Book picks similar to
The Time Between Us: an emotional, gripping historical page turner by Marina McCarron
historical-fiction
ibook
netgalley
normandy-based
Tears of the Dragon: A sweeping, exotic historical saga for fans of Dinah Jefferies
Jean Moran - 2019
One sultry evening in Kowloon, Dr Rowena Rossiter and Sister Alice Huntley are off-duty and in search of fun – little knowing that their world is on the brink of collapse. That night, Rowena will meet two men who will fight for her heart for the next four years. Connor O'Connor, the rebellious Irish soldier, who will woo and then lose her, and Kim Pheloung. Immensely rich and the most beautiful man Rowena has ever seen, he is also the most ruthless, with a sinister need possess and control. When the Japanese invasion leaves this previously strong and independent woman raped and broken, who will succeed in claiming Rowena's body and soul? And will she ever learn to love the child born of that terrible Christmas Day?
River People
Margaret Lukas - 2019
River People is a novel of inspiration, love, loss, and renewal.
The Last Will And Testament Of Daphné Le Marche
Kate Forster - 2016
Eighteen year old Daphné may be from a tiny French village, but she knows she’s destined for more. Stepping off a bus into bustling Paris with a suitcase full of her home-made beauty products, she’s ready to do whatever it takes to claim her stake in the world.London, 2016. Scandalous love affairs and an iconic cosmetics brand have kept Daphné Le Marche in spotlight – but her darkest secrets have never come to light. Now, in her London penthouse, enveloped in her rich signature scent, the Grande Dame of glamour has died.But not even those closest to her could have been prepared for what came next.The Last Will and Testament of Daphné Le Marche is a sweeping story of heartbreak, scandal and the importance of keeping it in all the family…
The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon: An emotional and gripping World War 2 historical novel
Suzanne Goldring - 2022
A Wartime Secret
Helen Yendall - 2022
Then she was gone.When Maggie’s new job takes her from bombed-out London to grand Snowden Hall in the Cotswolds she’s apprehensive but determined to do her bit for the war effort. She’s also keeping a secret, one she knows would turn opinion against her. Her mother is German: Maggie is related to the enemy.Then her evacuee sister sends her a worrying letter, missing the code they agreed Violet would use to confirm everything was well, and Maggie’s heart sinks. Violet is miles away; how can she get to her in the middle of a war? Worse, her mother, arrested for her nationality, is now missing, and Maggie has no idea where she is.As a secret project at Snowden Hall risks revealing Maggie’s German side, she becomes even more determined to protect her family. Can she find a way to get to her sister? And will she ever find out where her mother has been taken?
Samuel Pepys and the Stolen Diary
M.J. Lee - 2016
Samuel Pepys has been keeping a diary for many years; a diary that tells of all the political shenanigans he is witness to at the court of King Charles Stuart. And of all his own marital indiscretions as well. And now it has been stolen, along with his wife’s favourite locket. Samuel must get it back, or he might lose his head in the Tower. He will certainly lose his wife, who thinks he’s given her locket to his latest mistress. Enlisting the help of his friend Will Hewer, they track the locket to a fence in London, who tells them who stole it for a fee. Necklace in his pocket, Will and Samuel make their way to the young thief’s home, only to find him dead in a chair, with a curious button clasped in his hand. Will spies a man fleeing the home and gives chase, only to run into a one-armed man who steals the locket. Things are looking pretty grim, when Samuel is summoned to see the King. It seems some skulduggery is a foot in the Chatham dockyards, and King Charles sends Samuel to investigate. Leaving Will behind to find the diary, he sets off with his brother in law, Balthazar ‘Balty’ St Michel, hoping he will learn the gossip from the locals, if he stays sober long enough. No such luck… Balty soon disappears and Samuel is curious as to why so many armed guards follow him wherever he goes. Then they both end up locked in a cellar, and the only way out is to start a fire. Samuel Pepys and the Stolen Diary is a laugh out loud romp through the filthy streets of London, where hackney drivers boast of having the best seats for a hangin’ and the poet laureate Dryden rewrites his plays for the highest bidder. Filled with historical colour and clever plot turns, you’ll be cheering for Samuel and Will well after the last page is turned. Martin Lee has spent most of his adult life writing in one form or another. As a University researcher in history, he wrote pages of notes on reams of obscure topics. As a social worker with Vietnamese refugees, he wrote memoranda. And, as the creative director of an advertising agency, he has written print and press ads, TV commercials, short films and innumerable backs of cornflake packets and hotel websites. He first encountered Samuel Pepys when an auntie gave him an edited version of the diaries when he was fifteen years old. The man and his world have remained an obsession ever since. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
Stolen from Her Mother
Rachel Wesson - 2022
Tears run down her face as the truth hits her. “You can’t do this. She’s my daughter, my flesh and blood. I’ll never stop looking for her. Never. No matter what you say or do, I’ll find her.”Ireland, 1941: While war rages across the world, Kate struggles on her family farm by the wild Atlantic Ocean. Living off rations and looking after her sick father, she doesn’t dare dream of falling in love.But when she meets American airman, Tony, whose blue eyes are as stormy as the sea, her life collides with the war in ways she never imagined… They fall madly in love, stealing kisses in the rolling fields, and Tony vows to make her his wife.Their time is cut short when Tony leaves for war, promising to come back for her. Only then does Kate learn she is carrying his child––but when her family find out, she is shunned and banished to a Magdalen Laundry.Imprisoned in the home for unmarried mothers, where the windows are covered in barbed wire, the girls survive on scraps and sleep in a crammed dormitory. Kate writes to Tony to tell him about their child, but she never hears back… Is he even still alive?And when she gives birth to baby Eva, Kate’s worst nightmare comes true: her precious child is sold to a stranger. But she made a promise to her darling daughter, and she’ll never stop looking for her. Can Kate escape, save her child and reunite her family before it’s too late?
