Here comes Judas Iscariot . . .Nine-year old Sean has never seen anything like what happens on the day Margaret Thatcher takes power and his grandad discovers his uncle voted for her. So begins the start of a family secret and the end of Sean's idyllic childhood in the industrial Midlands - until, one day, deciding that someone's got to stop the train of destruction, he sets out for revenge.A heartbreaking and timely story of a moment of national crisis as felt by one family, How I Killed Margaret Thatcher delivers a devastating English twist on the dictator novel.

    The year is 632 and the great Edwin of Northumbria, bretwalda over England, must battle against an alliance of the old Britons under his foster-brother Cadwallon of Gwynedd, aided by Penda of Mercia, a brutal young war leader gaining in strength and reputation. Who will ally with whom? Who will play false to their Lord? Who will turn their back on their own family? The ebb and flow of battle will once more redraw the lines of the petty kingdoms stretching across the British Isles. There will be a victor and a bloody loser and kings will rise from the ashes of a great battle.

    She nurses a secret dream of driving trams too, even though it's not considered a job for women. Meanwhile, in Dublin, Colm O'Neill is happily settled - until his father gets a job working on the Liverptool-Birkenhead tunnel, and takes Colm across the water with him. When tragedy strikes and her beloved father is killed, Rose and her mother scrape a living by turning their home into a boarding house. And it is their boarding house which Colm and his father come to when they arrive in Liverpool...

    And yet, here Brian Riordan was doing exactly that. So begins this prequel to the Exit Unicorns series, as we join the Riordan boys in the rough and tumble world of Belfast, Northern Ireland, during a summer of change and promise. Casey Riordan is on the cusp on manhood, and is learning just how high the price of that transition can be. Tagging along on this adventure is his brother, Pat, who is both shadow and conscience to Casey. Their father, Brian, is simply trying to keep his sons safe—a tall order in the gritty streets of this particular city. Bare Knuckle spans the events of one summer, giving a glimpse into the lives of the Riordans—the boys as they embark on the path to the men they are destined to be, and their father as he guides them along the way. The road is not smooth and contains hard lessons, both those of betrayal and treachery, all stemming from the events of one warm July night, when the match of hatred is set to the fuel of violence. After that night, life as they know it spirals out of control for the Riordans, until one man is forced to rejoin a world he thought he’d left behind forever, to ensure the safety of those he loves.

    At eleven years-old, she has survived sickness, near starvation and harsh beatings.Master Simpkins and his cruel daughter rule the workhouse with a rod of iron, but when Romany boy, Joe, arrives at the workhouse, his spirit and courage give Eliza hope that another life is waiting for her outside.When she is sold into service, Eliza is relieved to be out of the workhouse and hopes her fortunes are changing for the better, but cruelty and unkindness are everywhere and her salvation could become her ruin…

    The British government called the famine an act of God. The Irish called it genocide. By any name the famine caused the death of over one million men, women, and children by starvation and disease. Another two million were forced to flee the country. With the famine as a backdrop, this is a story about two families as different as coarse wool and fine silk. Michael Ranahan, the son of a tenant farmer, dreams of breaking his bondage to the land and going to America. The passage money has been saved. He’s made up his mind to go. And then—the blight strikes and Michael must put his dream on hold. The landlord, Lord Somerville, is a compassionate man who struggles to preserve a way of life without compromising his ideals. To add to his troubles, he has to deal with a recalcitrant daughter who chafes at being forced to live in a country of “bog runners.”In The Time Of Famine is a story of survival. It’s a story of duplicity. But most of all, it’s a story of love and sacrifice.

    From the first page to the last, fans of Edward Rutherford and W. Michael Gear will enjoy this riveting, historically accurate tale of adventure, endurance, and hope. In the second year of an Gorta Mhór--the Great Famine--nineteen-year-old Devin Mahoney lies on the dirt floor of his small, dark cabin. He has not eaten in five days. His only hope of survival is to get to America, the land of milk and honey. After surviving disease and storms at sea that decimate crew and passengers alike, Devin's ship limps into New York Harbor three days before Christmas, 1849. Thus starts an epic journey that will take him and his descendants through one hundred and fourteen years of American history, including the Civil War, the Wild West, and the Great Depression. Mahoney is recommended for fans of Barbara Kingsolve, Herman Wouk, Cormac McCarthy, Ayse Kulin, Frank Delany, James Michener, William Kent Krueger, and Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts series.

