Showing results for "Publishing Romance" in 20th Century

Bloomsbury presents The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, read by Charlie Norfolk. The beloved, life-affirming international bestseller which has sold over 5 million copies worldwide – now a major film starring Lily James, Matthew Goode, Jessica...

Long considered one of the best American novels of our time, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable tale of an American ambulance driver and his passionate affair with a beautiful English nurse. Set against the backdrop of World War I, this gripping semi-autobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war as only Hemingway can. A story of love and pain, loyalty and desertion, A Farewell to Arms paints an intimate portrait of the pain and intensity of a love overshadowed by the inexorable creep of global war.

When a burned book falls into the hands of a young bookbinder, she uncovers a tale of forbidden love, a fortune lost … and murder – which puts her own life in jeopardy. Fans of The Shadow of the Wind and The Thirteenth Tale will love this thrilling historical novel, with an intriguing...

A fascinating biographical novel of America's must successful bank robber, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Tender Bar. ★ "Electrifying." —Booklist (starred review) Willie Sutton was born in the Irish slums of Brooklyn in 1901, and he came of age at a time when banks were...

***FROM CELIA IMRIE: STAR OF CELEBRITY TRAITORS ON BBC ONE!*** Bloomsbury presents Meet Me at Rainbow Corner, written and read by Celia Imrie. ‘Walking in time with the beat, clapping her hands, clicking her fingers. How could anyone resist the urge to dance? Dot swirled her Red Cross cape in...

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.

In this extraordinary novel, a forty-year-old woman journeys to her cultural homeland—and uncovers a harrowing secret that makes her rethink everything she thought she knew about her mother. "An unforgettable story about mothers, daughters, and sisters reaching inward for solace and strength...

Bloomsbury presents The Paris Muse by Louisa Treger, read by Amy Noble. ‘Living with him was like living at the centre of the universe. It was electrifying and humbling, blissful and destructive, all at the same time.’ Paris, 1936. When Dora Maar, a talented French photographer, painter and...

Orkney 1942. Forbidden lovers, divided by war, united by a secret act of creation. Amid the turmoil of the Second World War, a group of Italian prisoners is sent to the remote Orkney island of Lamb Holm. In the freezing conditions, hunger and untold hardships of Camp 60, this ragtag band must...

June 1914. Edie Moore is a Governess for Lord and Lady Moreland, living comfortably at the grand Downland House in Sussex. But, wanting more from life, she flees to Littlehampton, where she spent many idyllic childhood holidays. Desperate for work, Edie begins working as a chambermaid at the prestigious Beach Hotel, despite the menial tasks being a far cry from her previous job. But as she navigates her new life, friendships, and rivalries, she also grows closer to charming, cheerful porter, Charlie Cobbett, and finally finds the happiness she has been searching for.

After her fiancé dies in the sinking of the Royal Oak, Mary finds herself stationed in Orkney, still battling her grief. With Iris and Sally by her side, she is gradually overcoming her loss and is surprised to be helped by the irascible Joe. Joe is a signalman aboard the Kelpie and his cheeky Morse code messages to Mary while she's on shift bring her cheer and exasperation in equal measure. With Christmas round the corner, Mary is opening herself back up to the festive spirit—and to love.

Spring 1919. WW1 might be over, but the inhabitants of Dorcalon in the Welsh Valleys still feel the pain of the war that took so many of their men. Polly Smith is trying to survive her own battle at home. After her abusive husband, Gus, was finally jailed, Polly has been raising her two-year-old son alone. But being a single mother isn't easy, and Polly finds it harder still as Gus's criminal activities leave her with a bad reputation. Lonely and struggling for money, Polly retreats as she becomes the subject of cruel gossip.

It's August 1917, and WW1 continues to take a toll. The villagers of Dorcalon try to keep hope alive, but every day brings fresh tragedy as more are killed on foreign battlefields. Elizabeth Meredith, daughter of mine manager Herbert, enjoys a privileged position in the village, but she longs to break free of society's expectations. Falling in love with miner Gwilym Owen brings more joy to her life than she's ever known...until she's forced to choose between her love and her disapproving family.

After a bomb destroys Esme's London home and kills her son, she moves to Woodicombe, her old house in Devon, to begin the impossible task of recuperating. Soon she is drawn back into the world of espionage and as her marriage to Richard starts to crumble, a local airman pulls her closer. Meanwhile, Lou awaits confirmation that she can relocate to Canada to be with her husband. Biding her time back home, she notices her father behaving strangely and disappearing at odd hours to wander the nearby cliffs. With rumours of spies afoot, she needs to learn the truth before anyone else does.

Following a humiliating experience involving the man she thought she’d marry, Iris Tredwick signs up to the Wrens in order to escape and - hopefully - find ‘the right sort’ of man to please her mother. After a bumpy start, Iris manages to befriend outspoken Mary and dreamer Sally as they are sent to their first posting - in Orkney. There she meets engineer Rob, whose flirtatious nature both charms and confounds straight-laced Iris. Much more appropriate for her is local doctor Stewart, if only she felt the same spark for him as she does for Rob.

A courageous young noblewoman risks her life to hide French resistance fighters; 70 years later, her granddaughter visits the family’s abandoned chateau and uncovers shocking secrets from the past. Gisèle Duchant guards a secret that could cost her life. Tunnels snake through the hill under her family’s medieval chateau in Normandy. Now, with Hitler’s army bearing down, her brother and several friends are hiding in the tunnels, resisting the German occupation of France. But when German soldiers take over the family’s château, Gisèle is forced to host them as well.

1922. When the Turkish Army occupies Smyrna, Zoë Haggitiris escapes with her family, only to lose everything. Alone in a sea of desperate strangers, her life is touched, for a moment, by a young English boy, Tom Collyer, also lost, before the compassion of a stranger leads her into a new life. Years later when war breaks out, Tom finds himself in Greece, and in the chaos of the British retreat, fate will lead him back to Zoë. But he will discover that the war will not end so easily for either of them.

Tasmania, 1929: 10-year-old-twins Tom and Harry Abbott are orphaned by a tragedy that shocks Hobart society. They find sanctuary with their reclusive grandmother, growing up in the remote and rugged Binburra ranges - a place where kind-hearted Tom discovers a love of the wild, Harry nurses a growing resentment towards his brother, and where the mountains hold secrets that will transform both their lives. The chaos of World War II divides the brothers, and their passions for two very different women fuel a deadly rivalry.

June, 1941. When Bobby Bancroft arrived in Silverdale to take a job as a reporter on The Tyke magazine, the sleepy Yorkshire Dales village felt like a little pocket of a past long gone. But war finally seems to have come to Silverdale. The villagers face new hardships when shortages and rationing begin to bite, young men become scarce as more are called up, and Bobby finds herself juggling her job on the magazine with a new role as an ARP warden. Even her surly editor Reg and his wife are doing their bit, agreeing to take two evacuees from London into their home.

1940. Cora Mayhew came to Paris to search for her birth mother and stayed to work for the resistance movement. When Cora's train is struck by Nazi bombs, the only thoughts on her mind as she staggers from the wreckage are to escape to return to her family, and to post the heart-wrenching letter clutched in her hand. Then a German soldier finds and saves Cora. Max Heller is nothing like she would have expected: kind, good-humoured and selfless. Cora can't help falling in love with him as he helps to plot her escape.