Book picks similar to
The King's Messenger by Samuel Edwards
espionage
fiction
historical-fiction
The Bear of Britain (Warrior Druid of Britain Book 4)
Steven A. McKay - 2021
The Girl from the Docklands Café
June Tate - 2018
Jessie is just nineteen when her father passes away and her mother decides to return to her native Ireland. But Jessie, headstrong and independent, prefers to take charge of her own destiny and finds employment at a workman’s cafe, becoming the darling of the dockworkers who are fiercely protective of her.When one of her customers charms his way into her heart, Jessie becomes Mrs Conor McGonigall and soon assumes ownership of the cafe. All the pieces of her life are coming together. But when a pushy local businessman and a former employee with a grudge have other ideas, everything she has worked for is slowly chipped away. Can she find the strength to rebuild the life she wants in the face of immeasurable personal loss?‘Her debut book caused a stir among Cookson and Cox devotees, and they’ll love this. Compulsive reading’ Woman’s Weekly‘A heart-rending tale’ Gilda O’Neill‘A page-turner for all saga lovers’ Katie Fforde‘A heart-warming tale with a vividly drawn central character’ Peterborough Evening Telegraph‘Excellent and gripping . . . compelling. I am eagerly awaiting June Tate’s next offering’ Sussex Life
And One for Luck
Lynda Page - 1996
The more time Grace spends with Bessie, her six boistrous children and her loving husband Tom, the more she realises what has been missing from her own loveless marriage. As the war takes its toll on Leicester, and one by one the men folk leave to join the fighting, Grace finds comfort in helping others. Each day, as she takes on another new challenge, Grace realises that her daughter might have been right all along - it's time to break out, really make something of her life, and possibly find true love, before it's too late...
The Gathering Clouds
Andrew Wareham - 2019
Young Thomas witnessed the atrocities that the Nazis had carried out in Spain and trained his pilots to show no mercy when towards the end of the book, he breached the rules to attack German planes. Published by The Electronic Book Company
Hellyer's Trip
Philip Prowse - 2018
Not as a diplomat – that takes years to perfect – but as someone undercover, someone who’s not what they seem.’ ‘You don’t work for us and never have worked for us. This is what we would put out if you were rumbled. A rogue, a loose cannon — choose your cliché.’ Nick Hellyer is an accidental spy. Expelled in disgrace from Cambridge, he’s hurled into the contradictory and vibrant city of Alexandria as Egypt heads towards the 1967 Arab–Israeli War. His double life as a secret agent mirrors the duplicities of his relationships. But when he stumbles on a war-changing secret, who can he trust not to betray or abandon him? For fans of Charles Cumming and Philip Kerr
No Blacks No Dogs No Irish
Ruby Lord - 2013
She does so without thinking about the consequences until it’s too late. By the end she realises the man she wants to marry is not in any position to marry her and never will be. Well let’s think about it, he’s not in any position to marry anyone. The Catholic Church don’t allow their priests to get married let alone have secret affairs with desperate women. This isn’t your standard love story, it’s a dark and intense tale of life for one woman in 1960’s Manchester and to some extent what life is/was like for priests of the Roman Catholic Church.
Cairnaerie
M.K.B. Graham - 2017
Geneva Snow commits the unforgivable Southern sin. No longer the apple of her father’s eye, she is a pariah, defying her society's most sacrosanct rule. To protect her—and hoping for a change of heart—her shattered yet steadfast father hides her at Cairnaerie, his mountain estate. But his iron-willed daughter is unrepentant. After years of solitude, an older and wiser Geneva is finally mellowing, and she is desperate to leave a legacy worthy of the father she loved and lost. To that end, she engages an unwitting young history professor for help to escape Cairnaerie long enough to attend the wedding of her granddaughter—a girl dangerously unaware of her lineage. But when a postman’s malevolence and a colleague’s revenge converge, Geneva's long-kept secret is exposed. For a second time, she faces a calamity of her own making. Only this time, there is no place to hide.
