Historical War Saga

July, 1914: In their sunlit Hampshire workshop, Alice Dalton mixes paints for the stained-glass artwork she and Edmund are working on, pausing only to joyfully cradle the soft swell of her stomach. But the looming war threatens her hard-won happiness. A knock at the door announces the arrival of Victor, her estranged brother, returning after six long years in America. But her elation at being reunited is short-lived as she realizes he still hasn’t forgiven her for her part in the heartbreak that sent him abroad.

Riga, 1943. Cycling the streets to deliver fresh loaves, Zenta passes empty houses, curtains open, doors unlocked, their occupants forced out by Russian or German hands. Above the newly built town hall, a Nazi flag waves in the breeze. Since her brother became a soldier and her sister joined the resistance, Zenta is all her parents have left. Then one morning her sister returns. Tired, worn, with a newly rounded belly, Estere is as determined as ever to fight for their freedom.

As the Great War rages across Europe, twenty-one-year-old Ruby Archer decides to ‘do her bit’ at an East End munitions factory. The work is relentless and deafening, but the camaraderie of the other girls carries her through. As the threat of another Zeppelin attack grows by the day, Ruby cannot ignore the abandoned animals scavenging the local streets. She rescues a stray kitten, Tess, and takes in an injured terrier Mac, but when all the local cats mysteriously disappear, she knows she needs to do more, and with the help of her friends plans to open a weekly animal clinic.

1942. Evie Sinclair has enlisted in the ATS to serve her country. Her mother disapproves, wanting her to stay and help run the household, but her father supports her bid for independence. Though conditions are austere and the training is intense, Evie is proud to become a qualified gunner girl, part of the team operating the anti-aircraft batteries. When she meets RAF bomber pilot Matt Goodwin at a dance, it's not long before they fall in love. But then tragedy strikes. Matt is killed on a mission, leaving Evie bereft - and expecting a child.

En Polonia, mientras la Segunda Guerra Mundial avanza, una madre esconde junto con su joven hija, un prodigio musical cuyo sonido más leve podría costarles sus vidas. Mientras soldados nazis persiguen a los judíos de su pueblo, Róza y su hija de cinco años, Shira, huyen, buscando refugio en el granero del vecino. Escondidas en el henar día y noche, Shira lucha para mantenerse tranquila y callada, pero la música alrededor de la granja la llama constantemente. Para apaciguar a su hija, Róza le cuenta la historia de una niña en un jardín encantado.

The son of a sweetmaker, Karl Jochum has ambitions for a life beyond his father's shop. Through hard work and perseverance he determines to open a cafe in Berlin where the Emperor will one day dine. As the city grows and prospers, so too does Karl's business empire, and he rises to become the proprietor of Europe's finest and most luxurious hotel. Situated close to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, the Hotel Quadriga is a glorious monument to Imperialist Germany.

The third in a trilogy, Reconciled follows the interconnections among a superbly memorable cast of characters during the Civil War as they internally and externally wrestle with why they're fighting, or why they're not fighting at all. Others will grapple with mere survival when the war alarmingly shows up on their front lawn or storefront.

Following the death of her father, Ruby Swift and husband, Archie, finally move back into Ashland Hall. As the Great War rages, fathers and sons take the king's shilling and head off to fight the unknown enemy, not knowing what horrors lie ahead. With Ned Kincaid in the navy, Archie signs up to the volunteer constabulary and nurses Anna Cassidy and Ellie Harrington enlist to do their bit for king and country. It’s not long before the true cost of war is brought closer to home.

Shortly before the Japanese invade, the van Hoorn family throws their famous Sinterklaas party at their tea plantation in West Java. One of their guests, Mattijs, a Dutch pilot, hopes to forge a future in the Dutch East Indies, possibly with the family's daughter Anna, but she is torn between her dreams of Holland and her desire to belong. Meanwhile the housekeeper, Diah, keenly observes the goings-on around the plantation, wondering how much to tell her freedom-fighter brother.

Mia and Ed have been best friends ever since they began teaching at the same school. Ed bakes cake for the staff, Mia eats the cakes. Ed can’t control his students, Mia sorts them out. Mia can’t work the photocopier, Ed shows her how. Mia’s love life might be chaotic but she’s totally devoted to her super-tidy, cat-owning, geeky but not bad-looking best friend. So, when Mia discovers Ed is still a virgin at twenty-eight, she decides to take matters into her own hands and teach him the skills he needs to seduce the pretty new maths teacher, Caitlin.

Cleethorpes – 1940. As the new year dawns, the show at the Empire comes to an end and it’s time for the girls to move on. All the seaside girls have their own battles to fight. And while they figure things out it’s time for them to do their bit for the war and keep Britain smiling.

