Showing titles in 20th Century

Lissabon 1961: Als ihr kleiner Bruder stirbt, ändert sich für die junge Amália alles. Ihr Vater verlässt die Familie über Nacht und ihre Mutter wird krank. Doch Amália nimmt ihr Leben in die Hand, in der Hoffnung, dass sie Armut und Krankheit hinter sich lassen kann. Bei ihrem Job im Café lernt sie den charismatischen Marcelo kennen, der mit seinem Freund João politisch aktiv ist. Zwischen Amália und Marcelo entstehen tiefe Gefühle, doch für ihn zählt vor allem der Widerstand. Als das autoritäre Regime die Studentenunruhen brutal niederschlägt, spürt auch Amália die Sehnsucht nach Freiheit.

Widowed Lessie Hamilton lives with her young son and her brother Davie. To make ends meet, Lessie works in the local grocery shop supporting Davie as he works on the docks and attends night school, hoping to become an engineer, much to the scorn of their reformed alcoholic father. With her mother's drinking spiralling, putting their vulnerable younger sister Thomasina at risk, brother Joseph frequently in trouble with the police and sister Edith thinking herself above them all – Lessie has much to contend with.

Rose MacDowall is hopeful that her husband Alex can overcome his post-war night terrors and return to full health so she can concentrate on her thriving dress-designing business. When the McCarts, an Irish family arrive in Paisley they are offered a warm welcome, employment and support, but dark secrets threaten to destroy the new lives they're trying to build. As Alex's father's health fails, Fiona steps in to help run the family furniture emporium but Rose is unsettled by Fiona's ambitions and wary of her motives.

May 1943. The tide of war has turned at last, with an Allied victory looking increasingly certain, but all is not well for the residents of Silverdale. Newlyweds Bobby and Charlie find themselves back in civilian life after Charlie is given a medical discharge from the RAF. But the village of Silverdale has been forever changed, and the memories of their lost young men cast a long shadow.

A nursing orderly in the WAAF, Ruby Morris is keen to stick with her friends Holly and Meg when they volunteer for the air ambulance, and soon all three are moved to RAF Starsden on the outskirts of London. Nervous not only at flying during wartime but also being responsible for life-or-death decisions, Ruby works hard to overcome her fears, helped by her new friendship with pilot Flight Sergeant Laurie Foster. When it seems like Laurie and Ruby could become more than friends, he starts to blow hot and cold, and she worries her feelings aren't reciprocated.

Throughout her childhood, Mia has watched her sisters leave their Tuscan villa and start their own families. Now it's her turn and, having promised them that she will follow her heart, she hopes she will finally be brave enough to fall in love herself. In London, Mia meets Ben, a bookseller. Just as her affection grows, Ben tells her he can never leave London. Loving him would mean saying goodbye to her home in the Tuscan hills forever. Then Mia finds a locket, along with a long-forgotten love story that mirrors her own.

Hampshire, 1900. With the sudden death of her father, the life of 15-year-old Harriet Benson changes forever. Forced from her home to escape the advances of her leering stepbrother Norris, Harriet is sent into service to provide for the family. Arriving at the grand Dalton House, she meets the owners' crippled son Joseph, with whom friendship soon blossoms. When circumstances force Joseph to leave the family home, Harriet is happy to accompany him and break free from the controlling influence of her stepmother.

Brought to you by Penguin. THE EMOTIONAL CONCLUSION TO THE ROWNTREES GIRL SERIES! January 1945. The end of the war at last feels within reach, and the Rowntrees workers dream of returning to work on chocolate rather than munitions. Within the Freeman household, there are also dreams of a...

At 17, Veronica O'Shay is happier running wild on the family farm than behaving in the ladylike manner her mother requires, and she despairs both of her secret passion for her brother's friend Jack Murphy and what promises to be a future of restraint and compliance. But this is 1913 and the genteel tranquillity of rural Beecroft is about to change forever as the O'Shay and Murphy families, along with their friends the Dwyers, are caught up in the theatre of war and their fates become intertwined.

