Lilia: a true story of love, courage, and survival in the shadow of war


Linda Ganzini - 2021
    Trapped under Mussolini’s reign and Hitler’s occupation, this riveting true story is propelled by a brave girl’s courage and a family’s bond as they struggle to survive the battle between the forces of evil and the power of love.Where there is love, hope remains.Against the backdrop of fascist Italy during World War II and the Holocaust, “Lilia” sets the stage for the harrowing story of a family whose depth of heart overcomes a war tearing them apart—years marred by unfathomable tragedies, immense loss, upheaval, and countless betrayals.Lilia resigns herself to a world crushed by misery, abject poverty, and a broken, bitter mother who suffered insurmountable grief. The burden of war, loneliness, and adult responsibilities rob her of a carefree childhood. Witnessing her parent’s challenge to stay alive during the Nazi occupation becomes Lilia’s greatest sorrow, one she makes the most heroic efforts to conceal. Ultimately, tragic loss and unanswered prayers dim the flame of her belief in the future. Will a seed of love reignite Lilia’s faith leading her towards an unforgettable and inspiring triumph over tragedy? Or will the dark shadow of war plague her destiny forever? This poignant account will transport you to a lost moment in history that irreversibly changes a quaint Northern Italian village, transforming its people for generations to come. Through the eyes and fearless spirit of a young girl, Lilia’s family story comes to life on the page and will remain in your heart long after you finish the final chapter.Read it now.PRAISE FOR LILIA“A powerful must-read! Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster that rides up there with The Diary of Anne Frank. The writing of this historical memoir is outstanding.”“Poignant and moving, yet startlingly compelling. Stunning.”“If you love WWII stories, this is one for your shelf. It is visual and cinematic. I hope it finds its way to the big screen.”“Powerful, passionate, and poignant. This book will grip you by the heartstrings and not let go. A compelling and astonishing five-star read.”“A beautiful masterpiece. Bring it home to adorn your bookshelf and to live in your heart.”“Full of universal lessons for us all. Poignant and remarkable in many ways, this author and loving daughter birthed a classic story that will endure through the ages. A must-read.” “The indignities, atrocities, and terrors visited on a poor family in a tiny Northern Italian village during WWII place in stark relief the human toll war takes on those the history books never document. Told with deep emotion and love, Lilia’s story steals your breath at the misery and hardship visited on a young girl forced to grow up far too fast in a world torn apart by the greed for power in fascist Italy. Yet there are rare moments of beautiful joy too. Through it all, Lilia’s incredible well of resilience never runs dry. Ganzini’s poetic prose renders this story both a warning about the slide into fascism in modern times and a beacon of hope for the strength of the human spirit. Read it now.” “Lilia is a labor of love, and it shows. The amount of detail, emotional nuance, and attention to the unfolding story of a family held together by love and hope lends itself to an exquisite and heartfelt narrative. Linda Ganzini has created a work that reflects the cruel realities of the past and heralds a clarion call to the time we currently find ourselves. Like Lilia and her family members, we can choose resilience and allow our personal stories to become beacons for our collective human journey. This is an important book for a transformative moment in our history.” “Lilia is a timely and must-read book. The author’s powerfully evocative and descriptive writing transported me back in time to a world of uncertainty, where innocent people were stripped of their humanity, dignity and faith. And a time where bonds were strengthened to survive the unthinkable. My thanks to Linda Ganzini for allowing readers to connect to her family’s past trials and tribulations in Northern Italy during WWII-events few know and talk about, especially our younger generation.”

Lyla


Sean Dietrich - 2015
    Quinn must learn how to exist in his mother's troubled world, without being consumed by her selfishness. Written with fervor and affection for a wounded past, Lyla is an intense and personal epic about a restless woman, and the children caught in her spurring draft. Set during the Great Depression, on the upper coast of Florida, this touching story is about growing up in an achingly anguished household, and finding a way to survive. A stirring memoir that delivers the reader to a sepia-tinted world that is heartbreaking, at times shocking, and triumphant.

Her Mother's Secret


Jan Baynham - 2020
    As she makes new friends and enjoys the laidback lifestyle, she writes all about it in her diary. But Elin’s carefree summer of love doesn’t last long, and her island experience ultimately leaves her with a shocking secret … Twenty-two years later, Elin’s daughter Alexandra has inherited the diary and is reeling from its revelations. The discovery compels Alexandra to make her own journey to the same island, following in her mother’s footsteps. Once there, she sets about uncovering what really happened to Elin in that summer of ’69.

Empire of Silver; Bones of the Hills; Lords of the Bow; Wolf of the Plains


Conn Iggulden
    Conn Iggulden Conqueror Series 4 Books Collection Pack incorporates very interesting titles like Empire of Silver, Bones of the Hills, Lords of the Bow, Wolf of the Plains.know more - http://www.snazal.com/conn-iggulden-c...

