Book picks similar to
The Dark Side of the Rainbow by Caren Powell


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drama
historical-fiction
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Reckless


William Nicholson - 2014
    The Second World War has gone on too long. Shops are closed ‘for the duration’. Trains run a restricted service ‘for the duration’. Life has paused, for the duration. A little girl, Pamela, is growing up fast. A young Englishman, Rupert Blundell, vows there’ll be no more wars. Both are waiting for their lives to begin.Then comes Hiroshima. Finally, devastatingly, the war is over.1962. Rupert is now strategic advisor to Lord Mountbatten, and his close confidant. Pamela is eighteen and has moved to London, eager for love and experience of every kind. There’ll be parties at Cliveden, Christine Keeler, Stephen Ward, the Astors. Life is a whirlwind.But beneath the glamour lies quiet, desperate terror, as the Cuban missile crisis unfolds and the world spins ever closer to nuclear war.Reckless is a gripping novel set against the world in crisis, by a superb novelist at the height of his powers.

Bitches' Brew


Fred Khumalo - 2007
    Focusing on the epic love affair between a former amateur musician—who happens to be a bootlegger, mercenary, and killer—and a shebeen queen, this South African love story traces the couple's lives and loves through the interweaving of history and memory in the tradition of village storytellers.

Assignment: Casablanca


Peter J. Azzole - 2019
    Their mission is simply to provide a temporary Top Secret special intelligence communications center to support U.S. members of a high level Allied war planning meeting.An easy mission quickly goes awry. Only two months after the Allied assault and occupation of Casablanca (Operation TORCH), the city remains a hotbed of Vichy and German sympathizers and spies. One unexpected event leads to another. Things get dicey, with life threatening situations, shots fired and dead bodies. Tony is diverted from Casablanca on a brief classified fact-finding mission to a neutral country's island. That mission gets complicated and ultimately results in spy catching and another death. Returning to Casablanca, events result in Tony meeting Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.Between "Casablanca's" covers are communications intelligence, counter-intelligence, military politics, diplomatic tension, WWII history, family dynamics, and in the final analysis, a very exciting, twisting and fast moving story.

Dirtiest Revenge


Cha'Bella Don - 2011
    But being with a boss doesn’t come easy, and Momma always said what glitters isn’t always gold. Lies, deceit, and trust issues are becoming Kendra's worse nightmare. With deception in her view and Wiz nearby, Kendra is ready to move on until the unthinkable happens. Dreams, hopes, and love aren’t enough anymore! Will she go to depth’s end to seek the Dirtiest Revenge?

The Robinswood Story: Three Book Collection


Jean Grainger - 2019
    1939Life in a stately home is never as it seems, and this is certainly the case for Robinswood. Join USA Today bestseller, Jean Grainger as she takes you deep into the lives of Lord and Lady Kenefick, owners of the estate, whose social status is under threat as funds to keep the estate running ever dwindle. Their children see no reason for life not to continue as normal, tennis parties and hunt balls, but even a rural backwater in Ireland cannot resist the power of change and as war looms in Europe, one thing is certain, nothing will ever be the same again.Meanwhile, downstairs the Murphy family, Dermot, Isabella and thier three daughters, are only too aware of the realities of life.  Their very existence hangs on the fortunes of the estate and the family they serve, but they too are about to have everything change. These characters will worm their way into your heart and throughout the trilogy you will cheer the victories and walk beside them in the darkest of days. With over 1000  5* reviews these books have  rapidly become bestsellers. If you like Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs, then you will love the fortunes of those whose lives are inextricably linked with Robinswood.

Louis de Bernières's Captain Corelli's Mandolin: A Reader's Guide


Con Coroneos - 2003
    A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question.The books in the series will all follow the same structure: a biography of the novelist, including other works, influences, and, in some cases, an interview; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received upon publication; a summary of how the novel has performed since publication, including film or TV adaptations, literary prizes, etc.; a wide range of suggestions for further reading, including websites and discussion forums; and a list of questions for reading groups to discuss.

Victoria's Walk


Christopher Nicole - 1986
    Having spent six years in Africa with her English missionary husband, she knows that the desert is not as empty of water as most suppose, if one knows where to look. Thus she leads her party on an epic two hundred mile walk to gain the fertile grassland to the south. To achieve this, she must drive them ever onwards, quell two mutinies and watch some of her party die. Their lives are saved when they reach an oasis, but to gain true safety they must now face Arab slaver traders, bloodthirsty Ashanti warriors, and the all-consuming forest. Victoria's walk has hardly begun. Set at the turn of the 20th Century, when the British Empire was approaching its zenith, with a handful of administrators and soldiers endeavoring to rule vast areas and dominate peoples they did not understand, VICTORIA'S WALK is a tale of the human spirit at its highest and lowest, its most courageous and its most bestial, of one woman's unceasing fortitude, of the men who loved her, and the women who hated her.

