Historical Romance Saga

Southampton 1920. Phoebe Collins rose to the challenge of running the family fruit and veg stall when her father did not return from the front. The work outside in Kingsland market in all weathers can be hard, but with her mother and younger brother Tim to support, she's determined that it continue to be a success.

Best friends Sarah, Maisie and Freda are brought together by their jobs at Woolworths. With their loved ones away on the front line, their bonds of friendship strengthen each day. Betty Billington is the manager at Woolworths and a rock for the girls, having given up on love...until a mysterious stranger turns up one day - could he reignite a spark in Betty?

May 1941: German bombs drop on Dublin taking Sarah Gillespie’s family and home. Days later, the man she loves leaves Ireland to enlist. With nothing to keep her in Ireland and a burning desire to help the war effort, Sarah seeks refuge with relatives in England. But before long, her father’s dark past threatens to catch up with her. Sarah is asked to prove her loyalty to Britain through a special mission. Her courage could save lives. But it could also come at the cost of her own.

Johanna, the oldest of the three Steinmann sisters, has successfully managed the family glassblowing business since her father's death, and her sister Marie's artistic gifts have made their wares unexpectedly famous. But now the livelihood of the town of Lauscha, Germany - known around the world as the "paradise of glass" - is in danger. The local glassworks is about to be sold, and rumor has it the buyer wants to make changes that will challenge glassblowing tradition.

Lilac Street was a crowded, sooty-faced, workaday place, the houses full and the streets teeming with children. One thing it was, without a doubt, was full of life. Birmingham, almost a decade after the end of the Great War, and the women of Lilac Street have had more than their fair share of troubles.... Rose Southgate is trapped, bringing up her daughter in a loveless marriage. Shy and isolated, she tries to make the best of her life, until she meets a man who changes everything.

As the St Clair family prepare for the wedding of their daughter, Clarice, at the great country house of Montmichel, trouble is brewing. Their younger daughter, Helene, became friends with orphaned Annette during the terrible events of the 1871 siege of Paris. Now they are reunited, with Annette working below stairs for Helene's parents. But Annette is hiding a dangerous secret, which Helene has promised to keep at all costs.

The Darcy family is the oldest in Derbyshire, and Pemberley has been their home for 12 generations. It has seen their loves, their losses, their triumphs, and heartbreaks. This sweeping saga of tragedy, devotion, and betrayal - spanning over 25 years and two generations - follows the Darcy family in all its shame and glory.

Mrs Tim goes to the Highlands of Scotland and is involved in a plot to rescue a naval officer from the toils of a siren; but, alas, the best laid plans "gang aft agley". The characters are skilfully drawn, from the fierce Mrs London, with her heart of gold, to the garrulous Mrs Falconer, whose muddled stories of her girlhood make excruciatingly funny reading.

Recently married to Charles, Sarah is furnishing a cottage in Scotland and starting on a life in sharp contrast to their wartime experiences. Their full entrance into village life is helped by Sarah's delightful grandparents, who have given them the land on which they have built their cottage.

An unknown location, occupied France, 1944. Dropping silently behind enemy lines, Sylvia Crichton, codename Monique, is determined to fight for the country of her birth and tear it from its Nazi stranglehold. As one of the dancers at the nightclub Mirabelle, Sylvie’s mission is to entertain the club’s German clientele and learn their secrets. In a world of deception and lies, she can trust no one.

Chelsea Myles earns her living as an actress with her uncle's theater troupe, performing cheap plays on the streets of London and picking the customers' pockets. Until one night, a robbery goes awry and Chelsea is left holding a purse with enough gold to buy her passage to Australia, and the chance of a fresh start. Once on board the vessel, Chelsea is intrigued by a fellow passenger, Quaid Tanner, who is returning to his vineyard in Australia. As much as Quaid admires the feisty, courageous Chelsea, circumstances seem destined to keep them apart.

As opulent and passionate as the 18th century it celebrates, Through a Glass Darkly will sweep you away to the splendors of a lost era. From aristocrats to scoundrels, its rich, vivid characters create their own immortality. Here is the story of a great family ruled by a dowager of extraordinary power; of a young woman seeking love in a world of English luxury and French intrigue; and of a man haunted by a secret that could turn all dreams to ashes.

When Margaret Hale moves with her father from the comfort of the south of England to the industrial north, she is at first repulsed by what she sees; and then when she discovers the conditions under which the workers are forced to live, she is outraged. But this throws her into direct conflict with the powerful young mill-owner, John Thornton. Using personal passions to explore deep social divisions, North and South is a great romance and one of Elizabeth Gaskell's finest works.

Egypt, 1917: British nurse Ginger Whitman thought she escaped the intrigue that devastated her family and threatened her life on the desert sands of WWI Palestine. But when she’s drafted into an investigation for the Cairo Intelligence Department, she uncovers forces at work to destroy the man she loves: intelligence officer Noah Benson.

As the Japanese begin their assault on Singapore, Sarah Fuller is forced to leave her parents and fiancé, Philip, behind. The long journey to England is fraught with danger, and Sarah and her sister Jane don’t even know if their great-aunt is alive, let alone waiting for them. They arrive in Cliffehaven, on the south coast of England, and here Sarah must find work to support them both. When the Women's Timber Corps takes over the local estate, Sarah enlists as a lumberjill.

1950s Liverpool. In the tight-knit community of the Four Streets, two girls are growing up. One is motherless and hated by the cold woman determined to take her dead mother's place. The other is hiding a dreadful secret which she dare not tell to anyone. The people of Four Streets laugh, grieve and hope together. But what can they do when a betrayal at the heart of their world comes to light?

Dottie Perks has forged a new life for herself in London, with a new job and a loving boyfriend. She's safe, happy and loved. What more could she ask for? But when Dottie visits her home in Brighton, the last person she expects to see is her first love, Ralph Bennett. As old feelings come rushing to the surface, Dottie struggles to deny the strong chemistry between them. She can't throw away everything to be with Ralph...can she?

The Batleys and the Caldwells owned neighbouring farms on the beautiful, wild Northumbrian coast. But there all similarity ended, and enmity began. For between the two families raged a violent and bitter feud. Into this stormy atmosphere came Linda Metcalfe, an agricultural student, who became involved in the tensions between the two households on her arrival. Employed by Ralph Batley, Linda soon found herself unwittingly a part of the feud, and began to feel a strange admiration for Ralph, who made it painfully clear that he didn't need her on the farm or in his life.

Arminius ist in tödlicher Gefahr. In Ravenna hat Thorag zwar seine geliebte Auja aus den Händen der Römer befreit, doch hier musste er auch erfahren, dass seinem Blutsbruder Arminius eine tödliche Gefahr droht: Der machtgierige Prätorianerpräfekt Sejanus will nicht nur ihn ermorden lassen, auch auf den römischen Thronfolger Germanicus wird im fernen Antiochia ein Anschlag verübt.

Liverpool, 1939. Bella Rogers thought her life was just starting; she can’t wait to get married to her childhood sweetheart, Bobby. But when war is declared and Bobby is called up, his letters stop, leaving Bella heartbroken and alone. Then her family is torn apart by tragedy when her angelic 5-year-old sister dies from a terrible illness. They can barely afford a funeral, but the church is packed with the entire community, devastated for their loss. Grieving for her sister and lost love, Bella finds a job at the Bryant and May factory, making matches.