. .November 11, 1918. After four long, dark years of fighting, the Great War ends at last, and the world is forever changed. For soldiers, loved ones, and survivors, the years ahead stretch with new promise, even as their hearts are marked by all those who have been lost.As families come back together, lovers reunite, and strangers take solace in each other, everyone has a story to tell.In this moving, unforgettable collection, nine top historical fiction authors share stories of love, strength, and renewal as hope takes root in a fall of poppies.Featuring:Jessica BrockmoleHazel GaynorEvangeline HollandMarci JeffersonKate KerriganJennifer RobsonHeather WebbBeatriz WilliamsLauren Willig

    . . and Alice lives with her big family by the Swan River in Perth, while on the other side of the world, World War I rages. Alice's deepest wish is to become a ballerina, and when she auditions for a famous dance teacher from London, it seems as if her dreams might come true. But then there's a terrible accident, and Alice must ask herself whether there are more important things than dancing. Meet Alice and join her adventure in the first of four stories about a gifted girl in a time of war.

    Convinced Germany will head straight for Paris, he sends his wife, daughter, mother and younger son to Beaufort, a small village in northern France. But when war erupts two months later, the German army invades neutral Belgium, sweeping south towards Paris. And by the end of September, Beaufort is less than twenty miles from the front. During the years that follow, with the rumbling of guns ever present in the distance, three generations of women come together to cope with deprivation, fear and the dreadful impacts of war. In 1917, Helene falls in love with a young Canadian soldier wounded in the battle of Vimy Ridge. But war has a way of separating lovers and families, of twisting promises and dashing hopes, and of turning the naive and innocent into the jaded and war-weary. As the months pass, Helene is forced to reconcile dreams for the future with harsh reality. Lies Told in Silence examines love and loss, duty and sacrifice, and the unexpected consequences of lies.

    Rose, the eldest, is the responsible one, while Ivy is spirited and brazen. After the unexpected death of their father, the women are left to reconcile the estate, when they make a shocking discovery: not only has their father left them in financial ruin, but he has also bequeathed their beloved family house to a brother they never knew existed. With only a photograph to guide the way, Ivy and Rose embark to New York City, determined to find this mysterious man and reclaim what is rightfully theirs.Once in New York, temptations abound at every turn, and soon the sisters are drawn into the glitzy underbelly of Manhattan, where they must overcome their differences and learn to trust each other if they're going to survive in the big city and find their brother. Filled with unforgettable characters and charm, Empire Girls is a love letter to 1920s New York, and a captivating story of the unspoken bond between sisters.

    A fourth generation chocolatier and proprietor of a world famous patisserie, in her eyes he could do no wrong. However, her eyes were trained to see everything that was wrong. A covert agent with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this extraordinary 12-year-old was living a double life, walking in the veiled footprints of her mother, icing eclairs, dusting pastries, and darting between the shadows. What could be sweeter? When a notorious thief returns to Paris seeking revenge against her mother, a series of unforeseen and potentially devastating events ensue, leaving Simone to question everything. Her father can’t be the man they say he is, can he? Her concealed life is evaporating, the store hangs in the balance . . . and did I mention she needs a ball gown? Life in a French patisserie may not be as sweet as you thought. Simone LaFray and the Chocolatier’s Ball pulls the invisible girl out of the shadows and into the spotlight, but is she ready?

    Then I could change it, fatten up the thin parts and leave out the dull ones, turning them twice like frayed collars and cuffs, making them over into something more romantic than they really were, but then the remembering would be neither so painful, nor so sweet. I suppose you can't have one without the other. . . Evangeline Glennon knows plenty about life's highs and lows. Still, she feels lucky, surrounded as she is by people who care deeply: Papa, who's never lost his Irish brogue or the twinkle in his eye; endlessly practical, generous Mama; and steadfast best friend Ruby. Romance would be too much for a girl like Eva to expect. Then again, love has a tendency to find those who aren't looking for it. . . Out of a clear blue sky, a dashing young aviator makes an impossibly gentle landing in Papa's Oklahoma wheat field. After taking her up in his plane, "Slim" leaves Eva with an exhilarating new perspective--and an even more precious gift that changes her forever. But that's only the beginning. The world is changing, too--and only the strongest in body and spirit will weather what is to come. Now, while tracing from afar the progress of the brave young barnstormer she knew so briefly, Eva stitches her heart and soul into intricate quilts whose images take extraordinary form from the heartbreak and joy of parallel lives. . . "A lyrical, lush, and lovely novel from a clever and talented new writer." --Jane Green "A gripping, heartwarming story. . .complete with fascinating characters and a page-turning plot." --Dorothy Garlock Marie Bostwick Skinner was born and raised in the Northwest. Since marrying the love of her life twenty-three years ago, she has never known a moment's boredom. Marie and her family have moved a score of times, living in eight U.S. states and two Mexican cities, and collecting a vast and cherished array of friends and experiences. Marie now lives with her husband and three handsome sons in Connecticut where she writes, reads, quilts, and is privileged to serve the women of her local church.