Belong to Me


Kit Morgan - 2016
    They moved to America as young boys and helped tame the Wild West with not only their fists, but impeccable manners! In all that time, they kept hearing bits and pieces of a tale their mother told them. Over the years however, not to mention the loss of their mother, they lost most of the story and could only remember one major detail. A crocodile. Oh, and their third cousin the earl of course, who later became a duke, and whose duchy eventually fell to Duncan – but that’s another tale. This tale is something else entirely …Anthony Sayer had toiled for the East India Company for many years and after the death of his father was more than happy to return to England once and for all. Unfortunately, the Company had other ideas for Anthony, ones he wasn’t too thrilled to take on. Little did he know he’d be taking on so much more.Isabelle Bainbridge – better known as Isabelle Painbridge (or Hurricane Isabelle, depending on which circles one ran in) had given up any hopes of marriage. At twenty-six she was considered “on the shelf” by most of the ton and began to despair of ever finding a husband. Enter one Anthony Sayer. He was handsome, an earl and, better yet, available! But when a diary is delivered to her, its secrets turn Isabelle’s life upside down. Wishing to escape the horrible truths of the diary, she heads for India hoping to escape the scandal that will surely follow should anyone learn the book’s secrets. Unfortunately she runs into something else while abroad. Namely, one Anthony Sayer. And he isn’t exactly glad to see her. After all, Anthony has secrets of his own ...Enjoy this clean and wholesome romance full of fun, adventure, and a few critters to boot!

Trekking On: A Boer Journal of World War One


Deneys Reitz - 2016
     Now Reitz would join the war in Europe. Following his father’s example, Deneys Reitz refused to accept the terms of the peace treaty and went into exile, on Madagascar. After four years of trials and adventures, Reitz recounts how his former commander, J. C. Smuts, eventually persuaded him to return home to help rebuild their country. A long and troubled process, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War South Africans were further divided by the September 1914 rebellion. Serving alongside Smuts once more, Reitz describes an oft-overlooked theatre of the war as they continued their campaign into Germany’s African Colonies. Continuing immediately from Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War, Reitz’s stirring memoir carries him towards the Western Front and the final years of the war, fighting with the British, but not for them. Deneys Reitz (1882-1944) was a Boer solider, lawyer, author and politician. After commanding the 1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front, at the end of the First World War he returned home, later becoming a member of the South African government. Trekking On is the second of three volumes he wrote about his life. Albion Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Hyena Dawn


Christopher Sherlock - 1991
    Hard-headed and impetuous, Rayne Gallagher flees his native South Africa after a tragic accident and joins the Rhodesian Light Infantry. He is embroiled in a war in which he has neither interest or cause when, unable to resist the lure of danger, he is recruited to lead a mission for the CIA in Mozambique. Amassed at the port of Beira is a vast military force led by Russian General Vorotnikov, which is preparing to invade Rhodesia. The general's grand scheme will shatter British plans for a peaceful transition from colony to democracy and create a major political and economic base for the USSR on South Africa's borders. Gallagher and a select group of mercenaries must ensure that the invasion never takes place. Theirs is a fight to the death - with the future of the whole of Southern Africa in the balance.

Ubu and the Truth Commission


Jane Taylor - 1998
    "Ubu and the Truth Commission" is the full play text of a multi-dimensional theatre piece which tries to make sense of the madness which overtook South Africa during apartheid.

Shifting Colours


Fiona Sussman - 2014
    EDITION. Set against the tumultuous background of apartheid South Africa, a powerful and moving debut about family, sacrifice, and discovering what it means to belong… Celia Mphephu knows her place in the world. A black servant working in the white suburbs of 1960s Johannesburg, she’s all too aware of her limitations. Nonetheless, she has found herself a comfortable corner: She has a job, can support her faraway family, and is raising her youngest child, Miriam. But as racial tensions explode, Celia’s world shifts. Her employers decide to flee the political turmoil and move to England—and they ask to adopt Miriam and take her with them. Devastated at the prospect of losing her only daughter, yet unable to deny her child a safer and more promising future, Celia agrees, forever defining both their futures. As Celia fights against the shattering violence of her time, Miriam battles the quiet racism of England, struggling to find her place in a land to which she doesn’t belong—until the call of her heritage inexorably draws her back to Africa to discover the truth behind her mother’s choices and uncover a heartbreaking secret from long ago…READERS GUIDE INSIDE

The Complete Helen Forrester 4-Book Memoir: Twopence to Cross the Mersey / Liverpool Miss / By the Waters of Liverpool / Lime Street at Two


Helen Forrester - 1990
    672p hardback, a fresh copy, clean, firm binding, dustjacket in excellent condition, like new, signed by the author

The Silent Frontier


Peter Watt - 2006
    A business partnership leads to riches and rewards that he never dreamed of.Lachlan has always known what it is to struggle for survival. But even a life of bare knuckle fighting and destitution cannot prepare him for the war he finds himself in against the Maori of New Zealand, nor the feelings he has for his Commanding Officer's sister.Phoebe barely remembers what it is to have a family and yearns for a love that will make her feel complete, and a home to call her own.Three tales of courage, hope and forbidden love set against the backdrop of the New Zealand Maori wars and an emerging Australian nation.

A Blade of Grass


Lewis DeSoto - 2003
    The mistress of the house, Marit, is young, recently orphaned, easily intimidated, and unaccustomed to rural life. With no close neighbors or friends, Marit feels isolated in the house while her husband works in the fields all day. Marit's displacement is soon echoed in the character of Tembi, the daughter of Marit's household maid, who assumes her mother's responsibilities in the farmhouse after she is hit by a car.An encroaching civil war soon threatens the tranquility of the farm, and before long a plague of violence descends. Abandoned by the other farm workers, the care of the farm is now left to Marit and Tembi, who begin this new struggle for survival as equals, but whose unity is put to a devastating test.DeSoto paints an unforgettable portrait of South Africa with tensions, both political and sexual, simmering underneath. Recalling J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace in his portrayal of Apartheid, DeSoto explodes onto the literary scene with a first novel of tremendous power and literary skill. His description of a terrifying world gone awry holds at its center a deep understanding of the patience of the land, and the enduring hope for renewal.