The Serpent's Egg
J.J. Toner - 2016
But this is Germany, 1938. Their union is against Nazi laws, as Anna is part-Jewish. A Gestapo officer agrees to authorize the marriage, but only if Max infiltrates and betrays a Marxist resistance cell, the Red Orchestra. This is not an assignment that Max can refuse. If he succeeds, Anna will get the wedding she longs for, but many brave resistance fighters will die… What early reviewers are saying about the book: JJ Toner does a fabulous job of lacing fact and fiction together. I do not often give a five-star rating, but this story surprised me, educated me, and entertained me. There was never a dull moment. Well done. JJ Toner captures perfectly the sense of paranoia and fear that prevailed in Berlin during the Third Reich, especially in the years 1938 to 1945. The convoluted intermingling of different agencies, organizations and ministries, and over all the terror of the SS and its departments, is well set out. It was really a matter of who you knew, not what you knew, if you wanted to progress. The fact that the novel is based on the actual story of the Rote Kapelle only adds to the tension
Shadows of the Past
June Francis - 2019
Fifteen-year-old Annie Anderson was adopted by Sylvia and Hugh after the death of their own daughter. Annie is told that her own mother in childbirth and her father died before she was born.A chance encounter introduces Annie to local lad Andrew Fraser. Their friendship blossoms, but once Annie’s adoptive parents learn of it they forbid her from seeing him. When Annie asks why, it sets her on a path to discover more about her origins – but will what she learns bring heartache or joy?
Don’t miss this rich and vivid saga by one of Liverpool’s best-known novelists, perfect for fans of Kitty Neale and Katie Flynn.
House Maid: A story behind the suffering of a Sri Lankan Migrant worker in Saudi Arabia.
Indika Guruge - 2017
She thinks migrating to a foreign land would be the only hope. The only qualification she has to migrate to a foreign country is to be a housemaid. That salary would be way better than in Sri Lanka, flying to Saudi Arabia as a housemaid would be a dream come true.Yet day after day, Kamala comprehends her mistake and regrets her stupid actions of leaving her beloveds. She is trapped by the secured walls of the Arabian house and by the rules, regulations and her negligence on working. She gets punished by horrific physical and mental abuse by the hands of her employer. Finally trapped her in a room as a punishment with nonpayment of her salary.When she tries to escape she is being physically tortured by the employer with nailing her body feet beating her with chains and sticks. Finally, when she escapes and returns to her mother land, everything what she worked have gone on a waste by her husband and leaving it all for nothing.Why I wrote this book.Labor migration to the Middle East has become a main feature of Sri Lankan economy strategies making it the second biggest foreign exchange earnings. Migration is likely to continue in the future. Foreign embassies continued to receive many reports that employers abused foreign women working as domestic servants. Some embassies of countries with large domestic servant populations maintained safe houses to which their citizens may flee to escape work situations that included forced confinement, withholding of food, nonpayment of salaries, beating and other physical abuse, and rape.These are few stories... "One particular day I dropped a saucer which broke into pieces. My employer was angry and he heated up five nails and drove them into my hand. When I shouted out in pain my employer's wife held a knife to my neck," she said.Why you should read this book?When you Google Sri Lanka all you see is a beautiful island with beautiful sceneries and nature surrounded by lovely sandy beaches, diverse landscapes ranging from plains to highlands, rainforests, wildlife and exotic food.But not many know how the Sri Lankan lower middle class suffer. How everyday is a challenge for them to make their ends meet. How much they suffer to keep their families alive, insufficient money to feed their children and to spend for their education.I was inspired by so many stories about how these migrant workers suffer. I have been fortunate enough to help these people and listen to their stories.This shows us how cruel the world is. Another side of life which many has not seen, or even think about, simply a nightmare. Why cannot the governments take any action about this? Non-government organizations? Is there anyone at all? When they send their hard earn money with high hopes, most of the time husbands waste money on alcohol and gambling, children go astray and get abused. These women and families fall of from the frying pan into fire. Time, money, pain all gets wasted. Everything end up in tears.This story will give you the inner aspect in depth about the middle class migrant workers and their lives, how hard they work, how much they sacrifice, how hard they hide their feelings and pain, suffer and struggle to survive every day.This book is a story about a family that went through this horrific abuse and torture. Hope you enjoy this book.Scroll up and grab your copy now.