    Ruth Conroy is the pride of her father and brothers and the despair of her mother, who fears that her daughter’s unconventional ways will prevent her from marrying. Goaded by her mother’s nagging, Ruth declares that she will only marry a man who can beat her in a horse race. As she is an expert horsewoman, her challenge seems unlikely to be met. But family friend Robert Holloway has always loved Ruth, and if it takes a horse race to win her, then an equestrian he will be, even though he is a poor rider. Out of friendship, Ruth agrees to teach him how to ride with skill, never realizing that his goal is to win the race and win her hand in marriage. When she is challenged, she must decide what she will win or lose in this race for her heart.

    When he is lost in battle she loses everything, even their children. Her fight to win them back recalls the terror of the shield wall, the harsh lives of convict slaves, and the enormous difficulties a lone woman must face in a male dominated heroic age."This is a really excellent read, a page turner that gives a vivid, convincing picture of 7th century Mercian England." The Historical Novels Review

    He could be sailing anywhere, anytime, but he’s not, he’s going to the other side of the world. He could be anyone, but he’s not, he’s the son of a respectable London businessman. His crime? An error of judgement.In England, in 1812, there is no forgiveness. As the ship sails, eighteen-year-old James Tedder’s seven-year sentence to Van Diemen’s Land begins.Rescuing her eldest son from slave traders in Rio de Janeiro is the most difficult thing Sarah Blay has done in the last two years. Leaving England, her life, her mother, to follow her convict husband James to the other side of the world not knowing if he lives, pales in comparison. Will lives rebuild? Will love survive?

    He becomes a priest, winning the coveted Golden Chalice for his singing when in seminary school abroad. But the duality of nature threatens to destroy the brilliant future that lies before him. Beloved of his parishioners and canon, he is devastatingly attractive to women, in particular the wealthy patron of his church at Kilbarrack, Ireland. But it is not until her wayward and sensual niece, Claire, arrives that disaster strikes . . .In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin's other classic novels, The Minstrel Boy is a great book by a much-loved author

    Three women become friends when working in their local picture house. When life is so tough for everyone, a trip to the pictures is the perfect way to escape, to dream of romance and hope for the good things peace will bring.It is 1943 on England's war-weary south coast where the conflict seems never-ending. After the heartache of the previous year, Connie Baxter now appears to have everything a girl could want. There is Ace, a man who loves her. She enjoys an enviable lifestyle despite the deprivations of war. She has friends and a job she adores as an usherette at the Criterion cinema. But appearances can be deceptive and Connie is struggling in more ways than one.Then, to compound Connie's problem, her nemesis, Cousin Marlene, returns home. Secrets come to light, revealing jealousies that could shatter Connie's world once more, and Connie realizes that Ace isn't the man she thought he was.In the darkest days of war, the glamour of movies and their stars can lift the bleakest of moods, while friends make the good times better and the bad times bearable.

    And her heart belongs to her beloved cousin, Michael. Polly knows that one day they'll be man and wife. But a terrible secret is to change everything: Michael is her half-brother, the fruit of an incestuous relationship between her father and his own sister; Michael's mother. The lovers are rent apart and Polly is left to bear the responsibility of the farm alone; for her father kills himself, unable to live with his shame. Life is now a battle for survival, and Polly wonders if she will ever find happiness. But the answer to her prayers is closer than she thinks...

     Her godmother's son, Luc Deverill, the Earl of Newbury, suspects fraud. Thrown together during the social whirl of a Regency season in full swing, Luc is increasingly drawn towards Clarissa but she thinks him an idle dissipate and finds little to admire in the ways of high society. Racing against time to foil those seeking to deceive Clarissa, Luc is horrified when she places herself in the path of danger. At last a woman has dented his impenetrable heart and he rides to her rescue. But has he left it too late to tell her how he feels?

    Lord Vye's daughter might be thought to want for nothing, but life isn't easy on fifty guineas a year, with a jealous stepmother watching one's every move. Eugenie's passionate nature and unerring ability to get hold of the wrong end of the stick land her in trouble as she follows her heart: from elegant Swallowcliffe to the streets of fashionable London, by way of rural Ireland, glamorous belle époque Paris and an idyllic artists' retreat at Giverny. She hurtles from one near-disaster to another, rescued only by a sense of humour, unquenchable optimism and her dear American friend Julia - until finally discovering love was right under her nose all along.