Book picks similar to
Not a Bird Will Sing by Audrey Howard


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The Daughter Of The Wild Sea


Daisy Carter - 2021
    

The Ragged Lady


Hattie Finch - 2021
    

Those Who Are Loved


Victoria Hislop - 2019
    After decades of political uncertainty, Greece is polarised between Right- and Left-wing views when the Germans invade. Fifteen-year-old Themis comes from a family divided by these political differences. The Nazi occupation deepens the fault-lines between those she loves just as it reduces Greece to destitution. She watches friends die in the ensuing famine and is moved to commit acts of resistance.In the civil war that follows the end of the occupation, Themis joins the Communist army, where she experiences the extremes of love and hatred and the paradoxes presented by a war in which Greek fights Greek.Eventually imprisoned on the infamous islands of exile, Makronisos and then Trikeri, Themis encounters another prisoner whose life will entwine with her own in ways neither can foresee. And finds she must weigh her principles against her desire to escape and live.As she looks back on her life, Themis realises how tightly the personal and political can become entangled. While some wounds heal, others deepen.

As an Earl Desires


Lorraine Heath - 2005
    But one man has managed to distract her attention from her schedule of charity endeavors -- and not just because he holds the deed to her estate.The man in question, Archibald Warner, is the new Earl of Sachse. Though at first meeting he suspects his new ward of being nothing more than a social bit of fluff, the more time passes, the more he finds himself drawn to her. But there is something she is hiding from him, and she hesitates to show him her real heart, even though she wishes she could learn to trust him with it. For somehow she knows... if only she can give him the chance, he will teach her everything she could hope to learn about love.

The War Girls of Goodwill House


Fenella J. Miller - 2022
    

Miss Purdy's Class


Annie Murray - 2005
    Her parents are horrified, but she has the support of her fiance, a recently ordained clergyman. Her early weeks in Birmingham are an eye-opener: at the school she faces a class of 52 children, some of whose homes are among Birmingham's very poorest. One of the teachers, the elderly Miss Drysdale, proves an inspiration, and Gwen begins to understand the appalling hardships endured by the children as she is drawn into their lives.Little Lucy Fernandez is a 'cripple' and an epileptic. Through her, Gwen meets Daniel Fernandez, the elder brother in a fatherless household. The family has roots in a Wales' small Spanish community, and Daniel is a young man as fierce and passionate in his emotions as in his social concerns. Gwen falls in love, and is quickly engaged in his battle to win rights for the working classes. As the Brigades are mobilized to fight the Spanish Civil War, Gwen has to face the fact that Daniel has secrets in his past which she would rather not face up to...

Secrets of the Heart


Gilda O'Neill - 2008
    They hoped it would be over by Christmas... Britain is at war and the proximity of the docks means that life in and around London's Turnbury Buildings is hard and dangerous. Chances are taken, people have secrets, hearts are broken. And feelings about foreigners are running high. Sixteen-year-old Freddie Jarrett is secretly seeing a girl from the local Chinese community - a relationship that would be frowned on by both families, despite the fact that they all support the fight for freedom from oppression. And his sister Grace has her own secret to hide. A secret that no one outside the immediate family must ever know. As the threat of the Luftwaffe looms over the docks, the community is threatened with being torn apart by prejudice, fear and separation, and the disturbing loss of stability that brings with it the feeling that it is only what happens today that counts for anything...

Stalking Jack the Ripper


Kerri Maniscalco - 2016
    But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.

Ruby McBride


Freda Lightfoot - 2002
    The grand opening of the Manchester Ship Canal is set to be a day of unfettered festivity for Ruby and her younger sister and brother. Even Queen Victoria will be in attendance.But the glories of the ceremony fade into insignificance when their dying mother delivers them to the imposing oak doors of Ignatius House. Abandoned in the not-so-tender care of the nuns, the siblings are soon separated.So when the Board of Guardians force Ruby into a marriage that sends her to a new home upon the Salford waterways, she makes only one vow: to reunite her family whatever the cost. This is an enthralling story of romance and rebellion perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Dilly Court. Praise for Ruby McBride ‘An inspiring novel about accepting change and bravely facing the future’ Bangor Chronicle‘Compelling and heart-wrenching’ Hull Daily Mail‘The kind of character-driven saga that delights the Catherine Cookson and Josephine Cox audience’ Peterborough Evening Telegraph‘This book deals with gritty, real-life situations and shows how the heroine’s strength of character triumphs through adversity’ 5* Reader review

Somerset


Leila Meacham - 2013
    "From birth, Jessica had eschewed the role to which she'd been born. Was it because she sensed that her father's indulgence was compensation for his disappointment in her? Jessica thought too much, questioned, challenged, rebelled. Sometimes Eunice thought her daughter should have been born a male." Born into the wealthiest and most influential family in 1830s South Carolina, Jessica Wyndham was expected to look appealing, act with decorum, and marry a suitably prominent and respectable man. However, her outspoken opinions and unflagging sense of justice make her a difficult-and dangerous-firebrand, especially for slavery-dependent Carson Wyndham. Jessica's testing of her powerful father's love is only the beginning of the pain, passion, and triumph she will experience on a journey with the indomitable, land-obsessed Silas Toliver and headstrong Jeremy Warwick to a wild new land called Texas. PRAISE FOR LEILA MEACHAM "Discovering Leila Meacham and her spectacular talent is akin to discovering gold. With this novel she has become a national treasure." -- Huffington Post "Rich with American history and pitch-perfect storytelling, fans and new readers alike will find themselves absorbed in the family saga that Meacham has proven-once again-talented in telling." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Born a Workhouse Baby: Victorian Romance


