Book picks similar to
The White Cross by Richard Masefield


historical-fiction
romance
fiction
historical

The Gallows Curse


Karen Maitland - 2011
    Can you imagine the chaos - all the churches closed, King John in retaliation arresting every priest who hadn't fled and the people terrified of dying in sin without the last rites? No burials were permitted on consecrated land, no marriages were conducted, no babies baptized. But I don't want to reveal much more, except to say the plot involves people-trafficking, murder and, oh yes... a very feisty dwarf and a eunuch with a hunger for revenge.

Entertaining Angels


M.J. Logue - 2016
     Winter, 1660. Retired from the Army after twenty years of service, Major Thankful Russell's whole life till now has been made up of war and intelligence. And now in peacetime, he suspects no more war and, on current showing, precious little intelligence. The idea of spending Christmas surrounded by drunkenness and debauchery at His Majesty's court is more than he can bear - and so he begs leave, to spend a quiet family Christmas at home. The problem is, he doesn't have a family. And nor, with his scarred face and his shyness, does he ever expect to have one. But when an accident of fate returns him to the only place he's ever called home, it's down to his old commanding officer's daughter to teach him that not everyone sets so high a value on the outer wrapping of the most precious gift of all....

God Is an Englishman


R.F. Delderfield - 1970
    His struggle to succeed and his conquest of Henrietta, the spirited daughter of a rich manufacturer, drive a richly woven tale that takes the reader from the dusty plains of India to the teeming slums of nineteenth-century London, from the chaos of the great industrial cities to the age of the peaceful certainties of the English countryside. Filled with epic scenes and memorable characters, God is an Englishman triumphs in its portrayal of human strength and weakness, and in its revelations of the power of love.

The Passion of Marie Romanov


Laura Rose - 2014
    Midnight, in bed with her sister, Anastasia (Shvybz), in the Ipatiev Mansion in Ekaterinburg, during the last night of their lives. So much of my story unfolds by moonlight. This is a tale of midnight wakings and forced marches before dawn. Since this nightmare began, I do not dare undress, even to go to bed. I wear my dressing gown, my hair is prepared, and my shoes are set beside me. I have no idea when we will be summoned to rise. We have moved, as in the worst of dreams, slowly toward this place. There is no logic other than the sleepwalker’s obedience—to follow instruction which we cannot resist: an actual lunacy. Now, I have control only of this—my record of what happened to us, to me. I have committed a single sin, my one terrible transgression. I pray to be absolved. In this recording of memory lies all meaning to my life. Let my will prevail in this, my ultimate wish, to salvage something of value from this tragedy. The rest, as my mother says, is in God’s hands. When I look back, as I must in the short time allotted to me now, I can see the exact moment when our lives changed: at last light, on the thirteenth of March, 1917." Here, in startling new historical detail, based on original diaries and letters, is the Romanov tragedy told from the point of view of the Tsar's third daughter, Marie, Anastasia's closest, older sister. Marie's story is unique-only Marie crossed the frozen Siberian river with her parents, and only Marie shared the full 78 days and nights in 'The House of Special Purpose.' About the Author: Laura Rose is a popular playwright in Russia and is of Russian descent. She has extensively researched the history and explored the Alexander Palace and the site of the Ipatiev mansion.

Sweet Surrender


Evelyn MacQuaid - 2015
    As the eldest daughter of Lord Henry Tarrington, Olivia must honour her father’s arrangement with the powerful Mercers, which will erase his burgeoning debt and ensure her sisters marry according to their choosing. Torn between her growing desire for a dangerous man and another who’d give her the life she’s accustomed to, she has to make a choice. But to find the freedom she desperately yearns for, she must first unlock her heart. “Sweet Surrender” is a stand-alone mail order bride themed sweet, western romance and the first book in the Mercers of Montana Series.

Angel Time


Anne Rice - 2009
    At its center: Toby O’Dare—a contract killer of underground fame on assignment to kill once again. A soulless soul, a dead man walking, he lives under a series of aliases—just now: Lucky the Fox—and takes his orders from “The Right Man.”Into O’Dare’s nightmarish world of lone and lethal missions comes a mysterious stranger, a seraph, who offers him a chance to save rather than destroy lives. O’Dare, who long ago dreamt of being a priest but instead came to embody danger and violence, seizes his chance. Now he is carried back through the ages to thirteenth-century England, to dark realms where accusations of ritual murder have been made against Jews, where children suddenly die or disappear . . . In this primitive setting, O’Dare begins his perilous quest for salvation, a journey of danger and flight, loyalty and betrayal, selflessness and love.

