Book picks similar to
The Ocean's Daughter by Corinne Beenfield
historical-fiction
fiction
ww2
3-stars
Women at War
Jan Casey - 2021
One war.For Viola Baxter, 1939 was supposed to be a wonderful year. After meeting and falling in love with dashing Fred Scholz at Cambridge University, they planned to marry and start their new lives together. She never imagined her father would say no to the marriage. Fred is half-German and, with war fast approaching, he must travel to Germany to bring his sister home. But that journey is enough for others to suspect him... and Viola.When Annie Scholz heard her beloved grandmother was seriously ill, she wasted no time rushing to Germany to be by her side. She didn't realise it meant she would not be able to return home to the UK, or that her decision would endanger her brother, Fred, as well. Even reuniting with her childhood beau is bittersweet – how can she love someone who stands for everything she opposes? With everyone watching Annie and Fred so closely, there is no room for error... or dangerous resistance.With war the only certainty, there's just one thing in question: where do Viola and Annie's loyalties lie? Women at War is the thrilling and heart-wrenching new WW2 story from Jan Casey, author of The Women of Waterloo Bridge.
Beautiful Exiles
Meg Waite Clayton - 2018
Headstrong, accomplished journalist Martha Gellhorn is confident with words but less so with men when she meets disheveled literary titan Ernest Hemingway in a dive bar. Their friendship—forged over writing, talk, and family dinners—flourishes into something undeniable in Madrid while they’re covering the Spanish Civil War.Martha reveres him. The very married Hemingway is taken with Martha—her beauty, her ambition, and her fearless spirit. And as Hemingway tells her, the most powerful love stories are always set against the fury of war. The risks are so much greater. They’re made for each other.With their romance unfolding as they travel the globe, Martha establishes herself as one of the world’s foremost war correspondents, and Hemingway begins the novel that will win him the Nobel Prize for Literature. Beautiful Exiles is a stirring story of lovers and rivals, of the breathless attraction to power and fame, and of one woman—ahead of her time—claiming her own identity from the wreckage of love.
The Kormak Saga
William King - 2013
In reality Kormak is a Guardian, one of an ancient order sworn to protect humanity from the servants of the gathering darkness.Kormak is a sword and sorcery hero in the tradition of Conan, Solomon Kane and Druss the Legend, a driven man with a mission to hunt down the ancient demons who slaughtered his family. His fast-paced, action-packed adventures take him from one end of his richly detailed fantasy world to the other. THE KORMAK OMNIBUS The Kormak Omnibus compiles all of Kormak’s adventures so far into one massive volume packed with high adventure. It contains the first three novels, the short story Guardian of the Dawn and many extras such as a map of the Kingdoms of the Sun and the author’s notes for all of the stories. If you’ve never entered Kormak’s world of danger and excitement, here is the perfect opportunity to do so at a special bargain price. GUARDIAN OF THE DAWNIn this chilling tale, Kormak seeks refuge for the night in an isolated peasant home only to find himself thrown into a terrifying confrontation with an ancient evil. STEALER OF FLESHThe Ghul are the Stealers of Flesh, an ancient race of demons who possess the bodies of humans to work great evil. Now one of them has been freed from its ancient prison using Kormak's own dwarf-forged sword and the Guardian must pursue it to a haunted city on the edge of the world to end its reign of terror.DEFILER OF TOMBSAn open tomb, a dead child and an unleashed ancient horror send Kormak on a path of vengeance through the haunted northlands of Taurea. He seeks Morghael, a necromancer with a plan for resurrecting the dark empire of Kharon and the power to bring the dead swarming back to life. WEAVER OF SHADOWWar brews along the border of the Elvenwood. The prophet of an ancient evil has corrupted the nation of Mayasha, reducing the once proud elves to feral slaves of the Shadow. Allied with the monstrous Spider Folk she is poised to sweep away the human settlements in the ancient forests and spread her Blight across the lands. Only one man stands between her and absolute victory; Kormak. ABOUT THE AUTHOR William King lives in Prague, Czech Republic with his lovely wife Radka and his two sons Dan and William Karel. He has been a professional author and games developer for almost a quarter of a century. He is the creator of the bestselling Gotrek and Felix series for Black Library and the author of the Space Wolf books which between them have sold over three quarters of a million copies in English and been translated into 8 languages.His novel Blood of Aenarion made the shortlist for the 2012 David Gemmell Legend Award, the premier award in the field of heroic fantasy. His short fiction had appeared in Year’s Best SF and Best of Interzone. He has twice won the Origins Awards For Game Design. His hobbies include role-playing games and MMOs as well as travel.
