Book picks similar to
The Guinea Ghost by M.J. Holman


18th-century
historical-fiction
royally-favored
short-story

The Crusader's Blade


James Mercer - 2015
    Amongst his few possessions is a dagger which bears an unknown heraldic symbol. He joins a band of mercenaries heading for Venice where the Christians are assembling for the Crusade. On his journey from boy to manhood, discovering a surprisingly natural aptitude for combat, he encounters a secret Brotherhood and their avowed enemy The Order of the Blooded Cross. “The Crusader’s Blade” is the first of three novels that draw heavily on historical detail, intermingling real and fictitious characters and events to give an enthralling portrait of the religious battles of the age.

The Catcher of Halensee (Captain Harry Tennant Mystery Book 3)


David J. Oldman - 2020
     A British Intelligence Officer has died in a fall and SIS has asked Harry to liaise with a German Socialist Party member who has been passing information. That’s fine with Harry. He is pleased to be working again, even in a city as devastated as Berlin. Why have SIS chosen him; and was the fall that killed his predecessor really an accident? While waiting for his socialist contact to arrange an important meeting, Harry interests himself in a young Jewish survivor of the camps he sees watching the house where he lives. She insists the Nazis stole the property from her family before sending them to the gas chambers. And she has seen the Gestapo officer she holds responsible, even though everyone says he is dead. But then Harry’s socialist contact is abducted by the Russians and, in return for helping him to defect, the man’s colleague promises Harry something really big. And the Jewish survivor is carrying a shameful secret she appears no longer able to face. Harry is faced with a devastating choice... Praise for The Unquiet Grave: 'An excellent book that made me want to read more — always a good sign. Lots of twists and turns; emotional impacts; deft characterization; and realistic setting' - Netgalley reviewer 'I found myself engrossed by this story' - Netgalley reviewer Born into the austerity of post-war Britain, David J. Oldman began writing in his early twenties. Frequently humorous, and often moving, his books are an examination of ordinary people caught up in life-changing events beyond their control.

Between Moons: A gripping WW2 historical novel


Claire Anders - 2021
    

Christmas In The Trap: Atlanta Style


Twyla T. - 2018
    Street King. Strong. Respected. Intelligent. Accurately describes Hassan, specifically known as Lil Hot or Hot, but now, a new title is being added to the list that takes his life on a whirl spin. Hot is thrown into fatherhood when one of his jump-offs abandons her baby with him, claiming it’s his. Not only unprepared for a baby, Hot finds himself in another foreign territory that he had no intentions of going down—love. Plus, street life in Atlanta starts wreaking havoc as he deals with personal struggles. Will Hot survive the streets long enough to embrace a baby and love? Find out if Hassan’s best Christmas gifts are the ones he didn’t know he wanted in this sultry African American Urban Fiction novella, Christmas In The Trap: Atlanta Style.

Loving & Losing


Marion Reynolds - 2020
    But this is 1930s Ireland where they must fight against repressive laws and social attitudes.Harry has married his childhood sweetheart but finds his wife’s life and his marriage jeopardised by the strict laws of Church and State.As he struggles to become a writer, Joseph rejects the love of the girl next door. He goes to fight in the Spanish Civil War where he finds a different kind of love.Kathleen, an actress, has romantic ideas about going to Hollywood but a love affair threatens to ruin her life and shatter the happiness of her family.Mary becomes a teacher and forms some strong emotional bonds, but gossip and injustice may rob her of everything she holds dear.Can they overcome prejudice or must they bow to convention?

The Lake Palace: An enchanting historical novel set in British India during the Burma Campaign in WWII


Ann Bennett - 2021
    

The Wretched Needle Worker


Iris Cole - 2021
    Her father was a monster.How could Vera have been so blind to what was right before her eyes?After the death of her kind and loving Papa, Vera’s home is claimed by ne’er do well Uncle Merritt, who drives the household with cruelty and deprivation. Working for her keep, the once privileged Vera is driven to skin and bone and dreads the harsh beatings that Merritt regularly delivers.Ralph, Papa’s loyal and brave stableboy, cannot bear to see Vera shrinking daily under the hand of Merritt. In an attempt protect her, he challenges Merritt and now, tossed to streets, must survive however he can.With the loss of Ralph, Vera’s soul aches, made worse as she watches her father’s elderly servants treated with cruel indignity. In a desperate bid to protect them from Uncle Merritt, his rage is fuelled, and Vera is delivered an ultimatum, causing her to flee from her home. With nowhere to go, Vera too, finds herself on the streets.As starvation threatens, it is only Ralph and her new friend, Maggie, that keep her alive. But when Maggie unexpectedly reveals the truth about Vera's Papa, Vera is plunged to new despair. Will the truth destroy her? Can she keep secrets for the rest of her life? Will she ever be able to make things right? And will she agree to Ralphs’s plan, even though it means she may lose him forever?For fans of Dilly Court and Historical Romance

From the Ashes of Amiens


Jana Petken - 2021
    

The Unexpected Bride


Stella Clark - 2019
    Out of desperation, she posts an ad and begins a correspondence with a widowed farmer, Thomas. Desperate to escape her grim situation, she accepts his marriage of convenience proposal, looking forward to a fresh start in Nebraska. As her heart fills with hope, she journeys to Nebraska, looking forward to a fresh start and new life. But when she arrives, it is not Thomas who meets her but his brother, Jay. And when Emma learns a terrible secret, she realizes that her life in Nebraska will be just as grim as it was in Chicago. Too late, she realizes that she has made the biggest mistake of her life; a mistake that will cost her dearly.