A Divided Inheritance


Deborah Swift - 2013
    A country divided by faith.London 1609...Elspet Leviston’s greatest ambition is to continue the success of her father Nathaniel’s lace business. But her dreams are thrown into turmoil with the arrival of her mysterious cousin Zachary Deane – who has his own designs on Leviston’s Lace.Zachary is a dedicated swordsman with a secret past that seems to invite trouble. So Nathaniel sends him on a Grand Tour, away from the distractions of Jacobean London. Elspet believes herself to be free of her hot-headed relative but when Nathaniel dies her fortunes change dramatically. She is forced to leave her beloved home and go in search of Zachary - determined to claim back from him the inheritance that is rightfully hers.Under the searing Spanish sun, Elspet and Zachary become locked in a battle of wills. But these are dangerous times and they are soon embroiled in the roar and sweep of something far more threatening, sending them both on an unexpected journey of discovery which finally unlocks the true meaning of family . . . A Divided Inheritance is a breathtaking adventure set in London just after the Gunpowder Plot and in the bustling courtyards of Golden Age Seville.

The Children of Wisdom Trilogy


Stephanie Erickson - 2016
    It's over 500 pages of spinners, reapers, love, loss, magic, mythology, hell, and demons. The Fate (Book 1)The thread of life is a delicate thing. It is so easily broken… My name is Penn, and I’m a spinner. As one of the three Fates, it’s easy for me to know the plans for the lives of the humans. Mine, on the other hand, is a bit foggier. I guess things started to get out of control when I spun her—Kismet. My focus shifted, one thing led to another, and I wound up banished to Earth. You’d think it’d be pretty hard to surprise me, but after my banishment, they just kept hitting me like a one-two knockout punch. When the people around me started dying before their time, I knew something was very wrong and I had to do whatever I could to set it right. The one thing I didn’t know was…what is the true fate of a Fate?The Reaper (Book 2) "The Thread of life is a delicate thing. It is so easily broken..." My name is Michaela, and I'm a Reaper. I help the humans transition from their home on Earth after they die. Up until a short time ago, things were going well. But then, one of our best Fates was banished to Earth, people started dying before their time, and things went rapidly downhill from there. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I found seven misplaced souls trapped in the depths of hell. It didn't matter to me who had put them there, or even why they had. All I knew was I had to get them out. I couldn't just leave them there to suffer. Who knew trying to find out and fix what had gone so horribly wrong would end with me surrounded by misfit Fates while racing through the depths of hell? Trying to save not only the seven trapped souls, but also the entire human race, is not exactly in my job description... The Human (Book 3)“The thread of life is a delicate thing. It is so easily broken…” Michaela’s gone. Disappeared. And I’m lost without her. She left to bring a child into the heavens and vanished, along with two Archangels. As I search for answers, I keep uncovering more questions. Why is the human cutting threads? How do we stop her? More importantly, how can I save Michaela? I’m trapped. The human took me. And Penn has no idea where I am. That woman, she… well, I’m not even sure what she did. All I know is one minute, the Archangels were there, and the next, they weren’t. She’s proving to be a powerful adversary, that’s for sure. With a child just added to the prison, I need to find my way out of here to end this. More than just their souls depend on me. The fate of the Earth will not crumble at the hands of a mere human.

Light from Other Stars


Erika Swyler - 2019
    In 1986 in Easter, a small Florida Space Coast town, her dreams seem almost within reach—if she can just grow up fast enough. Theo, the scientist father she idolizes, is consumed by his own obsessions. Laid off from his job at NASA and still reeling from the loss of Nedda’s newborn brother several years before, Theo turns to the dangerous dream of extending his living daughter's childhood just a little longer. The result is an invention that alters the fabric of time.Amidst the chaos that erupts, Nedda must confront her father and his secrets, the ramifications of which will irrevocably change her life, her community, and the entire world. But she finds an unexpected ally in Betheen, the mother she’s never quite understood, who surprises Nedda by seeing her more clearly than anyone else. Decades later, Nedda has achieved her long-held dream, and as she floats in antigravity, far from earth, she and her crewmates face a serious crisis. Nedda may hold the key to the solution, if she can come to terms with her past and the future that awaits her. Light from Other Stars is about fathers and daughters, women and the forces that hold them back, and the cost of meaningful work. It questions how our lives have changed, what progress looks like, and what it really means to sacrifice for the greater good.

