Book picks similar to
The Viaduct by Roy Brown
20th-century
assorted-children
british
puffin-books
The Devil's Music
Jane Rusbridge - 2009
So begins this deeply moving and profoundly affecting story of the ties that bind mothers and children. This debut novel by Jane Rusbridge is a story of family secrets and betrayal, involving knots, Harry Houdini and the shifting landscape of memory.
The Avenue
R.F. Delderfield - 1964
And all the hopes, dreams and lives of the people on the Avenue are forged to a fighting force to defend all that they hold dear."
Beneath Us the Stars
David Wiltshire - 2006
He can’t wait to get back in the sky where he belongs. But fate has other plans.He strays into a stuffy college library and happens on Mary Rice, a spirited bluestocking who takes his breath away.TWO LOVERS FROM DIFFERENT WORLDSBefore long, the spark between them deepens into true love. But their time together can’t last forever. All too soon, Bill is torn from Mary’s side and back to the battlefield.Then the unthinkable happens. Bill’s plane is shot down and Bill himself is missing presumed dead.It’s Mary’s worst nightmare come true, but she won’t give up on her sweetheart now she’s found him.
Dancing on Deansgate
Freda Lightfoot - 2003
But when the Blitz reaches Manchester, she is locked in the cellar by her feckless mother, Lizzie. As bombs rain down from a sky turned blood red with flame, Jess waits for Lizzie to return.But fortunes are fickle, and soon Jess finds herself packed off to live with her tyrant Uncle Bernie, a bullying black marketeer. Though he treats her like a servant, she seeks refuge in the Sally Army and her natural musical talent offers both an escape route and the chance for love.But Uncle Bernie never forgives his niece for refusing to join his illegal schemes and threatens to deprive Jess of her hard-won freedom once and for all.
This is a sweeping saga of hope and resilience perfect for fans of Kitty Neale and Rosie Goodwin.
Praise for Dancing on Deansgate ‘A heart-wrenching story’ 5* Reader review‘It drew me in straight away’ 5* Reader review‘Another gem from a great writer’ 5* Reader review‘A compelling story of separation and hardship, and heartache overcome at last’ 5* Reader review
Celebration & The Room
Harold Pinter - 2000
In his newest play, Celebration, he continues to examine the darker places of relationships. Celebration is an acerbic portrait of a sated culture choking on its own material success. Startling, full of black humor and wicked satire, Celebration displays a vivid zest for life. Also included in this volume is Pinter's classic play The Room. Both plays are invested with the elements that make Pinter's work unique: the disturbingly familiar dialogue, subtle characterization, and abrupt mood and power shifts among characters, which can be by turns terrifying, moving, and wildly funny.
House Of Lost Dreams
Graham Joyce - 1993
In fact Mavros is modelled exactly on the island of Lesbos, where Graham lived for a year early in his writing career. The house referred to was where he lived during that time, and the eponymous name of the house was not an invention. It is to be found near the village of Petra, "close enough to Turkey to hear the donkeys braying on the mainland". The mysterious bath referred to in the novel is the ancient hot spring at Eftalou; the church with the evil-eye mural is in the village of Molyvos; and the myth of the angel-militant in metal shoes is still widely believed on the island.
Seven for a Secret
Mary Webb - 1922
Although she was acclaimed by John Buchan and by Rebecca West, who hailed her as a genius, and won the Prix Femina of La Vie Heureuse for Precious Bane (1924), she won little respect from the general public. It was only after her death that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Stanley Baldwin, earned her posthumous success through his approbation, referring to her as a neglected genius at a Literary Fund dinner in 1928. Her writing is notable for its descriptions of nature, and of the human heart. She had a deep sympathy for all her characters and was able to see good and truth in all of them. Among her most famous works are: The Golden Arrow (1916), Gone to Earth (1917), and Seven for a Secret (1922).
Sylvia Plath: Selected Poems
Rebecca Warren - 2001
Key Features: *Study methods *Introduction to the text *Summaries with critical notes *Themes and techniques *Textual analysis of key passages *Author biography *Historical and literary background *Modern and historical critical approaches *Chronology *Glossary of literary terms
Christmas Past
Glenice Crossland - 2007
Though initially employed as a maid, Mary soon becomes the daughter the couple were never able to have.
With Britain at war, unable to remain idle, Mary finds employment in the local steel works but when her fiancé Tom Downing is killed in action Mary is convinced it is retribution for their night of sin during Tom's Christmas leave.
However, Mary grows to love Jack Holmes, a local miner. They marry and move into a humble terrace house with little but their love to keep them going. As the years pass Mary is determined to achieve success for herself and her family. She sets up her own dressmaking business and it seems as if she has finally found peace of mind. But the business starts to dominate her life until tragedy once more threatens to destroy all she most cherishes...
Paradise Lane
Elizabeth Gill - 2010
He's been her best friend since she was a child, and she can't imagine life without him. What shocks her, however, is the reaction of her mother and father. Annabel knows that her parents disapprove of her forthright opinions, but their displeasure is both unexpected and unaccountable. As they permit the engagement, however, she decides to put it out of her mind. But before she can be married, tragedy strikes, and only then does Annabel learn of the shocking secret that her parents have kept from her. Determined to learn more, she travels to Durham on a personal search that will change everything.
The Queen: History In An Hour
Sinead Fitzgibbon - 2012
Read a succinct account of the life and reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in just one hour.Elizabeth II is the longest lived and, after Queen Victoria, second longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. From her coronation in 1953 to her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Queen Elizabeth II has stood on the world stage as the figurehead for Britain.THE QUEEN: HISTORY IN AN HOUR tells the story of the Queen Elizabeth II’s life and long reign, her royal duties, service during the Second World War, public perception and the transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations under her rule. Essential reading for Royalists and Republicans alike.Love your history? Find out about the world with History in an Hour…
The History of England from the Norman Conquest to the Death of John (1066-1216)
George Burton Adams - 1905
You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
Fern Hill
Dylan Thomas - 1995
Here is the green and carefree world of a boy who delights in the possibilities of each day, of a child who wrings from every moment a feeling as intensely magical as it is profoundly innocent.
Inkle & Yarico
Beryl Gilroy - 1996
Their erotic encounter, which has a profound effect on both, is explored with poetic, imaginative intensity. Amongst the Caribs, Inkle is a mere child whose survival depends entirely on Yarico's favor and protection. When he is rescued and taken with Yarico to the slave island of Barbados, however, she is entirely at his mercy. Loosely based on a popular narrative in the 17th and 18th centuries, this version of the tale's mythic dimensions are reinterpreted from both a female and a black perspective, engaging the reader in the psychological truths of the characters' experiences while laying the past bare as a text for the present.
A Winter Love Song
Rita Bradshaw - 2017
Then at the tender age of ten years old, disaster strikes. Heartbroken, Bonnie’s left at the mercy of her embittered grandmother and her lecherous step-grandfather.Five years later, the events of one terrible night cause Bonnie to flee to London where she starts to earn her living as a singer. She changes her name and cuts all links with the past. Time passes. Bonnie falls in love, but just when she dares to hope for a rosy future, the Second World War is declared. She does her bit for the war effort, singing for the troops and travelling to Burma to boost morale, but heartache and pain are just around the corner, and she begins to ask herself if she will ever find happiness again?