Book picks similar to
The Midwives of Raglan Road by Jenny Holmes
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The Black Silk Purse: The heart-warming page-turner
Margaret Kaine - 2018
Your ma was killed deliberate ... and someone oughter pay for it.’When young, wealthy spinster Letitia Fairchild witnesses Ella being ill-treated, she takes her in as a scullery maid. But as Ella grows up, she is determined to find the truth about her mother’s tragic death and appeals to Letitia for help, revealing to her the contents of her only personal possession: a black silk purse. Intrigued, Letitia agrees to begin a quest to solve the mystery of Ella’s past. But neither could have imagined the astonishing and dramatic consequences.
The Cotton Spinner (The Mill Town Lasses Book 1)
Libby Ashworth - 2020
. .Then Titus is arrested and sent to prison for attending a Reform meeting. Jennet is left to fend for herself and things go from bad to worse as she finds herself pregnant and alone – with another man’s child . . .
The Autumn Posy
Michelle Vernal - 2022
Sabrina Flooks can barely remember her mother. Abandoned when she was only three, she longs to understand what happened. But when she searches a mysterious pocket of Bold Street where she was found, she’s shocked to be flung back in time to 1928.Taking a position in the kitchen of arrogant Magnolia Muldoon’s manor house, Sabrina befriends a housemaid with starry-eyed dreams. And when she agrees to assist her new acquaintance in winning the heart of their mistress’s son, she has no idea of the repercussions their romance will cause.Will Sabrina find the answers she seeks and get back to the man she loves, or is she destined to live in a time that’s not her own?From Amazon charts bestseller, Michelle Vernal comes the first book in the Liverpool Brides historical, timeslip fiction series. If you like charming characters, delightful humour, and intriguing mysteries, then you’ll love this enthralling tale.
The Lobotomist's Wife
Samantha Greene Woodruff - 2022
Then she falls in love with charismatic Robert Apter—a brilliant doctor championing a radical new treatment, the lobotomy. Ruth believes in it as a miracle treatment and in Robert as its genius pioneer. But as her husband spirals into deluded megalomania, Ruth can’t ignore her growing suspicions. Robert is operating on patients recklessly, often with horrific results. And a vulnerable young mother, Margaret Baxter, is poised to be his next victim.Margaret can barely get out of bed, let alone care for her infant. When Dr. Apter diagnoses her with the baby blues and proposes a lobotomy, she believes the procedure is her only hope. Only Ruth can save her—and scores of others—from the harrowing consequences of Robert’s ambitions.Inspired by a shocking chapter in medical history, The Lobotomist’s Wife is a galvanizing novel of a woman fighting against the most grievous odds, of ego, and of the best intentions gone horribly awry.
A Cornish Orphan
Sheila Jeffries - 2018
Her clothing suggests she comes from a wealthy family, but Lottie's back bears the scars of a severe beating, and how she came to be on a cargo ship in the first place remains a mystery . . . Arnie and his wife already have two young children, Matt and Tom, but are desperate to keep Lottie. They decide to foster her, despite outcries from the local community, and though Matt appears hesitant to get close to Lottie, Tom quickly warms to the new sister in his life. But when tragedy strikes the very heart of the Lanroska family, the repercussions could change the lives of everyone close to them . . .A nostalgic and heart-warming family saga, perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Margaret Dickinson
The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow
Maureen Reynolds - 2008
Rosie is having a difficult pregnancy, while Johnny has fallen and fractured his skull on a trip to Orkney with the Home Guard. Meanwhile, Ann Neill is looking forward to meeting Greg again when he gets a much-needed break from his work at Bletchley Park, but she soon realizes that they are drifting apart. When the war finally ends, Danny Ryan does not return, although they think they see him on a cinema newsreel one day...and when Granddad becomes ill they are in crisis once again.
About Grace
Anthony Doerr - 2004
Henrys, and shared the Young Lions Award. Now he has written one of the most beautiful, wise, and compelling first novels of recent times. David Winkler begins life in Anchorage, Alaska, a quiet boy drawn to the volatility of weather and obsessed with snow. Sometimes he sees things before they happen—a man carrying a hatbox will be hit by a bus; Winkler will fall in love with a woman in a supermarket. When David dreams that his infant daughter will drown in a flood as he tries to save her, he comes undone. He travels thousands of miles, fleeing family, home, and the future itself, to deny the dream. On a Caribbean island, destitute, alone, and unsure if his child has survived or his wife can forgive him, David is sheltered by a couple with a daughter of their own. Ultimately it is she who will pull him back into the world, to search for the people he left behind. Doerr's characters are full of grief and longing, but also replete with grace. His compassion for human frailty is extraordinarily moving. In luminous prose, he writes about the power and beauty of nature and about the tiny miracles that transform our lives. About Grace is heartbreaking, radiant, and astonishingly accomplished.
Life and Death in Assisted Living
A.C. Thompson - 2013
What she and her family got was an introduction to what many think is the country’s next great health crisis.
