asoma escarbando entre la basura para encontrar algo de comer...Hay imágenes que vuelven una y otra vez a la mente de Frank Money, un veterano de la guerra de Corea que ahora vuelve a Estados Unidos en busca de olvido y afecto. Corren los años cincuenta del siglo pasado y las heridas de Frank no son solo físicas: su patria es racista, su familia ha acumulado mucho odio, y el regreso parece más un camino hacia el infierno que una vuelta al hogar.

Vivianna Risler enjoys interacting with the young women of her daughter’s acquaintance. But when the girls form the Ladies Victory League undertake a letter writing campaign to the Doughboys, she supervises the activities with a mother’s eye toward propriety and protection.

Aria’s letter-writing campaign to the Doughboys was a kindness that turned into a journey of the heart. Corresponding with Donald, Joey, and the others became a part of her life. Until one unexpected soldier, Dakota Knox, changed her dreams of becoming a missionary. Instead, the young woman pleads for her new love’s safe return.

Chased from their life by scandal, Ilianna Winters and her mother desperately seek a new beginning. But tragedy continues to plague the Winters as they seek out a place to rebuild their lives. As the world totters on the brink of madness, Ilianna finds compassion among her companions in the Ladies Victory League. Still, social constraints and dark secrets hamper the young woman’s potential within high society—until she is blessed to find a kindred spirit amongst her correspondence.

In 1917 every man, woman, and child was called to civic duty as the “war to end all wars” encompassed the globe. When the patriotic call comes, Adella begins her campaign of encouragement by corresponding with the frightened and lonely soldiers. On the cusp of adulthood, the young woman is tired of living a cosseted life and hopes to gain her parents' support when she wants to volunteer her services to the war effort. Her mother worries for her safety, but Adella is more concerned for her heart.

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.

In this beautiful collection of memories, Tom Brokaw speaks of growing up in the American heartland during the central decades of the 20th century, and reflects on what has brought so many Americans to lead lives that are a long way from home.

Truth’s Welcome Home is an allegorical story about the effect of war on truth and free speech.

Running from her abusive grandfather—broken and afraid—17-year-old Valentia Brocato flees her homeland, hoping for a brighter future in America. Little does she realize that America is about to enter its own conflict—The Great War.

When America declared war on the German Empire in 1917, young men were drafted and thrown into the conflict on the Western Front. A group of young women decided to help the war effort by writing to the soldiers. As Matrice Hamilton corresponds with several young men, only one claims her heart. Will he come home to her if he survives the carnage on the frontlines? If so, can they find love and fulfillment together, or will the dark clouds of war overshadow them forever?

Tatianna Murray joins her best friends in writing to the men headed for Europe during World War I. Ryan’s letters stand out from the others. Two strangers find within the words something they both share: loneliness and the loss of their parents. As the correspondence continues, they find love, although they’ve never met. While in the horrific war, Ryan carries a bit of Tatianna with him, a golden cross. When Ryan’s letters stop, Tatianna worries. Is he wounded, dead, or imprisoned by the enemy?

When an explosive conflict is determined to destroy lives the world over, Ruby Rose Risler undertakes her patriotic responsibility to the Doughboys being called to defend liberty “over there.” But Ruby’s civic duty becomes a labor of love when her newest pen pal sparks a sweet interest. Farm boy Earnest Steiner cannot fathom the scope of the task before him when he’s pulled from small town America and dropped into the trenches of France. But the touching letters he receives from a gentle young woman provide a lifeline during his time on the Western Front.

Nell and Cave Bear are safe in the company of the animal-loving Sea Clan. But when the Woodland Clan begin causing trouble, the two friends are separated. This time, the Woodland hunters are determined not to return home empty-handed. Can Nell and Cave Bear escape the greatest danger yet?

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?

After three years in the service of the emperor of the Greeks, Ahl and his Viking friends have become very rich. Now the crew longs to return home with their wealth, their problem is that the emperor will not permit them to leave. They make a daring plan to escape. The route home is perilous as they navigate uncharted seas. They must overcome robbers, storms, and hostile strangers as they seek their way back to the Northlands with the riches they have earned.

Still searching for his siblings after being separated 10 years before, Frank returns to his hometown only to find gruesome evidence of his past. Painful memories haunt him. Searching the old barn brings more mystery as signs point to a murder. The cross with his pa's name on it behind the barn confirms it. He suspects his older brother killed him, but why? With new fervor, Frank determines to prove his theory wrong and ends up with more surprises when he finds an old letter written to him by his brother. It may be more than he can handle.

"Love ‘em and Leave ‘em" Alice Kim and “Hot” Steve Lowell are perfect for each other. It’ll only take them 10 years to figure that out. In this friends-to-lovers, marriage-pact novella spanning the last decade of the 20th century, life forces a playboy and a playgirl to grow up - and grow apart - before giving them a chance to create a happy-ever-after they can actually be happy about!