A Pair of Silver Wings
James Holland - 2006
And for over half a century he had, for the most part, managed to put the memories of those years out of his mind. But fifty years on, he is alone - a widower - with a strained relationship with his only son, and a career behind him that has brought him respect but little affection.In 1995, Britain is celebrating the anniversary of the end of the war, and Edward finds himself forced to confront the tragedy he suffered during those years. Embarking on a journey of self-discovery and personal redemption, Edward travels from England to Malta and then to Italy, and in doing so comes face-to-face with the idealistic young man he once was, and the devastated and traumatised 23-year-old he was to become.Following his experiences over the skies of England in 1941, through the dark days of the Siege of Malta, to the partisan struggle in Italy, A Pair of Silver Wings is a story of friendship, love and the terrible legacy of war, exploring universal themes of grief and redemption, and one man's quest to heal the scars of the past.
Rain
Leigh K. Cunningham - 2011
It explores the often difficult but enduring ties between mothers and daughters, men and women: the sacrifices, compromises, and patterns of emotion that repeat themselves through generations. In a journey that spans four decades and crosses the globe, Rain is an epic tale of the choices and consequences that comprise one family's history. By turn dark and amusing, Rain delivers an emotionally charged revelation about love, loss, guilt, self-discovery and redemption. The enduring question of family bonds-escapable or not-divides, conquers, and triumphs.
A Train to Moscow
Elena Gorokhova - 2022
When she leaves for Moscow to audition for drama school, she defies her mother and grandparents and abandons her first love, Andrei.Before she leaves, Sasha discovers the hidden war journal of her uncle Kolya, an artist still missing in action years after the war has ended. His pages expose the official lies and the forbidden truth of Stalin’s brutality. Kolya’s revelations and his tragic love story guide Sasha through drama school and cement her determination to live a thousand lives onstage. After graduation, she begins acting in Leningrad, where Andrei, now a Communist Party apparatchik, becomes a censor of her work. As a past secret comes to light, Sasha’s ambitions converge with Andrei’s duties, and Sasha must decide if her dreams are truly worth the necessary sacrifice and if, as her grandmother likes to say, all will indeed be well.
The Caves of San Pietro
Susan Gayle - 2021
An intriguing and earnest... war tale." –Kirkus ReviewsAfter he and his buddy survive the bloody landing on the beaches of Salerno, Frank Moster is more determined than ever to play a part in liberating his birth parents' homeland from the Nazi scourge. What he doesn't expect is that he'll become personally involved with an Italian family whose lives are being ravaged, first by the German occupation and now by the brutal fighting and deadly bombings on the heels of the Allied invasion - or that, for the second time in his life, he'll come face to face with the heartache and trauma of being orphaned at a very young age.When all three of these forces collide at the Battle of San Pietro, lives will be changed forever and unbreakable bonds will be forged between families half a world apart.
Villa Normandie
Kevin Doherty
The Normandy coastal village of Caillons is under German occupation, its villagers struggling to survive. With her husband forced into compulsory service for the German Reich, Jeanne Dupré, mother of two adolescent daughters, risks everything to lead the local Resistance cell.Life becomes even more dangerous with the arrival of British agent Daniel Benedict. He needs Jeanne's help to complete his mission, vital to Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings. But Jeanne is suspicious that they are not fighting for the same outcome. Their joint foe is Jürgen Graf, a Nazi oberleutnant set on wiping out the local Resistance. Aware that a spy is at large, Graf is on a ruthless mission to hunt Benedict down. With the help of a network of Catholic priests, Benedict penetrates the heart of the Nazis’ defences against Allied invasion, the Atlantic Wall. As the lives of Jeanne and Benedict become increasingly intertwined can they stay true to themselves? Will they have to sacrifice all in their fight for freedom..? ‘Villa Normandie’ is a moving historical novel, presenting an accurate picture of life under Nazi occupation. It is thoroughly detailed, meticulously researched and vividly authentic - depicting the turbulent world of the French resistance and the struggle of the French people for freedom.