The Orphan Child
Catherine King - 2010
As her unnamed mother breathes her last, Sarah is taken in at the grand Meadow Hall in South Riding, Yorkshire. As soon as she can hold a scrubbing brush, her working life begins. Feisty and headstrong, Sarah's temper often leads her into trouble. At just 14 she decides to escape the life of a servant and run away. Dressed as a boy, she meets good-hearted Aidan and impulsive Danby, forming an unlikely but happy trio. Sarah's true identity eventually comes to the surface after nearly a year, along with new feelings for Aidan. However, knowing that the place for a teenage girl is definitely not with two young men, Aidan reluctantly takes Sarah to the workhouse. He plans to rescue her from this miserable place just as soon as he can, but something keeps Aidan from his promise—and nearly takes his life. Reunited as adults, and now strangers to each other, Sarah holds a secret about Danby, Aidan, and her unborn child. But can she do what is right for her baby, even if it means losing the love of her life?
Churchill’s Angels
Ruby Jackson - 2013
Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn.It is 1939 and in the town of Dartford, Grace, Sally and twins Daisy and Rose, are determined to do their bit when war is declared. Grace, desperate to get away from her sad home life, signs up for the Land Army. Sally’s dream of stage school is thwarted by the war, but she finds hope in an unexpected place.For the twins, nothing has prepared them for the shock of the blitz and the nightly raids on their hometown. Rose signs on at the local munitions factory, but with her brothers away fighting, Daisy is needed at home in her father’s greengrocer shop.When she unwittingly trespasses on a wealthy estate and meets the aristocratic flying ace, Adair, Daisy initially dismisses him as a ‘toff’. But they become friends and Adair encourages Daisy to indulge her passion for aeroplanes. Could Daisy’s dream of being a pilot be closer than she thinks? And in these uncertain times, a girl would have to be crazy to fall in love, wouldn’t she?
The Whispering Years
Harry Bowling - 1999
Although her father has been dead for many years, Susan's memories of her parents' marriage are happy ones and she looks forward to the day when she and Alan can share in that happiness.But the discovery of some old letters soon forces her to face some bitter truths about her parents - and even the nature of love itself...
The Secrets of Elloughton Park
Stephen Taylor - 2021
Among the archives, he is surprised to also find the diaries of Ginny Farmer, a cinder maid.Excited by the fresh perspectives the documents offer, James immediately acquires them for his university.As he reads the diaries, it becomes apparent that Ginny was involved in a long-buried scandal. Enthralled by her tragic story and admiring her courage and resourcefulness, he sets about discovering her fate.The journals take him on a turbulent journey from a Bristol orphanage to the seedy underbelly of Georgian London. And as James delves deeper into Ginny’s shocking testimonies, the past soon begins to chime eerily with the present…
The Workhouse Children
Lindsey Hutchinson - 2016
Perfect for the fans of Jo Cox and Lyn Andrews.
When Cara Flowers' beloved grandmother dies she leaves her not only an enormous fortune but also a huge responsibility – to find their estranged family. Cara's quest leads her to the doors of the imposing Bilston workhouse where families are torn apart with no hope of a better life. Shocked by the appalling conditions, Cara vows to find a way to close the workhouse and rescue its residents. Fraught by countless hurdles her mission becomes personal when she is left asking why was she raised by her grandmother, and what has her missing mother got to do with the looming workhouse?
Orphan Number Eight
Kim van Alkemade - 2015
When tragedy strikes, Rachel is separated from her brother Sam and sent to a Jewish orphanage where Dr. Mildred Solomon is conducting medical research. Subjected to X-ray treatments that leave her disfigured, Rachel suffers years of cruel harassment from the other orphans. But when she turns fifteen, she runs away to Colorado hoping to find the brother she lost and discovers a family she never knew she had.Though Rachel believes she’s shut out her painful childhood memories, years later she is confronted with her dark past when she becomes a nurse at Manhattan’s Old Hebrews Home and her patient is none other than the elderly, cancer-stricken Dr. Solomon. Rachel becomes obsessed with making Dr. Solomon acknowledge, and pay for, her wrongdoing. But each passing hour Rachel spends with the old doctor reveal to Rachel the complexities of her own nature. She realizes that a person’s fate—to be one who inflicts harm or one who heals—is not always set in stone.Lush in historical detail, rich in atmosphere and based on true events, Orphan #8 is a powerful, affecting novel of the unexpected choices we are compelled to make that can shape our destinies.
A Season of Secrets
Margaret Pemberton - 2015
Carrie, her close childhood friend and granddaughter of the Viscount's nanny, has always been expected to marry Hal - but when she goes into service she finds herself longing for the one person she can never hope to marry.Olivia, the middle Fenton sister, follows a more conventional path, forging friendships with the British royal family and attending a finishing school in Germany. Her relationship with Count von der Schulenburg does not raise eyebrows, but as the mid-1930s approach, she finds herself in a country experiencing rapid, radical and dangerous social change. Violet, the youngest of the Fenton sisters, is also the most reckless. She dreams of becoming an actress in Hollywood, unaware her life will be filled with more drama than any part she will ever play. And then there is Rozalind, their American cousin, who is secretly in love with a married U.S. senator. Her ambitions to become a photojournalist will also take her into the heart of Hitler's Germany.Set against the rich canvas of the first half of the twentieth century, A Season of Secrets is an unforgettable tale of passion and betrayal, love and war from the ever popular Margaret Pemberton.