Book picks similar to
The Amulet by Ann Bennett
historical-fiction
historical
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Orphans of War
Leah Fleming - 2008
As the bombs fall, the orphaned Maddy Belfield is evacuated to the Yorkshire Dales to live with her remaining relatives – those that haven’t been killed in the blast which destroyed her home.But the war has a way of bringing people together, and Maddy soon finds a strong group of friends out in the Dales – friends who swear to stay together for life. When tragedy strikes, can their promises hold? Will their friendships stretch across the country? And can childhood games hide a bigger secret than anyone could have imagined?ORPHANS OF WAR is a moving tale of love and loss that brings the terror of World War II back to life and shows how strong the bonds of friendship can truly be.
The Viscount's Promise
Joyce Alec - 2019
Miss Julianna Newton is struggling to return to a society that does not want her. A year after her brother’s death, she has been blessed with a kind sponsor, who helps her secure invitations to the most exclusive events of the London Season. Much to her surprise, she finds that one Lord Sharpe is determined to help her make the right acquaintances, due to a promise he made to her late brother, Francis.When Lord Sharpe and Miss Newton spend more time together, strange happenings occur, forcing them both to reconsider everything they thought they knew. Will they be able to find the truth, even though it is too late for Francis? And will Thomas really allow Julianna to marry a gentleman who cares nothing for her, when his own heart is already filling with affection? If you like clean and wholesome, Regency romances with a twist of mystery and suspense, you will love The Viscount’s Promise.
Warsaw Fury
Michael Reit - 2021
In line to take over the successful family business, his future is set.Julia Horowitz lives in poverty. The daughter of a shoemaker, she dreams of a different life—a different world.Everything changes when Hitler’s armies invade Poland. Natan’s future is ripped away by the flick of a switch of a Luftwaffe pilot. When the smoke clears, Julia and her family find themselves locked within the walls of the newly-formed Jewish ghetto.On opposite sides of the wall, Natan and Julia’s lives are not so different anymore. As the Nazis unleash a reign of hunger, terror, and death across the city, they must now decide what’s more terrifying:To die on their knees, or go down fighting?Based on true events, Warsaw Fury is a story of love, courage, and resilience in the face of unimaginable evil.
Samuel Pepys and the Stolen Diary
M.J. Lee - 2016
Samuel Pepys has been keeping a diary for many years; a diary that tells of all the political shenanigans he is witness to at the court of King Charles Stuart. And of all his own marital indiscretions as well. And now it has been stolen, along with his wife’s favourite locket. Samuel must get it back, or he might lose his head in the Tower. He will certainly lose his wife, who thinks he’s given her locket to his latest mistress. Enlisting the help of his friend Will Hewer, they track the locket to a fence in London, who tells them who stole it for a fee. Necklace in his pocket, Will and Samuel make their way to the young thief’s home, only to find him dead in a chair, with a curious button clasped in his hand. Will spies a man fleeing the home and gives chase, only to run into a one-armed man who steals the locket. Things are looking pretty grim, when Samuel is summoned to see the King. It seems some skulduggery is a foot in the Chatham dockyards, and King Charles sends Samuel to investigate. Leaving Will behind to find the diary, he sets off with his brother in law, Balthazar ‘Balty’ St Michel, hoping he will learn the gossip from the locals, if he stays sober long enough. No such luck… Balty soon disappears and Samuel is curious as to why so many armed guards follow him wherever he goes. Then they both end up locked in a cellar, and the only way out is to start a fire. Samuel Pepys and the Stolen Diary is a laugh out loud romp through the filthy streets of London, where hackney drivers boast of having the best seats for a hangin’ and the poet laureate Dryden rewrites his plays for the highest bidder. Filled with historical colour and clever plot turns, you’ll be cheering for Samuel and Will well after the last page is turned. Martin Lee has spent most of his adult life writing in one form or another. As a University researcher in history, he wrote pages of notes on reams of obscure topics. As a social worker with Vietnamese refugees, he wrote memoranda. And, as the creative director of an advertising agency, he has written print and press ads, TV commercials, short films and innumerable backs of cornflake packets and hotel websites. He first encountered Samuel Pepys when an auntie gave him an edited version of the diaries when he was fifteen years old. The man and his world have remained an obsession ever since. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
The Sheriff Who Stole Her Aching Heart
Lorelei Brogan - 2019
Since she lost her mother, she had to struggle to keep her life together, depending only on herself. With her younger siblings under her responsibility and a father almost absent, she has given up on the idea of marriage. When the saloon her father owns gets attacked by a notorious criminal gang, she is taken as a hostage and has to find a way to escape. But this would be just the beginning... Will she be able to break free from all the hazards and keep the ones she loves safe?Ever since Carson lost everyone he ever cared for, he has set up a new mission: to protect the town. As the new sheriff in town, brave and strong-willed, he believes he can make it. But as soon as his childhood friend gets abducted, his dream collapses and his heart shivers once again. Knowing it's up to him to save her, he will have to act calmly and quickly so as nobody gets hurt. But will he be in time?When the situation is about to get harder and harder and more than one people will be in danger, Alina and Carson will have a chance to rekindle their friendship. But will it be enough to help them survive and keep the ones they care for alive?