Cornwall, heute: Nach einem beruflichen Rückschlag flieht Samantha zu ihrer Tante nach Cornwall. Dort findet sie auf dem Dachboden einen geheimnisvollen Verlobungsring, der sie zu einem Rätsel aus der Vergangenheit führt. Maxwell Trevenian, der arrogante Erbe des altehrwürdigen Familienanwesens, versucht ihre Nachforschungen zu verhindern. Zwischen den rauen Klippen und dem endlosen Meer begegnet sie dem eigensinnigen Fischer Lowen, der ihr Cornwall von einer ganz anderen Seite zeigt. Doch je tiefer sie in die Vergangenheit eindringt, desto brisanter werden die Geheimnisse, die sie aufdeckt.

A recent widow, Lady Arabella Grey hires the young and unconventional Zandra Lancaster as governess to her children. Despite Zandra's impressive recommendations, Arabella is skeptical and unimpressed by Zandra's youth and artistic nature. But Zandra is brilliant with her daughters, and Arabella's inexplicably drawn to her.

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.

Film location manager Claire Montgomery never imagined that Starlight Creek's timeless beauty would capture both her professional ambition and her heart. Battling in an industry still dominated by men, she faces her toughest challenge yet: securing access to a historically significant art deco theatre. It's fiercely protected by its reclusive owner Hattie Fitzpatrick and her enigmatic great-nephew Luke Jackson.

To escape her strait-laced overbearing sister, Birdie Stauffer auditions for the all-female Versatile Quintet, Chautauqua circuit's opening act. Through this train-traveling roadshow she experiences the tumultuous 1920s, a modern era of shocking flappers and smuggled whiskey, with the camaraderie of newfound friends. Her exceptional gift of concert whistling entertains more than songbirds as she gains national notoriety and she's soon entangled in two romantic relationships—one with a dapper circuit manager, the other her fellow pianist. 

Ein Kindheitsversprechen. Ein Familiengeheimnis. Und eine unmögliche Liebe in den goldenen Jahren Italiens. Zwei Kinder im Garten einer Mailänder Villa: Piero, der strahlende Sohn eines Automobilunternehmers. Und Valeria, die talentierte Tochter der Hausangestellten. Sie versprechen sich, Freunde fürs Leben zu werden. Verbunden durch ein altes Familiengeheimnis erleben sie eine Jugend in den goldenen Jahren Italiens, zwischen Dolce Vita und kultureller Revolution.

‘A woman can get more information about German supply lines and replacements than a man with a knife to a soldier’s throat…’ Germany, 1944 Best friends Viv Allen and Junie Knight are drawn into the covert world of America’s Morale Operations Branch, a dark propaganda campaign designed...

A secret letter. A wartime promise. A courageous act of love... Singapore, 1942: The war is drawing ever closer, and Dorothy faces a heart-rending choice to flee the country she has come to call home. With warplanes advancing across the ocean, she is boarding a boat full of evacuees when...

Amelia Wakefield loves working at Pennington's, Bath's finest department store. So when Pennington's owner sets her a task to set sail on the Titanic and study the department stores of New York, Amelia couldn't be more excited – or determined! Meeting Amelia on board the Titanic, Samuel Murphy can't help wonder what painful history has made the beauty so reserved. Meanwhile, in Bath, Ruby Taylor has always kept her Pennington co-workers at a distance.

Set in mid-century Rome and England, this forbidden slow-burn love story will take your breath away ‘Lush, evocative and sexy’ – The Sunday Times 'A thrilling love story of intellect and passion' – The Observer 'Truly outstanding: clever, passionate and as clean as a bone' – Melissa...

"Devotees of rich historical fiction and contemporary social discourse alike will be enthralled.” —Booklist, starred review From bestselling author Louise Fein comes a new historical novel set in a world of banned books and censorship, in which an encrypted manuscript unleashes a chain of...