An Heiress of Holocaust: How my family survived the holocaust and the lasting effects on my life


Sarah Segal - 2020
    

The Lord and The Red-Headed Hornet


G.L. Robinson - 2021
    She's a bossy, fiery red-head. Her handsome brother wants to join the army and fight against Napoleon. But he's all she has and she wants him to become a diplomat instead. She gets a job with an aristocrat hoping he will provide the contacts. Needless to say, it doesn't work out exactly as any of them expects.

An Engagement at Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Variation


Rosemary Barton - 2020
    Though she has heard that the owner is a proud, unpleasant man, he is away from home and will not interfere with her enjoyment of the woods and fields surrounding the magnificent house. But when a strange man encounters her in the woods and accuses her of being a thief, she is determined to embarrass him for his error. Only to discover she has been completely mistaken in his identity. Fitzwilliam Darcy is perplexed by the strange girl before him. Her appearance is dishevelled from her walk in his woods, but her eyes sparkle, and she has a quick wit that captivates him. He is eager to know more of her, but his initial impression of her as a thief means the sentiment is not returned. As Darcy and Elizabeth are thrown together more and more in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside, their initial feelings for one another grow and deepen into something more. But Miss Bingley, the sister of Darcy’s closest friend, is not pleased by the love developing between Eliza Bennet and the man Miss Bingley is determined to marry. Fearing a proposal is imminent, she stoops to a level which shocks even those who know her best and which threatens to tear Elizabeth and Darcy apart forever.

The Great Book of Ireland: Interesting Stories, Irish History & Random Facts About Ireland (History & Fun Facts 1)


Bill O'Neill - 2019
    In this trivia book, you’ll learn more about Ireland’s history, pop culture, folklore, and so much more! In The Great Book of Ireland, you’ll learn: How did Ireland get its name? Why is it known as the Emerald Isle? Who was St. Patrick really? What do leprechauns and shamrocks have to do with St. Patrick’s Day? Which Irish company had a 9,000-year lease? What is Ireland’s top attraction? Which movies have been filmed in Ireland? Which famous novel may have been based on an Irish myth? Which legends did the Irish believe in? And so much more! This book is packed with trivia facts about Ireland. Some of the facts you’ll learn in this book are shocking, some are tragic, and others will leave you with goosebumps. But they’re all interesting! Whether you’re just learning about Ireland or you already think you’re an expert on the state, you’ll learn something you didn’t know in every chapter. Your history teacher will be interesting at all of your newfound knowledge. So what are you waiting for? Get started to learn more about Ireland!

A New Dawn: A Titanic short story


AnneMarie Brear - 2016
     Escaping a brutal father, Briony runs to James, the man she loves. With his family’s blessing, they marry and prepare for a new life in a new country – America. A wedding gift of two tickets to travel on an ocean liner is a wonderful surprise. Full of anticipation and hope, they set sail. Only, fate has sent them a challenge that tests, not just their strength and love, but their very survival.

The Black Sheep


Peter Darman - 2019
    Luca Baldi, a young shepherd, is catapulted into the violent world of mercenary warfare when he is forced to flee his native Sicily. He falls in with the Almogavars – ruthless mercenaries from the Catalonia region of Spain who have just finished butchering the French during a 20-year war on the island. He and they take ship to Constantinople when they are hired by the Byzantine emperor, whose empire is disintegrating in the face of remorseless Muslim advances. Alone and marooned amid danger and violence and surrounded by enemy forces, Luca must master the Almogavar way of war to survive. Plunged into the brutal world of Medieval warfare when the mercenaries take the fight to the emperor’s many enemies, can Luca live through fighting impossible odds as he battles to preserve a crumbling empire that has stood for a thousand years? ‘The Black Sheep’ is the first volume in the Catalan Chronicles, a Medieval saga set in the early 14th century. Maps of the Byzantine Empire and western Anatolia at this time can be found on the maps page of my website: www.peterdarman.com

The Breckton Trilogy


Mary Wood - 2013
    Bridie O’Hara, a beautiful young girl, is torn away from her native Ireland by her father – a freedom fighter, turned traitor, when he has to flee the wrath of the Fenians. Violated by him she ends up in a correction convent. Her escape, and meeting up with Bruiser Armitage, a pimp, sets her fate. One man tries to save her, Will Hadler, a kind, hard-working miner, whose love for Bridie knows no bounds. His rescue of her brings her happiness, but the demons inside her never give her peace. When Andrew Harvey, master of Hensal Grange, takes a fancy to her it is the beginning of Bridie sinking back into degradation. Her daughter, Bridget pays the price. Unprotected by her drunken mother, Bridget suffers rape and the heartbreak of having to give up her child, Megan.Book Two: AN UNBREAKABLE BOND: It is 1913 and for Megan and her friend, Hattie, the time has come to take up their placements and make their way in the world. Megan’s path leads her to fall into a marriage with a man she does not love and at whose hands she suffers beatings and rape. With Hattie’s help she finally escapes, but her path crosses that of the beautiful, rich and powerful, Laura Harvey. It is Laura’s need to have her wish at any price that triggers an eruption of violence that brings Megan near to death and sends Jack, the man both Megan and Laura love to prison, for a murder he did not commit.Hattie’s path crosses that of paedophile, Lord Marley. She is raped by him and his companion. Her ten pound silence money buys her an abortion but her choices have gone and she is forced into a life of prostitution. It is when she stumbles across an evil, child sex ring and is determined to break it that she once more encounters Lord Marley and though she succeeds in her quest and gets her revenge, she pays a terrible price. Hers and Megan’s enduring friendship bring them through.Book Three: TOMORROW BRINGS SORROWSet in 1939 – 1959, As the world faces many changes brought on by war, Megan has found happiness with Jack, but the threat of Megan’s schizophrenic son Billy, still casts a shadow over them. His release is imminent and for Sarah, Jack’s daughter, this opens up a fate she cannot fight. With her love and respect for Billy eroded over the years as she came to realise he has an evil core, Sarah now lives in fear of him and what he will do if she refuses him. Forsaking her true love, she marries Billy in an attempt to protect those who are very dear to her, but love and hate will out and the consequences are devastatingThose consequences are compounded by the incestuous love between twins Theresa and Terrence Crompton and their taking of all they need from whatever source they please.