Island Reich
Jack Grimwood - 2021
As Britain braces itself for invasion, ex-Tommy and safecracker Bill O'Hagan is glad to have escaped the battlefield. But when a job goes wrong, he finds himself forced to serve his country once more.A former king.Spurned by his government and fearing for his life, the Duke of Windsor flees to Portugal with the woman for whom he abdicated the throne, Wallis Simpson. As a web of Nazi trickery threatens to ensnare him, his fate and the fate of Britain rest on one man.The fate of a nation in their hands . . .Dropped on an occupied Channel Island without backup, Bill must crack an enemy safe and get its contents to safety. Failure will devastate any hope Britain has of winning the war.But with the layers of deception and intrigue drawing ever more tightly around them, Bill and the Duke both learn they aren't the only players in this game.And Berlin - which has the Duke in its own sights - is plotting its greatest move yet . . .
The Good Sister
Maggie Christensen - 2017
A lifetime of regret. A love that spans the yearsIn 1938, as the world hurtled towards war, twenty-year-old Isobel MacDonald fell madly in love. But fate and her own actions conspired to deny her the happiness she yearned for. Many years later, plagued with regrets and with a shrill voice from the past ringing in her ears, she documents the events that shaped her life.In 2015, sixty-five-year-old Bel Davison returns from Australia to her native Scotland to visit her terminally ill aunt. Reading Isobel’s memoir, she is beset with memories of her own childhood and overcome with guilt. When she meets her aunt’s solicitor, events seem to spiral out of control and, almost against her will, she finds herself drawn to this enigmatic Scotsman.What is it that links these two women across the generations? Can the past influence the future?
A Love so True
Caroline Mickelson - 2018
Although she’s only one of thousands leaving the city, Emma is fleeing more than the horrors of war. Her greatest fear is that the father of her child will track her down and exact revenge for what she’s stolen from him. World renowned Dutch concert pianist Andrej Van der Hoosen is a man who cherishes his privacy above all else. His wealth and privilege have afforded him the luxury of avoiding being around children because of a painful loss from his own past. So, when he meets the woman and children he’ll reside with for the duration of the war, he’s instantly on guard. The children are boisterous and full of life, the cottage they’re assigned to live in is small, and he finds himself intrigued by the secret Emma is so clearly trying to hide. Despite their reluctance to trust each other, Emma and Andrej soon find themselves drawn together in a world torn apart by war.
A Sister's Promise
Anne Bennett - 2007
Although her beloved grandfather wants to keep her and little brother Kevin with him in Birmingham, the authorities decide it’s best for the girl to live with her maternal grandmother, on a farm in Donegal. So Molly is packed off to Biddy Sullivan, who’s a hard, cruel woman who loves to bear a grudge.Years of hardship follow and just as Molly begins to grow independent, war breaks out. She learns that her grandfather has died – so what’s become of ten year old Kevin? Surely he must need her? So the naive country girl sets off for her home city, little guessing what perils are to befall her before she can discover her brother’s fate…
The Unexpected Return of Josephine Fox
Claire Gradidge - 2019
Foyle's War meets The Mitford Murders in this deliciously dark tale of wartime family secrets and lies in small town England. April 1941, Romsey, England. Josephine 'Jo' Fox hasn't set foot in Romsey in over twenty years. As an illegitimate child, her family - headed by her controlling grandfather - found her an embarrassment. Now, she wants to return to what was once her home and uncover the secret of her parentage. Who was her father and why would her mother never talk about him? Jo arrives the day after the Luftwaffe have bombed the town. The local pub, The Cricketers' Arms, has been completely destroyed and rescue teams are searching for the remains of the seven people known to have been in the pub at the time the bomb hit. They are shocked, however, to uncover eight bodies, not seven. The eighth, unidentified, body is that of a teenage girl, who no one in the town claims to know. Who is she, how did she get there, but most importantly - who killed her? Teaming up with local coroner and old friend, Bram Nash, Jo sets out to establish the identity of the girl and solve the riddle of her death. In doing so, she also uncovers her own personal mystery.