Ride: A Novella
Octavia Randolph - 2014
No one forced her to do so. Yet she was compelled to this act by an irresistible force, drawing her on...Godgyfu of Mercia was a real woman, living in one of the most tumultuous and dangerous times in England's history. Born into wealth and privilege, she would die the year following the Battle of Hastings, and all her vast holdings be forfeit to the new Norman conquering king. Yet she did something which was never forgotten.Here is Ride, Godiva's own story, imagined by the author of the beloved Circle of Ceridwen Saga.
Showdown
Dan Moren - 2019
But Commonwealth operative Simon Kovalic knows nothing ever goes to plan. So, when a duplicitous bounty hunter lives up to his reputation, Kovalic’s ready—just maybe not ready enough.Now he and his team must get offworld, before their enemies catch up with them…
Lotus Land - The Secrets of Padma Kshetra
Bhuban Patra - 2020
The kingdom of Kalinga though a maritime superpower remained secluded and reclusive to the other nations of Bharat. This was not by chance, but by choice, as this holy land was fulfilling a prophecy that could become the basis of existence for the entire humankind after the Kali Yuga ends. The first book of the Konark Secret Duology is the tale of Bishnu Maharana, the chief architect of the Konark Temple. This is his journey about how he became a master architect and the secrets he unravels while constructing this shrine. Was this temple just a grand monument or were there secrets behind its construction? Why was an unusual technique being used for its creation, when there were tried and tested methods? Did this monument hold some secret within itself? Was Bishnu Maharana an architect or a man of secrets?
When the Curtain Falls
Carrie Hope Fletcher - 2018
Their relationship is made up of clandestine meetings and stolen moments because there is someone who will make them suffer if he discovers she is no longer 'his'. But life in the theatre doesn't always go according to plan and tragedy and heartache are waiting in the wings for all the players . . .Almost seventy years later, a new production of When the Curtain Falls arrives at the theatre, bringing with it Oscar Bright and Olive Green and their budding romance. Very soon, though, strange things begin to happen and they learn about the ghost that's haunted the theatre since 1952, a ghost who can only be seen on one night of the year. Except the ghost is appearing more often and seems hell bent on sabotaging Oscar and Olive. The young couple realise they need to right that wrong from years gone by, but can they save themselves before history repeats itself and tragedy strikes once more?
Heart of Disaster: A Titanic Novel of love and loss
Rachel Wesson - 2019
The legend says “Thursday’s child has far to go” but nobody knew just how troublesome this journey would prove. Four single friends, a newly married couple and a stoker who works in the belly of the gigantic ship meet that fateful night. When disaster strikes, not all survive. Even the ones who live, have lost something forever in the freezing Atlantic Ocean.
The Rescue Man
Anthony Quinn - 2009
With writing that is both immediate and deeply steeped in its time, Anthony Quinn recreates wartime Liverpool.
Land of Blood and Water
Martin Lake - 2015
A family at the mercy of men of power and violence. Brand and his family live simple lives in their quiet corner of Somerset. The war that Wessex wages against the heathen Danes takes place far away and is of no concern to them. But when a desperate war-band descends upon them one winter night their lives are changed forever. They are thrown into a dark world of savage warfare, lust, revenge and murder. Brand believes he can decide the path that he and his family must tread. But others have very different ideas. At stake is the survival of the kingdom. And now their lives are bound up with the fugitive King Alfred of Wessex. A gripping story from an accomplished author. Elaine Jeremiah. Author. The emotional content of the book is one of the highlights of the narrative. The characters are well written, the action flows seamlessly and the reader is left with a feeling as if they had been there. Paul Bennett. Fast paced from the start, the story blossoms as you read. A new novel from the author of The Lost King series.