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Mightier than the Sword: by Jeffrey Archer (The Clifton Chronicles Series, Book 5) | Summary & Analysis by Book*Sense
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Blood in the Forum: A Novella of Ancient Rome (The Marius Scrolls Book 2)
Vincent B. Davis II - 2019
Betrayal. Assassination. Rome, 133 b.c. Gaius Marius is back from war in the West. They fought for the peace and prosperity of Rome, but the legions return to find the Eternal City far less peaceful and prosperous than they had hoped. People are starving, homelessness abounds, war after war has overtaxed the legions. And the revolutionary tribune, Tiberius Gracchus, thinks he has a solution for everything. Political parties are developing, the people are up in arms, the senate is enraged. And Tiberius is at the center of it all. Before Marius has a chance to reacclimate to civilian life, he’s thrust into this political upheaval in Rome. His allegiances are put to the test as Rome is almost brought to the brink of civil war. For the first time in the history of the Republic, blood will be shed in the forum.
Fallen Angels
Val Wood - 2007
When she is turned away from the workhouse for women, Lily is forced to swallow her last iota of respectability and work in a brothel in Leadenhall Square.
But Lily sees potential where others can only see destitution and ruin, and soon forges strong relationships with the other women there: good-hearted women who have fallen on hard times. Lily and her 'fallen angels' outwit the low-life brothel-keeper and work to turn the house in Leadenhall Square into something altogether more respectable.
And before any of them know it, doors swing open, lost loves are recovered and the happy endings none of them dared to dream of begin to materialise . . .
If you enjoy books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.
Down Our Street
Joan Jonker - 1999
Their beloved sons are coming home at last and their eldest children are planning to marry each other. When a double wedding is announced, Molly is determined to give her two beautiful daughters a day to remember for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile Nellie's daughter Lily has a boyfriend whom no one likes. When he brings trouble to their door, Nellie's friends in the street are ready to face it. And there's a handsome young chap just waiting in the wings for Lily...
A Whisper To The Living
Ruth Hamilton - 1989
When the doctor finally got through the nine-foot drifts of snow, mother and daughter were in a pretty bad way, but both the new-born Annie and her exhausted mother - a spinner in the cotton mill - were fighters, tough and determined not to let the world knock them down.They needed to be tough, for when Annie's father was killed in the war, Nancy married again. And Eddie Higson - once he'd courted and won Nancy Byrne - turned into a nightmare of a man, terrorizing the young girl with one secret evil after another.She had two friends who helped her through these bad years. Martin Cullen, rough, uneducated, loyal, who knew he wasn't good enough for her, and David Pritchard, the doctor who had supported her through the worst times and who had bad problems of his own.Together they watched her grow into a beautiful young woman, desperately fighting the legacy of her childhood.
Rainbow's End
Katie Flynn - 1997
Tracing the stories of two quite diffrent girls: Ellen Docherty, in Liverpool, bringing up her younger sister and brother single-handedly, and Maggie McVeigh, in the Dublin tenements, finding a better life working for the Nolan family, and falling in love with Liam, the eldest son, RAINBOW'S END follows two girls on their struggle for happiness. But the First World War changes everything -and unearths a long-buried link between the families.
Only Time Will Tell
Jeffrey Archer - 2011
But then an unexpected gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys’ school, and his life will never be the same again.As he enters into adulthood, Harry finally learns how his father really died, but the awful truth only leads him to question, was he even his father? Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who spent his whole life on the docks, or the firstborn son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line?This introductory novel in Archer’s ambitious series The Clifton Chronicles includes a cast of colorful characters and takes us from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take up a place at Oxford or join the navy and go to war with Hitler’s Germany. From the docks of working-class England to the bustling streets of 1940 New York City, Only Time Will Tell takes readers on a journey through to future volumes, which will bring to life one hundred years of recent history to reveal a family story that neither the reader nor Harry Clifton himself could ever have imagined.
A Wartime Wife
Jeannie Johnson - 2006
Struggling to make ends meet, Mary Anne Randall is offered no help by her drunk and abusive husband. A pawnbroking business run from the wash house at the back of her home is the only way she can hope to keep her three kids fed and clothed.