The Evening and the Morning


Ken Follett - 2020
    England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns.In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined. A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when the only home he's ever known is raided by Vikings, forcing him and his family to move and start their lives anew in a small hamlet where he does not fit in. . . . A Norman noblewoman marries for love, following her husband across the sea to a new land, but the customs of her husband's homeland are shockingly different, and as she begins to realize that everyone around her is engaged in a constant, brutal battle for power, it becomes clear that a single misstep could be catastrophic. . . . A monk dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a center of learning that will be admired throughout Europe. And each in turn comes into dangerous conflict with a clever and ruthless bishop who will do anything to increase his wealth and power.

I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince


Rosanne E. Lortz - 2009
    Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Hundred Years' War, I Serve chronicles the story of Sir John Potenhale. A young Englishman of lowly birth, Potenhale wins his way to knighthood on the fields of France. He enters the service of Edward, the Black Prince of Wales, and immerses himself in a stormy world of war, politics, and romantic intrigue. While campaigning in France, Potenhale develops an interest in Margery, a spirited lady-in-waiting with a close-kept secret. He soon learns that Sir Thomas Holland, a crass and calculating baron, holds the key to unlock Margery's mystery and possesses the power to overturn all of his hopes. When the Black Death strikes Europe, however, Potenhale realizes that the fiercest enemy does not always appear in human form. Seeing the pestilence as a punishment for the sins of his generation, he questions his calling as a knight and considers entering the cloister. Margery or the monastery? Torn between losing his soul and losing the love of his life, he finds friendship with a French knight who might--just possibly--help him save both.

Painting With Fire


K.B. Jensen - 2014
    After finding a body buried in a snow bank outside her front door, her suspicions about his eccentric behavior only worsen.Unemployed and obsessed with the murder. she realizes how little she knows about the people who live around her, including Tom. Tempted by love but unable to trust a man with a past in light of the murder, Claudia does everything she can to find out about the killer. The results lead her to a startling discovery. When art and violence collide, the results can be explosive.

The Grotto's Secret


Paula Wynne - 2016
    A TV show host who stands to lose everything.Castile de Granada, 1492: Risking her life, Spanish author Ana-María de Carbonela vowed to keep an unknown yet powerful healing herb’s location hidden. It remained a secret …Until now.TV show host Kelby Wade is forced into the search when her niece is targeted by the relentless assassin who killed her brother. She is pursued on a perilous quest, from a grotto in rural Andalusia to a bizarre hospital in Surrey, to uncover the mystery found between crumbling sheets of parchment in the ruins of a rural Spanish farm. In a race against a conspiracy who want the herb’s power, she struggles to piece together the puzzle and follow the trail her brother left to trace the mysterious plant before the deadly conspirators locate it. It’s only a matter of time before the ancient secret gets exposed ...

The Other Daughter


Lauren Willig - 2015
    Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage...and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three month before. He's an earl, respected and influential, and he is standing with another daughter-his legitimate daughter. Which makes Rachel...not legitimate. Everything she thought she knew about herself and her past-even her very name-is a lie.Still reeling from the death of her mother, and furious at this betrayal, Rachel sets herself up in London under a new identity. There she insinuates herself into the party-going crowd of Bright Young Things, with a steely determination to unveil her father's perfidy and bring his-and her half-sister's-charmed world crashing down. Very soon, however, Rachel faces two unexpected snags: she finds she genuinely likes her half-sister, Olivia, whose situation isn't as simple it appears; and she might just be falling for her sister's fiancé...From Lauren Willig, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Ashford Affair, comes The Other Daughter, a page-turner full of deceit, passion, and revenge.

Tahn


L.A. Kelly - 2005
    Trapped between his master's evil commands and his persistent conscience that tells him to do otherwise, Tahn Dorn finds himself in a twisting plot that threatens not only his life but also that of the lovely Netta.