The French House
Helen Fripp - 2021
“Marry me,” he’d said. “We’ll run these vineyards together.” But now he is gone. There is no one to share the taste of the first fruit of the harvest. And her troubles are hers alone…In sleepy little Reims, France, grieving Nicole Clicquot watches her daughter play amongst the vines under the golden sun and makes a promise to herself. Her gossiping neighbours insist that the rolling fields of chalk soil are no place for a woman, but she is determined to make a success of the winery. It’s the only chance she has to keep a roof over her head and provide a future for her little girl.But as the seasons change, bringing a spoiled harvest and bitter grapes, the vineyards are on the brink of collapse. Without her husband’s oldest friend, travelling merchant Louis, she’d truly be lost. No one else would stay up all night to help count endless rows of green bottles deep in the cellars, or spread word far and wide that Nicole makes the finest champagne he’s ever tasted. One magical night, as a shooting star illuminates their way under a velvet sky, Nicole gazes up at his warm smile and wonders if perhaps she doesn’t need to be quite so alone…But when Louis shrinks from her touch after returning from a long trip abroad, Nicole fears something is terribly wrong. And as an old secret about her husband – that only Louis knew – spreads from the cobbled village streets all the way to the Paris salons, her heart and fragile reputation are shattered. Was she wrong to put her trust in another man? And with Napoleon’s wars looming on the horizon, can she find a way to save her vineyards, and her daughter, from ruin?Fans of Chocolat, Carnegie’s Maid, Dinah Jeffries and anyone longing to sip champagne under the stars will adore this stunning historical read, inspired by the true story of how Nicole Clicquot blazed her own path to build the world’s greatest champagne house: Veuve Clicquot.Previously titled: The Champagne Widow
The Post Office Girls
Poppy Cooper - 2021
On Beth Healey's eighteenth birthday, she hopes that she will be able to forget the ghastly war and celebrate. But that evening, her twin brother Ned announces that he has signed up to fight. No longer able to stand working in her parents' village shop while others are doing their bit, Beth applies to join the Army Post Office's new Home Depot on the Regent's Park, and is astounded to be accepted. She will be responsible for making sure that letters and parcels get through to the troops on the front line. Beth is thrilled to be a crucial part of the war effort and soon makes friends with fellow post girls Milly and Nora, and meets the handsome James. But just as she begins to feel that her life has finally begun, everything starts falling apart, with devastating consequences for Beth and perhaps even the outcome of the war itself. Can Beth and her new friends keep it all together and find happiness at last?The Post Office Girls is perfect for fans of Johanna Bell, Daisy Styles and Nancy Revell.
EADERS LOVE THE POST OFFICE GIRLS!
'A superb debut novel' - 5 STARS'Entertaining, enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable' - 5 STARS'I absolutely loved this book and I am already eagerly awaiting book two in the series' - 5 STARS'The book gave a wonderful in sight into postal-service life during the war. Well done, Poppy' - 5 STARS'An excellent WW1 book' - 5 STARS
Newark Minutemen
Leslie K. Barry - 2020
Inspired by a true American legend, a Jewish boxer trained by the mafia and FBI fights the rising American Nazi party. During his undercover mission to rid the country of the American Führer, he falls in love with the enemy’s daughter.
No Place Like Home
Jane Renshaw - 2021
They have left the rat race of the big city and moved into a gorgeous, custom-built house in the Scottish Highlands. Bram has already planted up a vegetable plot and is planning to create a wildflower meadow and keep chickens and goats.But then a dead crow appears on their washing line, their vegetables are weedkilled and someone shoots at Bertie, a gentle guide dog belonging to Kirsty’s mother.The police say it’s nothing to worry about, it’s just bored local teenagers hanging out in the woods. But Bram is sure that more sinister forces are at work, that these events may be connected to a terrible secret in Kirsty’s past.And he’s right. As the campaign against them escalates, the family is pulled down into a relentless spiral of terror and violence until the home they always dreamed of becomes a nightmare from which they may never escape.
Summer at the French Olive Grove
Sophie Claire - 2021
So when she suffers an accident on her travels and finds herself recuperating in the quiet French seaside village where she spent her childhood, she can't wait to escape. Not least because Olivier - Lily's childhood friend and former crush, who she has spent the last thirteen years avoiding - is staying next door . . .Strong-minded masterbaker Olivier is happily settled in St Pierre, preparing to marry and put down roots. But Lily's return to the village risks turning his carefully-laid plans upsidedown, and as the pair rediscover their familiar rivalry and fun, sparks fly.Is Lily really as fearless and independent as she seems on the surface - or is she just running from the past? And what if Olivier is the only one who can teach her what it really means to be brave?
The Olive Grove
Eva Glyn - 2021
This is a chance to leave the past behind.But this island, and its inhabitants, have secrets of their own and a not-too-distant past steeped in tragedy and war. None more so than Vila Maslina’s enigmatic owner Damir Maric. A young man with nothing to lose but everything to gain…
Havana Jazz Club
Lola Mariné - 2012
Lured by her new playboy husband, the beautiful, trusting woman leaves her close-knit and caring family in Cuba to follow him to Spain. Once there, he reveals his true—and violent—nature, and Billie chooses the dangers of the street over the abuses of the man she once loved. Soon she finds herself with trouble to spare and nowhere to turn, but when her voice lands her a spot at the Havana Jazz Club, she discovers a new, unconventional family in a city far from the one she left behind. And with every high note and heartbreak, Billie skirts destiny to write her own song.