But, as storm clouds gather over Europe, can Mary Anne break free from her loveless marriage for what might be a last chance at love...?
Previously published as LOVING ENEMIES
Minnie's Orphans
Lindsey Hutchinson - 2020
Their children’s home Marshall’s is full of love and laughter, and a world away from their terrible ordeal of being sold to Una Reed for five shillings.There are many more children who still need a home, especially in a world where the workhouse is the last option for desperate families, and so Minnie makes it her mission to build Marshall’s into a refuge for all the waifs and strays. But kind hearts can be taken advantage of, and before long, Marshall’s in under attack. Can Minnie and Billy keep their family together and keep all the children safe, or will they be torn apart again? The Queen of the Black Country sagas is back with a heart-warming, unputdownable and unforgettable tale of triumph against the odds. Perfect for fans of Val Wood and Lyn Andrews.
A Rose Among Thorns
Rosie Goodwin - 2009
So Sassy is devastated when her father marries wealthy widow Elizabeth Bonner. Social climber Elizabeth despairs of a step-daughter who is more at ease with servants than those above stairs, and is jealous of Sassy's growing beauty which threatens to outshine her own daughter. Unwelcome and out of place in this unfamiliar world, Sassy often escapes to her old home on Tuttle Hill and the company of her childhood friends, brothers Thomas and Jack Mallabone. But the trio's bond is threatened by the consequences of her blind adoration for wayward Thomas, much to the dismay of Jack, who has long worshipped Sassy in secret...
The Quality of Love
Rosie Harris - 2009
Studying hard to please them, she earns a place at Cardiff University. Here she is swept off her feet by handsome Gwyn Roberts, but when she becomes pregnant her parents are devastated and turn her from their door.
All Gwyn and Sarah can afford are two squalid rooms in the infamous slums of Cardiff and Sarah soon realises she's made a terrible mistake. Gwyn becomes increasingly distant and when the baby dies in infancy, he leaves Sarah with little choice but to fall on her parents' mercy.
But just when Sarah is starting to pull her life back together again, she is drawn to the charms of Stefan Vaughan and finds herself in trouble once more...
The Guinness Girls: A Hint of Scandal
Emily Hourican - 2021
Ellie Pride
Annie Groves - 2003
A stirring tale charting the life of Ellie Pride, a beautiful Preston girl who, when her mother dies, must forge her own way in the world. Warned by her mother on her deathbed to forsake love and passion for stability and social status, Ellie must spurn the advances of handsome Gideon Walker, despite her deep attraction to him. With her father struggling to cope with two children, Ellie is exiled to live with her aunt and uncle in Hoylake. Her mother's dream is that this will give her the chance to escape her background forever. Ellie attempts to get on with her life - but Gideon is never far from her thoughts. Even once she is trapped in a loveless marriage, their paths are destined to cross again and again with far-reaching and devastating consequences.
Rich Girl, Poor Girl
Eileen Ramsay - 2017
When she tells her parents of her plans to follow her dream of becoming a doctor instead of marrying and having children, her mother refuses to acknowledge her wishes, seeing her decision as an embarrassment to the family.Meanwhile, in a poorer district of Dundee, Rosie Nesbitt lives a difficult life with her mother and siblings in a house that is too small for all of of them. Equally intelligent, Rosie decides that she wants to become a doctor and create a life for herself that is better than the one she has had growing up. She, too, faces issues - albeit different ones from those of Lucy - and she and her family must fight and make sacrifices for her to receive the education she needs. As the two girls' paths cross, their chosen career isn't the only thing they have in common. They first meet at a party hosted by Kier Anderson-Howard, a potential husband for Lucy, but an eligible man who has his sights set on Rosie.As war approaches, Lucy's and Rosie's lives become complicated by love and loss, and the paths leading to their goals testing their resolves to the limit.
Goodbye Liverpool
Anne Baker - 2002
But soon Josie realises she's made a mistake, and she and Suzy flee Liverpool and a man they now fear. But will they be safe from the past in Birkenhead?
Trouble at the Redstone (Leisure Western)
John D. Nesbitt - 2008
Will Dryden followed the trail of a missing man to the Redstone Ranch, where he will have to find the truth about three other murdered men.