Showing results for "One for the Books" in World War I

The first in Ken Follett's breathtaking Century Trilogy, Fall of Giants is a captivating tale that follows five families through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for votes for women. A World in Chaos 1911, a thirteen-year-old boy, Billy...

War is coming to Europe. After a century of peace, the drums are beating again and the young man may seek honor and glory in service of his King and country. General Griffin's sons welcome the chance to leave the tedium of Oxford to pursue a manly existence for a few months—not for too long, the war will be over by Christmas.

The war is over, but its shadows linger. When spirited Lily Brown meets Robert Linford, heir to a prosperous building dynasty, their connection is immediate and electric. But Robert's father, Joseph Linford, sees only danger in his new daughter-to-be. Convinced Lily is a gold-digger and Robert's love a fleeting fancy, Joseph will stop at nothing to protect the family name. What begins as prejudice soon turns into obsession, and Joseph's actions set in motion a lie that will haunt the Linfords for generations.

When war breaks out, Rose Flaherty is eager to do her bit. Swapping city life in Birmingham for the fields of Somerset, she joins the Land Army to help keep Britain fed. But life on the farm is tough, the work backbreaking – and the farmer’s son, Jimmy, isn’t exactly welcoming. An accident in the orchard brings Rose into the path of nurse Daisy and ATS clerk Elsie, and soon the three girls form an unbreakable bond. But even their quiet corner of the countryside can’t escape the shadow of war.

The son of a sweetmaker, Karl Jochum has ambitions for a life beyond his father's shop. Through hard work and perseverance he determines to open a cafe in Berlin where the Emperor will one day dine. As the city grows and prospers, so too does Karl's business empire, and he rises to become the proprietor of Europe's finest and most luxurious hotel. Situated close to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, the Hotel Quadriga is a glorious monument to Imperialist Germany.

Lanning “Lanny” Budd spends his first 13 years in Europe, living at the center of his mother’s glamourous circle of friends on the French Riviera. In 1913, he enters a prestigious Swiss boarding school and befriends Rick, an English boy, and Kurt, a German. The three schoolmates are privileged, happy, and precocious - but their world is about to come to an abrupt and violent end. When the gathering storm clouds of war finally burst, raining chaos and death over the continent, Lanny must put the innocence of youth behind him.

In this evocative tale of life in India between the wars, friendships will be tested and loyalties torn. But can love win the day?

At age 15, Ned Halloran lost both of his parents - and almost his own life - when the Titanic sank. Determined to keep what little he has, he returns to his homeland of Ireland and enrolls at Saint Edna's school in Dublin. Saint Edna's headmaster is the renowned scholar and poet Patrick Pearse - who is soon to gain greater fame as a rebel and patriot. Ned becomes deeply involved with the growing revolution...and the sacrifices it will demand.

The slums of Poor House Lane are no place to bring up a child, and Kate O'Connor struggles to make ends meet when her beloved husband is killed, leaving her a single mother with a baby to support on the meagre handouts she gleans from charity. So when the childless Tysons, owners of Kendal's shoe factory, offer to adopt her son, Callum, and employ Kate as his nanny, she seizes the chance to ensure he has a better life. To be so close to her son, yet no longer be his mother, is bittersweet.

Hampshire, 1913. Amidst the glitz and glamour of England’s High Society, Sarah Trenwith is more of a wallflower living in the shadow of her beautiful sister Marianne. But as the war approaches Sarah will have to step out of the place society and her family have assigned her if she’s to do her part and claim the love she always dreamed of from afar.

In 1913, in a quiet corner of London, the three Fry sisters are coming of age, dreaming of all the possibilities the bright future offers. But when war erupts, their innocence is shattered and a new era of uncertainty begins.

May 1915. As zeppelin bombs fall on London and with the sinking of the Lusitania, anti-German hysteria reaches fever pitch and attacks on German immigrants surge. Not even the West End of London is immune. Jacob Stein's bespoke tailoring business comes under brutal attack, leaving his safe ransacked, his daughter, Ruth, raped and Jacob dead.

Wood Green, North London, November 1913. The storm clouds of war gather overhead while one brave girl fights to save her family.... After her mother dies, Livvie Bone knows it's down to her to protect her younger siblings from their drunken father. But life on the worst street in London is dark and dangerous, and one night she needs protection herself. When the mysterious Joe Hunter steps in to help her, Livvie's fascinated by him, in spite of his unsavoury reputation.

As war looms in Europe, 18-year-old Jane Shaw runs the household as an unpaid servant on a meagre budget. When tragedy strikes and she loses her beloved younger brother in suspicious circumstances, Jane takes a position in service looking after Ned, a troubled young boy. Here she meets dashing David Heron, Ned's Uncle and they form an immediate attachment until she is dismissed after being accused of stealing a piece of jewellery. Returning home, Jane and her sister, Melia, are soon orphaned and left at the mercy of their Aunt Alice.

The New York Times bestselling author of the The Paris Library returns with a powerful, moving new novel based on the extraordinary true story of Jessie Carson, the American librarian determined to bring books to the children of war-torn France. 'This is hands down my book of 2024. A rich...

USA TODAY BESTSELLER A stunning and unexpected portrait of Lucy Maud Montgomery, creator of one of literature’s most prized heroines, whose personal demons were at odds with her most enduring legacy—the irrepressible Anne of Green Gables. “Dear old world,” she murmured, “you are very...

Martha Owen has not had an easy start in life. Her abusive father dominates the family and she has lost her only friend after a painful falling-out. When her father's reliance on the bottle, and his increasingly violent temper, causes more turmoil for Martha, her mother and her three siblings, as well as World War One causing more strain on the home front, her prospects look bleak. With no money or qualifications to speak of, starting a job at the Potteries feels like a lifeline, but Martha finds herself wanting more than the production line job she works on.

Desperate to save the man she loves, Etta leaves behind the life she has made for herself in Capri and enters the decadent world of Parisian society with all its secrets and scandals. Celie’s new life on the Canadian prairies brings mixed blessings – a daughter to adore, but a husband who isn’t the man who holds her heart. In Egypt, Jessie’s world is forever changed by a devastating loss.

Brought to you by Penguin. THE GUNS ARE SILENT. THE DEAD ARE NOT. 1919. On the desolate battlefields of northern France, the guns of the Great War are silent. Special battalions now face the dangerous task of gathering up the dead for mass burial. Captain Mackenzie, a survivor of the war, cannot...

London 1917. As the Americans enter the war, there is renewed energy in the war effort. With husbands and sons fighting for freedom, the women of Harpers are left to tackle the day-to-day affairs at home and work. With Ben Harper away, Sally fears she is being followed by a mysterious woman. Who is she, and what does she want? Maggie Gibbs collapses seriously ill in the frontline hospitals and is brought back to England close to death. Can she be saved, and what does the future hold for her and her broken heart?