Wish Upon a Star


Margaret Thornton - 1998
    One of them, in particular, stands out as the grubbiest, most ill-spoken child they have ever met, but with her warmth and friendliness, Gloria Mulligan soon wins a special place in Sally???s heart. Sally hasn???t been lucky enough to have children of her own and she sees in Gloria the daughter she???s always wished for. Meanwhile Gloria, who has been starved of genuine affection from her own large family, secretly wishes that she will never have to go home again. But life seldom works out as we would wish and when the horror of war begins to take its toll, Sally, Gloria and the entire Blackpool community must face the consequences???

Wise Men: A Novel


Reagan Arthur Books - 2013
    His first big purchase is a simple beach house in a place called Bluepoint, a town on the far edge of the flexed arm of Cape Cod.It's in Bluepoint, during the summer of 1952, that Arthur's teenage son, Hilly, makes friends with Lem Dawson, a black man whose job it is to take care of the house but whose responsibilities quickly grow. When Hilly finds himself falling for Lem's niece, Savannah, his affection for her collides with his father's dark secrets. The results shatter his family, and hers.Years later, haunted by his memories of that summer, Hilly sets out to find Savannah, in an attempt to right the wrongs he helped set in motion. But can his guilt, and his good intentions, overcome the forces of history, family, and identity?A beautifully told multigenerational story about love and regret, Wise Men confirms that Stuart Nadler is one of the most exciting young writers at work today

Besieged (The First Crusade Book 2)


Richard Foreman - 2020
    But they may have found one in the shape of the Holy Lance.Bohemond of Taranto realises that the pilgrims must fight or die.But to fight they must know their enemy. Bohemond instructs Edward Kemp, an English knight, to gather intelligence on Kerbogha and the Muslim army. But in attempting to save the crusaders, Edward may damn himself.Triumph and tragedy await on the plains of Antioch, where the course of the crusade - and history - will be altered forever.Recommended for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Ben Kane & Conn Iggulden.Richard Foreman's new bestselling series on the First Crusade provides an entertaining insight into history - and the significant players in the armed pilgrimage, including Bohemond of Taranto and Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy. Foreman shines a light on the epochal moment, with humour and humanity, which still shapes the story of Europe and the Middle East today.

Joy at Quail Crossings (Quail Crossings, #5)


Jennifer McMurrain - 2020
    The Brewer children have all grown up and started families of their own and Dovie Pearce is content. She’s married to a wonderful man, Gabe, and her adoptive daughter, Ellie, is a wonderful companion. But one cold March night, the peace is broken with a midnight knock at the door that ends with the cries of an abandoned baby by sunrise. Joy Smith has fallen into her own quiet life. At sixteen, she has little to worry about, until she finds the marriage certificate of her parents that doesn’t make sense. She questions her family members, trying to figure out the mysterious document, but once she discovers the truth, her life is shattered.Jaded by her parent’s lack of trust, Joy finds a kinship with baby Jeffery. When she finds out who the abandoned baby belongs to, she vows to make things right for him. Will her actions give Jeffery the life he deserves or is she putting him in the hands of the very person who will destroy him?

Days of the Dead (SAS Operation)


David Monnery - 1997
    Ultimate mission. But can the SAS break in to a Colombian island prison and snatch an Argentine killer?1996: a terminally ill father desperately seeks answers to what happened to his son, missing for twenty years. He has the names of two Argentine men – one in Mexico City, the other imprisoned on the Colombian island of Providencia – but no one to ask the questions.A missing girl’s family have given her up for dead when they stumble upon a Miami newspaper story mentioning two of her friends. One has just died; the other, half-deranged, tells a garbled story of sexual slavery on a Caribbean island which sounds suspiciously like Providencia.MI6 and the British government are certain that a huge drug-trafficking empire is being run from the prison, and know that some of the profits are being funnelled by its Argentine ‘guest’ into financing a mercenary invasion of the Falklands. Ignored by the Colombian authorities and mysteriously obstructed by their American allies, the British have no choice but to send in their own elite force – the SAS.

Finding Henry Brubaker (The Finding Trilogy Book 3)


Jean Reinhardt - 2014
    As the past comes back to haunt him, the old doctor realises there are more sinister reasons for his abduction than he was led to believe. Is it too late for him to make amends?