LEVIATHAN


Gordon John Thomson - 2014
    In Newgate prison, an innocent surgeon, Dr Jonathan Silver, is waiting in the condemned cell to be hanged for the murder of his wife, Marianne. Fate intervenes in the unlikely shape of a nineteen-year old thief, Elisa Saltash, who, in trying to break her burglar father free from Newgate on the eve of his execution, ends up freeing Dr Silver instead. Silver and Elisa end up in the riverside world of Wapping, among the seething and dangerous world of the London docks. Silver has only one clue to the identity of his wife’s real killer - with her dying breath she had said to him the word “Leviathan”... This leads Silver to suspect a former suitor of his wife’s - a marine engineer called Daniel Strode who works at the Napier shipyard on the Isle of Dogs where Brunel’s Leviathan is being readied for launching. Silver gets a job as a carpenter at the yard, trying to find some real evidence against Daniel Strode. On Silver’s trail are a couple of formidable human bloodhounds: Detective Sergeant Charlie Sparrow of the Shadwell and Wapping police; and an even more devious young turnkey from Newgate, James Minshall, who is determined to gain the reward on Silver’s head for himself. Elisa soon becomes as much a fugitive as Silver when she steals a priceless pearl necklace called the Tears of the Prophet and finds her own secret life as a thief about to be exposed. Then other young women begin to be murdered in Wapping, and the fogbound riverside streets and alleyways become a place of fear... As the net closes around Silver, he has to try and discover the real reason behind his wife’s death, while also being drawn unwillingly into the mystery over the deaths of these other murdered women. Silver finds himself in a race to discover the truth before he is himself recaptured. With the help of Elisa, and another equally mysterious young woman called Amy McLennan, the story reaches a climax on the day of the launch of Brunel’s Leviathan... Set against the romantic and thrilling backdrop of London of the 1850s - the bustling centre of the greatest empire in the world, with its music halls and brothels and bare knuckle fighting - this thriller is an historical crime story full of mystery, murder, suspense and romance...

Decebal Triumphant


Peter Jaksa - 2020
    The Roman Empire expanded its conquered territories north to the Danubius (Danube) River. One kingdom is still a serious threat – the third most powerful military power in Europe and the richest nation in the region. That nation is Dacia, led by its young and brilliant military leader King Decebal.Decebal Triumphant is the story of the early days (85 – 99 A.D.) of the Roman – Dacian wars. It is told from the point of view of King Decebal and the Dacian people fighting for their freedom and survival, and also examines the intrigues of Emperor Domitian, a rising military star named Trajan, and the Roman nobility fighting for power. Going beyond historical myths and Hollywood stereotypes, this novel tells the rich story of an epic clash of cultures and of brutal military conflicts that shaped the future of two nations.

Friendship & Folly


Elizabeth Squire - 2020
    Wickham directly after her stay at Netherfield Elizabeth was once again forced into the company of Mr. Darcy? Could this chance meeting lead the stubborn Elizabeth and arrogant Darcy down a path to friendship and eventually love without the obstacles of distance and misunderstanding they endured in the original? Although not without some pride and prejudice this story and its characters wend their way to a happy ending down a different road, encountering some new and some familiar difficulties.This approximately 49,000 word novella is low angst and true to the spirit of its inspiration.The second in my What if series, we are once again imagining what might happen if one detail from our beloved Pride and Prejudice were changed. How would this affect the rest of the story? Each book in the series is a stand alone

A Courtesan Countess Worth the Scandal


Ava MacAdams - 2021
    When her family is threatened, she does the one thing she can to protect them: publishes a book exposing them all.After his disaster of a marriage, Liam Westwood, the Earl of Keswick, made a sacred pact: never fall in love again. Having spent his years abroad, he never expected to meet a vixen that would test his sanity and haunt his nights upon his return.With the Ton’s most scandalous secrets hiding between the pages of her book, Nora has no shortage of people who wish to see her suffer. And some are determined to see her ruined. When the manuscript falls in Liam’s hands, his feelings of betrayal are overshadowed by a single thing: a name that jumps out more than all the others put together. His.