Dolly Price - 2021
    Deserted by a selfish man, and driven to the workhouse, young Annabel and her midwife mother face a harsh and hopeless future.A critical situation for the workhouse governor then opens a door of deliverance for them both, but it seems that revenge and bitterness hound their every step.A harrowing story of stolen love, rich and poor, faith, family, and fearful odds, Born A Workhouse Child, will keep your heart pounding and your hopes soaring to the end.Join Dolly Price for her most heart-warming Victorian romance yet, and follow Annabel’s courageous quest to discover the real meaning of love, faith, and family.

The Rose of Winslow Street


Elizabeth Camden - 2012
    Widower Michael Dobrescu brought his family from Romania to the town of Colden, Massachusetts with a singular purpose: to claim the house willed to him long ago. Since neither party has any intention of giving up their claim, a fierce legal battle ensues between the two families. When important documents go missing from the house, Libby suspects Michael is the culprit. Determined to discover the truth behind the stolen papers, Libby investigates, only to find more layers of mystery surrounding Michael and his family. Despite their rivalry, Libby finds herself developing feelings for this man with the mysterious past. As a decision about the house looms in the courts, Libby must weigh the risks of choosing to remain loyal to her family or give her heart to a man whose intentions and affections are less than certain.

Bringing Down the Duke


Evie Dunmore - 2019
    Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the Queen's command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can't deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for. Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn't be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn't claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring... or could he? Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke....A stunning debut for author Evie Dunmore and her Oxford suffragists in which a fiercely independent vicar's daughter takes on a powerful duke in a fiery love story that threatens to upend the British social order.

Cavendon Hall


Barbara Taylor Bradford - 2014
    Cavendon Hall is home to two families, the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them. Charles Ingham, the sixth Earl of Mowbray, lives there with his wife Felicity and their six children. Walter Swann, the premier male of the Swann family, is valet to the earl. His wife Alice, a clever seamstress who is in charge of the countess's wardrobe, also makes clothes for the four daughters. For centuries, these two families have lived side-by-side, beneath the backdrop of the imposing Yorkshire manor. Lady Daphne, the most beautiful of the Earl's daughters, is about to be presented at court when a devastating event changes her life and threatens the Ingham name. With World War I looming, both families will find themselves tested in ways they never thought possible. Loyalties will be challenged and betrayals will be set into motion. In this time of uncertainty, one thing is sure: these two families will never be the same again. Cavendon Hall is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her very best, and its sweeping story of secrets, love, honor, and betrayal will have readers riveted up to the very last page.

The Waverly Women Series


Marion Chesney - 2014
    Beaton—including The First Rebellion, Silken Bonds, and The Love Match. The First Rebellion (Book 1): The Earl of Tredair had had his fill of silly misses, and he despaired of finding anyone extraordinary—that is, until he met Miss Fanny Waverley. She and her two sisters had been raised to encourage poor females to stand up against the iniquities of the male sex! The beautiful and farouche Miss Fanny, however, found it hard to think of all men as cruel and lustful beasts—how could she, when now she found herself longing to kiss one of the most hated of his breed! Silken Bonds (Book 2): Frederica chafed at her restricted life as Mrs. Waverly’s adopted daughter, though she did agree with Mrs. Waverly’s philosophy. She knew that until men stopped preferring lisping dimwits over intellectual equals, Frederica would be better off without them. Still, the recent elopement of her sister sparked a fire in Frederica’s well-educated head. So it was that she was ripe for Lord Harry Danger’s charms, and he in turn was smitten from the moment he rescued her from a pack of drunken thugs. Now if he would only treat her as his equal—and stop his incessant flirting! The Love Match (Book 3): By day Felicity championed women’s rights, but by night she dreamed of romance. She was the secret author of a scandalous new novel—the tale of a lady “rake” and her passionate exploits. Yet one titled gentleman grew more and more intrigued with this headstrong young woman, and Felicity would soon learn that real life could be infinitely more interesting (and stranger) than fiction. About the Author M.C. Beaton is the pen name of bestselling novelist Marion Chesney. She is a prolific writer of historical romances and small village mysteries. Born in Scotland, the author began her writing career as a fiction buyer for a Glasgow bookstore and has worked as a theater critic, newspaper reporter, and editor. The author has written under various names, most notably as M.C. Beaton for her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. She has also written under the names Sarah Chester, Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Marion Gibbons, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward. The author lived in the United States, but now splits her time between the Cotswolds, England, and Paris, France. About the Series Waverly women pursue their aspirations no matter what the obstacle. They may marry if the cause seems to suit the purpose, or they may flirt until their heart is content—or perhaps until the gentleman who has until then proven to be the most elusive of all is clearly within reach. No matter what the obstacle, none is too big for a Waverly woman. These are books of dreams, lessons, fanciful thoughts, and most of all, tales of girls grown now to women who won’t settle for anything less than their full dreams, impossible as they may seem at the outset.