Everyone has secrets - some are just more deadly than others . . .
Our Father
James Farner - 2016
Republicans, rogue soldiers, and communists are rampaging through the cities and villages of Germany. Faced with destruction, the nationalists fight back against their enemies, turning the country into a battlefield. In Munich, Erich and Johann Brandt are a pair of impressionable teenagers just trying to get by. When Erich falls under the sway of young speaker Adolf Hitler, he joins the party without a second thought. Erich drives further and further into Hitler’s inner circle, which all culminates in a deadly march through the heart of Munich. Horrified at his brother’s fall into National Socialism, Johann does what he can to fight back against the spell that Hitler has placed the country under. That is until he attracts the brutal attentions of SA captain Oswald Yorck. As elections turn against the democratic parties, Johann does his best to save his country before it’s too late. But it could cost him his life…
The Atlantis Papyrus
Jay Penner - 2019
vivid... gripping. Takes you through a thrilling quest in a violent ancient world." Some secrets are best left unrevealed323 B.C.King Alexander the Great has died without a clear successor and the citizens of a vast empire wait nervously for what comes next. But Captain Deon has other worries—his family will be sold to slavery if he does not clear his debt soon. Desperate, he accepts a mission from Alexander’s wily Royal Secretary in return for a generous reward. All he has to do is steal a papyrus from the King's funeral procession.A papyrus with a stunning secret that can transform the balance of powers that fight for Alexander’s throne.Plunged into the heart of succession wars and thrust between bloody ambitions of greater men, Deon is forced to embark on a dangerous journey and battle those he fears, to decode the ancient clues before time runs out for his family. But the more he learns, the more he realizes that his decisions will decide the life and death of not only his loved ones but also that of millions of innocents.-------- BONUS: Join the newsletter on the author's website to get a free "History behind the book" that sheds light on some of the interesting events after Alexander's death.
The House of Devon: Regency Romance
Tammy Andresen - 2020
Rather, the House of Devon takes the romance below stairs, to the people who live, laugh, and love all while they serve. Meet the staff of the House of Devon, and discover how they find their happily ever afters...
The Mongoliad: Book One
Neal Stephenson - 2012
In it, a small band of warriors and mystics raise their swords to save Europe from a bloodthirsty Mongol invasion. Inspired by their leader (an elder of an order of warrior monks), they embark on a perilous journey and uncover the history of hidden knowledge and conflict among powerful secret societies that had been shaping world events for millennia.But the saga reaches the modern world via a circuitous route. In the late 19th century, Sir Richard F. Burton, an expert on exotic languages and historical swordsmanship, is approached by a mysterious group of English martial arts aficionados about translating a collection of long-lost manuscripts. Burton dies before his work is finished, and his efforts were thought lost until recently rediscovered by a team of amateur archaeologists in the ruins of a mansion in Trieste, Italy. From this collection of arcana, the incredible tale of The Mongoliad was recreated.Full of high adventure, unforgettable characters, and unflinching battle scenes, The Mongoliad ignites a dangerous quest where willpower and blades are tested and the scope of world-building is redefined.A note on this edition: The Mongoliad began as a social media experiment, combining serial story-telling with a unique level of interaction between authors and audience during the creative process. Since its original iteration, The Mongoliad has been restructured, edited, and rewritten under the supervision of its authors to create a more cohesive reading experience and will be published as a trilogy of novels. This edition is the definitive edition and is the authors' preferred text.Reviews:“This off-beat alternate history of Eurasia could be your new obsession.” –i09.com“This story is pure adventure, with much swordplay and swashbuckling.” –Kirkus Reviews“A terrifically engaging book that pulled me along at least as quickly as The Hunger Games. Think Lord of the Rings without all that pesky fantasy…Five frighteningly accurate historical sword fights out of five.” –Fanboy Comics
Take What You Can Carry
Gian Sardar - 2021
Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work. When opportunity arrives, she seizes it, accompanying her Kurdish boyfriend, Delan, to northern Iraq for a family wedding, hoping to capture an image that lands her a job in the photo department. More important, though, the trip is a chance to understand Delan’s childhood and bridge the differences of their pasts. Yet when the return home proves less safe than Delan believed, Olivia is confronted with a reality she had not expected, and is awakened to the dangers of a town patrolled by Iraqi military under curfew and constant threat.But in this world torn apart by war, there are intoxicating sights and scents, Delan’s loving family, innocence not yet compromised, and small acts of kindness that flourish unexpectedly. All of it will be tested when Olivia captures a shattering, tragic moment on film, one that upends all their lives and proves that true bravery begins with an open heart.