Flashman and the Knights of the Sky (Flashback Book 1)
Paul Moore - 2013
Harry Flashman, grandson of the famous Victorian General is about to leave Rugby under a cloud. A chip off the old block, one might say. Perhaps more than he realised. Forced to join the army, up to no good at Sandhurst and sent to India. 1914. India. Bored with garrison life, an unwise gamble leads to a flight in one of these new aeroplanes. As a result, and surprisingly smitten by aviation, Flashman returns to England via Sarajevo, intending to learn to fly. Meanwhile, Europe is convulsed. Displaying all his charming family traits, he is caught up in the start of the Great War, shanghaied along the way by the head of the fledgling Secret Service. Fighting for his life over the western front in a box of string and dope, sent beyond the lines on reckless missions for C, terrified out of his wits, dashing for cover, deflowering the local maidens, lying, stealing and generally behaving badly, Flashman gives his honest account of his life as an RFC pilot and sometime secret agent. From the birth of aerial fighting, to the first day on the Somme, from dropping bombs on the enemy, to duelling in the skies with Immelmann, from the nocturnal secrets of enemy spies, to murder on the streets of St Omer, Flashman lives up to his family name, emerging quivering but alive and reputation intact from the maelstrom of total war in Europe.
Money and Good Things (The Olivia Series, #5)
Yael Politis - 2020
Olivia, Nick, their two little girls, and Charlie still live in the old boarding house. It has been nine years since Mourning left Olivia. Nine years since the last time she saw him – though he has always arranged to have Charlie with him for a few weeks each year.But today Olivia is anxiously awaiting Mourning’s arrival. Yesterday he sent a message with Michelle – he needs to talk with Olivia. Why now? What will he say? Does he intend to take Charlie for good?On this already emotionally-charged day, a cryptic telegram from Missouri arrives. It will take Olivia, Mourning, and Nick on a different kind of journey together.Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Literary Fiction
Where Eagles Dance: A Saga of Early California
Marian Sepulveda - 2015
The wagon trains, Indian attacks, a lone survivor, and her tale of life among the Kumeyaay. Parts of this story are factual: the trail blazing Butterfield Overland Mail, the unfolding conflicts in California over the issue of slavery, and the looming Civil War. Woven into this historical fabric are the stories of Abby, a young girl raised by Indians; John Jay Butterfield, scion of the founder of the Overland Mail; Waterman Ormsby, reporter for the New York Herald; and many other compelling personages drawn from fact and fiction. Join author Marian Sepulveda as she guides you through this unique chapter in early California lore.
The Dressmaker's Son
Abbi Sherman Schaefer - 2013
Rachael's family comes to America to start a new life after fleeing the pogroms in Russia. Rebekah comes to America with her son, Samuel, fleeing his father, Misha, a Russian soldier with whom she had an affair and has threatened to take him away from her so he will not grow up as a Jew and the son of a cobbler. Set in the Lower East Side of New York and pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, Russia, both women adjust to life in America until Misha kidnaps Samuel and returns with him to Russia. How Rebekah rises to the challenge of earning enough money as a designer of women's gowns to return to St. Petersburg to find her son, and the difficulties she encounters while there, including murder and prison, show the reader the full extent of a mother's ingenuity and determination when it comes to her child. Rachael also faces the possibility of losing a child to war when her son Solomon enlists in the army as America's entry into World War I approaches.
A Fashionable Address
Pamela Evans - 1993
Cyril Potter is a secret gambler whose debts have become so crippling that he can see no way out, and he commits suicide. Left to clear the debts, his family are forced to sell everything the own. As daughter Kate labours in a hat-making factory to support the family, she catches the eye of the wealthy factory owner. But tragedy strikes the family once more when unmarried Kate is left pregnant...