    But his subject seems more interested in finding out about Robert's past than he does in revealing his own. For years, Robert has refused to discuss his past. After the war ended, he refused to go to reunions, believing in some way that denying the killing and the deaths of his friends and fellow soldiers would mean he wouldn't be defined by the experience. Suddenly, he can't keep the memories from overtaking him. But can he trust his memories and can we believe what other people tell us about theirs?Moving between the present and past, between France and Italy, New York and London, this is a powerful story about love and war, memory and desire, the relationship between the body and the mind. Compelling and full of suspense, Where My Heart Used to Beat is a tender, brutal and thoughtful portrait of a man and a century, which asks whether, given the carnage we've witnessed and inflicted over the past one hundred years, people can ever be the same.

    Brilliantly etched and dramatically portrayed, three generations of remarkable families struggle with divided loyalties, ambition, adultery, love, and intrigue as they search for the strength to survive. It is a story bursting with the destiny of unforgettable people, an epic novel that will haunt you long after you've turned the last page.

    It seized all of Europe and much of the rest of the world in its grip of death and destruction.The first truly modern war, it changed how war and peace would be conducted throughout the remainder of the 20th century and even to the present. The Great War was a time of "firsts" and opened the door to the modern era. Almost all the major developed countries had a role to play in this war, as they never had before. This was the first time for fighting on land, at sea, and in the air. Modern weapons and munitions were developed in previously unimaginable quantities.By the end of the war, international politics, the relationships between the individual and the state, gender relations, and the role of artists and the media were all drastically changed. World War I laid the foundation for the modern world. This course examines the major events of the war to further understand how they led to the shaping of this new world.

    But for one woman, the City of Light harbors dark secrets and dangerous liaisons, for which many could pay dearly.Brought to the peace conference by her father, a German diplomat, Margot Rosenthal initially resents being trapped in the congested French capital, where she is still looked upon as the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life with Stefan, the wounded fiancé she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all.Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, the handsome, damaged naval officer who gives Margot a job—and also a reason to question everything she thought she knew about where her true loyalties should lie.Against the backdrop of one of the most significant events of the century, a delicate web of lies obscures the line between the casualties of war and of the heart, making trust a luxury that no one can afford.

    The Sheridan brothers pursue the pastimes of the rich and talented in the idyllic village of Tarrant Royal, unaware of the coming war that will test their courage and family loyalty to the limit. Roland, an aspiring surgeon, believes his duty lies in remaining as squire of his Dorset village. But charges of cowardice force him into a conflict his conscience cannot condone. Rex, a womanizer and daredevil aviator, dons the RFC uniform. As time passes and he becomes an ace over the skies of France he knows that one day soon his luck must run out. Chris, a brilliant scholar about to enter university, is driven to enlist by a scandal which shatters his golden future. Hopelessly unfitted for battle, he faces the carnage of Gallipoli not caring whether he lives or dies. In Elizabeth Darrell's richly detailed, mesmeric novel the Sheridans live, love and fight for survival like the sons of all families caught up in a savage war which changed the old ways forever. ‘Moving romance’ - Yorkshire Evening Post ‘A wonderful story, compellingly told…the authenticity - both historical and emotional - really shines through’ - Sarah Harrison Elizabeth Darrell served as an officer in the WRAC. She is the author of seven acclaimed novels, including ‘Concerto’, ‘And in the Morning’ and ‘We Will Remember’. Under the pen-name Emma Drummond she has written eleven historical novels. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

    The story is concerned with a young American girl of good Yankee stock, who marries an Englishman, loses him in the Great war, bears his son, and finds herself facing, with her indomitable mother-in-low, the new peril.The White Cliffs starts as a charming and even at times an amusing poem, gathering emotional power as it goes on till it comes to a moving and splendid end. A book for those whose beliefs are now lukewarm. "It is," wrote Mr. R. J. Cruikshank recently in 'The Star' "a promise that the literature which we English-speaking people share in common is beginning to give utterance to this grand theme of union."The poem has been widely popular in America. Lynn Fontanne, the famous American actress, twice read it in serial form on the radio, and it was one of the last books read by Lord Lothian, while Mr. William Lyon Phelps commented: "Not only a very beautiful poem, but a wonderful stody of the English." It has now been twice successfully broadcast by the B.B.C.

    Ex-concubine Anna is attempting to raise her daughter well, but as an Arab invasion threatens and Kallinikos an alchemist working on a secret weapon to use in the seige comes into their lives, a secret about her daughter is forced into the open. Anna must accept huge upheaval, and recognize her feelings for Kallinikos . . .

    Describing the experiences of twenty ordinary people from around the world, all now unknown, he explores the everyday aspects of war: not only the tragedy and horror, but also the absurdity, monotony and even beauty. Two of these twenty will perish, two will become prisoners of war, two will become celebrated heroes and two others end up as physical wrecks. One of them goes mad, another will never hear a shot fired.Following soldiers and sailors, nurses and government workers, from Britain, Russia, Germany, Australia and South America - and in theatres of war often neglected by major histories on the period - Englund reconstructs their feelings, impressions, experiences and moods. This is a piece of anti-history: it brings this epoch-making event back to its smallest component, the individual.

    However the 18 divisions that went over the top between Arras and St-Quentin on the morning of 1 July 1916, walked into a battle that has gone down in the annals of human conflict as the slaughterhouse of a generation. The author has written other books about the history of World War I, including, They Called it Passchendaele and The Roses of No Man's Land.