Life is hard for the Fothergill family as they try to make a living on their Dale farm. Bob Fothergill has set his sights on buying his own farm instead of renting the one they currently hold. Sally, his teenage daughter, wishes her father would see that she could help more with the farm. Ben, their youngest, has no interest in farming so is ignored. Sally's mother makes do knowing her husband wants what's best for them. But when Bob decides to take a well-paid part-time job, it causes friction in the family, bringing tension to New Year’s Day, 1939. Ivy and Sally’s lives change.

Trixie and her fellow lumberjills are back in Scotland, newly stationed at the MacKay estate. When they arrive, they are shocked to find the place dilapidated and neglected and the taciturn and secretive Noah MacKay not at all happy to be meeting them. It quickly becomes apparent that MacKay was expecting men from the forestry commission to take charge, rather than four young women. Trixie, Jo, Hen and Vi decide he needs to be proven wrong - after all, don't they have stamina, skill and strength?

Facing the birth of her child, and single motherhood, Jo Devereux has spent the last six months in Mucknamore, the Irish village she fled 20 years ago. A trunk of letters and diaries left by her grandmother and great-aunt has revealed a heartbreaking legacy of bitter secrets that have haunted the women of her family for four generations. Now she must find out the ultimate truth: What other secrets and lies lie under her mother’s and grandmother’s unshakeable silence? How does it connect with her failed life as a gender-bending agony aunt in San Franciso?

Die kopfsteingepflasterten Straßen waren dunkel, und Isabelle konnte kaum etwas sehen, als sie durch die Straße eilte und sich immer wieder in Hauseingängen versteckte. Sie befürchtete schon, dass das laute Pochen ihres Herzens sie verraten würde. Plötzlich war sie von Nazi-Soldaten umringt, die ihr den Weg versperrten... Berlin, 1939. Max Albrecht ist der junge und gutaussehende Erbe eines prächtigen Anwesens, wo er einst seine glückliche Kindheit verbrachte. Als der Krieg immer näher rückt, überbringen ihm seine Eltern eine schreckliche Nachricht.

Ein erster, letzter Tanz mit dir. München, 1947: Helene wächst zwischen den Trümmern auf, die ihr Zuhause und Spielplatz zugleich sind. Doch dann kehrt ihr Vater zurück, und sie fasst einen Beschluss: von diesem Fremden wird sie sich nichts sagen lassen - und fortan rebelliert sie. Erst als ihre Mutter erkrankt und von ihrem Leben vor dem Krieg erzählt, erkennt Helene, wie auch ihr eigenes von der Vergangenheit gezeichnet ist. Breslau, 1931: Jung, reich, verheiratet - Käthe ist all das, was sich ihre Familie von ihr erhofft hat. Dabei möchte sie selbst nur eins: frei sein.

Thea has never met her grandmother Hedi, so she’s surprised when she receives a call from social services to take the frail old woman home. She’s not sure how Hedi will fit into her new life–the one where she’s left her boyfriend and moved into a run-down cottage miles from the nearest town. And Hedi refuses to talk about her past or why she and Thea’s mother haven’t spoken for more than 30 years. So when Thea spots Hedi’s old suitcase on the table, she can’t resist taking a peak inside.

October 1940. When VAD nurse Evie narrowly escapes being killed in an air raid during the London Blitz, it propels her to make a life-changing decision to break free of her troubled and unhappy life. She escapes to the Norfolk countryside to start afresh, with a job at the newly opened Great Plumstead Hall hospital, and a wonderful new home at Rookery House. The community of Great Plumstead welcomes evacuees to the village—mothers and children bombed out of their London homes. Sisters Prue and Thea, along with members of The Mother's Day Club, help the new arrivals settle in.

In 1915 three women start work at a toffee factory in the market town of Chester-le-Street, Durham. Anne works for the enigmatic owner Mr Jack. She is highly efficient and whips Mr Jack's disorganised office - and Mr Jack himself - into shape. However, behind her business-like façade, Anne hides a heart-breaking secret. Elsie is feisty, fun and enjoys a good time. However, her gadabout ways get her into trouble when she falls for the wrong man in the sugar-boiling room. And there's dependable Hetty, who's set to marry her boyfriend when he returns from the war.

March, 1941. After Flo Butterworth loses everything in Manchester's Christmas Blitz, she decides to leave the area and join the Women's Land Army. Putting the past firmly behind her, she arrives at Rookery House in Norfolk hoping for a new start and a chance to do the gardening work she loves. The grip of war has intensified and growing more food is vital to keep the nation going. Thea buys an extra field to grow crops, and in the village, her sister Prue leads members of The Mother's Day Club and Women's Institute as they take on a derelict allotment.