Book picks similar to
A Canopy of Stars by Stephen Taylor


historical-fiction
england
fiction
british-literature

The Wartime Nanny


Lizzie Page - 2020
    We must leave Vienna. It might be that soon our letters won’t get out anymore. Can you help, dear sister? Please, ask for us. Send news, and quickly. Please.London, 1938. Sixteen-year-old Natalie Leeman takes the heart-breaking decision to leave her family behind in Vienna and travel to England to join her cousin Leah in service. Natalie is placed with a wealthy suburban family, the Caplins, as a nanny to their energetic six-year-old.At first, Natalie is delighted by the huge house and beautiful gardens, but things aren’t as perfect as they seem. While Natalie dotes on their child, she is increasingly wary of Mr Caplin, whose gruff manner and fascist politics scare her. And then there are those still waiting at home – Mama and her two sisters, as well as a blossoming romance with her English tutor that had only just begun. But when Vienna falls under Nazi rule, Natalie begins to fear for her family, especially her vivacious, tomboy little sister Libby. Then rumours of a possible escape route from mainland Europe called the kindertransport begin to swirl – can Natalie help her family escape the Nazis before it’s too late?

Blind Justice


Bruce Alexander - 1994
    Falsely charged of theft in 1768 London, thirteen-year-old orphaned printer's apprentice Jeremy Proctor finds his only hope in the legendary Sir John Fielding. Fielding, founder of the Bow Street Runners police force, then recruits young Jeremy in his mission to fight London's most wicked crimes.

The Search Party


Simon Lelic - 2020
    The entire town thinks Sadie Saunders is dead. Missing now for a week, they say she was murdered. And they think they know who did it.Aware of the suspicion that surrounds them - and one of them in particular - Sadie's five best friends vow to find out the truth. So they pack their bags and set off for the woods where Sadie was last seen. But what starts as a search quickly turns into something more sinister. Each of them has a secret, and they all know more about Sadie's past than they are willing to admit. As the landscape opens up, and the darkness closes in, the reality of their situation begins to dawn on them. It was never really a search party.      It was a witch hunt. And not everyone is going to make it home.

The River Between Us


Liz Fenwick - 2021
    The peace and tranquillity of Boatman’s Cottage, nestled by the water, is just what she needs to heal.Yet soon after her arrival, Theo discovers a stash of hidden letters tied with a ribbon, untouched for more than a century. The letters – sent from the battlefields of France during WW1 – tell of a young servant from the nearby manor house, Abbotswood, and his love for a woman he was destined to lose.As she begins to bring Boatman’s Cottage and its gardens back to life, Theo pieces together a story of star-crossed lovers played out against the river, while finding her own new path to happiness.The River Between Us beautifully explores the mystery and secrets of a long-forgotten love affair, and will be loved by fans of Kate Morton.

Hawksmoor


Peter Ackroyd - 1985
    But Dyer plans to conceal a dark secret at the heart of each church - to create a forbidding architecture that will survive for eternity. Two hundred and fifty years later, London detective Nicholas Hawksmoor is investigating a series of gruesome murders on the sites of certain eighteenth-century churches - crimes that make no sense to the modern mind ...

Lady Josephina's Secret (Almack's Assembly Rooms Book 2)


Agnes Forest - 2018
     Lady Josephina Crawford, daughter of Viscount Whitemore, harbours a devastating secret that keeps her from finding a suitable husband in high society and risks bringing scandal to her family name should it ever be revealed. Custom, duty, and propriety stand in the way of her happiness, and within the confines of Regency England’s high society, those barricades are enough to keep her encaged forever. Gerard Sheridan, Marquess of Richmond, heir to the Duke of Bedfordshire, suffers from a secret of his own – he struggles to deal with the enormous pressure to fulfil a role that he never expected would be his. Oil paint, color, light, and composition fill his imagination every waking moment, but all of that must be cast aside when Lord Richmond as he takes on the role of heir, after his brother’s tragic death. He needs to find a wife, and fast. A chance encounter opens up new hope. But from behind the masks that they wear, Josephina and Gerard must face the truth that they see in each other’s eyes; they’re lost in a battle between convention and love, and within the glittering walls of Almack’s Assembly Rooms, they’re without question set up to fail. Can Gerard overcome his doubts, and believe that love is possible? Can Josephina risk trusting that her secret could be safe with Gerard? Or will the conventions of society tear them apart forever?