Historical Fiction

As snow falls outside Abbotsford vicarage on Christmas Eve, Rose Northwood finds a child lying destitute in the manger of the town's nativity display. Reminded of her younger brother, who died at Christmastime, she is determined to nurse the young boy back to health. But the child has lost his memory and can't recall where he came from…

Tammy and her mother, Grace, are desperate to escape Tammy’s violent bully of a father. But when an unforeseen tragedy strikes, mother and daughter must flee Scotland in the dead of night. To survive the severest of penalties, they leave behind everything they know and love – including one another. Under new identities, Tammy and Grace must start afresh. Tammy joins the services and there she meets a dashing officer who begins to break her guard down. But can the course of love ever run smooth with Tammy unable to reveal her true self?

Blackburn, 1947. In the tiny front parlour 14-year-old Laura Blake watches her beloved father die. But not before he tells her she will make something of her life. Laura never forgets his words. Yet her path to success proves to be a rocky one. Forced to trundle a cart around the back streets, selling other folk's cast-offs to support her family, Laura learns enough to start work in her uncle's furniture shop. But then fate deals another cruel blow when Laura is brutally raped. Bearing the child of her attacker in secret, she vows to make the world pay for its injustice towards her.

Jane Carter sees an advertisement for a live-in shop assistant and jumps at the chance to leave her old life behind. After Chadwick the draper takes her on, Jane learns all there is to know about fabrics and dressmaking. She proves a talented saleswoman and befriends Maggie and Lily, the other employees. The girls struggle under exploitative conditions: meagre pay; tiny portions of food; the boss cheating them out of commissions. When the young man Maggie is seeing falls in love with Jane, a bitter falling-out results in Maggie threatening to leave Chadwick’s.

When young Bendigo Shafter and a ragtag bunch of travelers settle in the rugged Wyoming mountains, they quickly come to depend on a toughness and wisdom many of them never knew they possessed. Led by the beautiful and resourceful widow Ruth Macken, the settlers battle harsh winters, renegade opportunists, and the destructive lure of gold. Through these brutally demanding experiences, young Bendigo is forged into a man.

A priceless gem, a diamond from India imbued with religious significance, is stolen on the very night it is given as an eighteenth birthday present to a captivating heiress; and so the mystery begins. The rules for the golden age of crime novels are formed in The Moonstone – an English country house, a complex cast of characters, the bungling local constabulary, a celebrated sleuth and the reconstruction of the crime.

Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel centres on Charlotte Heywood as she arrives in an up-and-coming seaside town. As she meets a host of characters, from her hosts’ family to visitors from the West Indies, Austen's final novel gives us a concise insight into the deception, snobbery, and unexpected romances that occur in the world of her characters.

After leaving Netherfield, Fitzwilliam Darcy hopes to escape the memory of Elizabeth Bennet. Yet, he cannot escape her in his dreams, where she angrily rejects his suit. As these dreams seem partially prophetic, Darcy begins to reconsider his actions in Hertfordshire. Unbeknownst to him, Elizabeth is experiencing similar dreams, seeing a different side of Darcy than the haughty demeanor he initially displayed. When they meet again in Kent, their reunion is unexpectedly amiable especially as they come to realize they shared a dream of the future.

Four people's lives are dramatically torn apart by a single terrifying event. Two days before Christmas the express train to Strasbourg crashes into a local train in the winter darkness outside Paris. On board is Gilles Malroux, a man with a shady past and a strong reason to avoid the police. In the mayhem of the crash he is badly injured but to avoid capture by the police he swaps identity papers with one of the other victims of the impact. Gilles tries to flee in the dark but finds himself taken to the house of a woman he doesn't know but who calls him Davide.

France 1734. Alex has only one wish to live with his clan in his beloved Scotland, and one day to lead them as chieftain. But recognising his abilities, his father has more ambitious plans for him, and sends him to study in Paris, hoping that one day he will be able to make the MacGregors legal again. Homesick and unhappy, Alex tries to make the most of his time abroad, eager to please his father and make him proud.

Emerging from the dark streets and subterranean caves of Palermo, the Beati Paoli, masked and hooded, mete out their own form of justice to counter the unfettered power and privilege wielded by the aristocracy. For the voiceless, weak, and oppressed, the Beati Paoli are defenders and heroes.

Ania hears the explosion of gunshots before she sees the Nazi soldiers approach her beloved home. Her family don’t have time to run, but she does. Hiding nearby, she listens to her sister’s screams and – stroking the red ribbon she keeps tied around her wrist – she begins to plot her revenge… Taunted her whole life for being smarter than anyone else in the village, now living in war-torn Poland, being governed by Nazis who think Poles are subhuman and women only good for one thing… Ania now only has her wits to rely on, if she's going to survive.

How would the story of Pride and Prejudice be altered if Mr. Wickham had been a good man? Instead of becoming a scoundrel who regularly attempts to elope with teenage girls, Mr. Wickham studies the law as he originally told Mr. Darcy when he gave up the value of the living. After finishing his studies, Mr. Wickham finds work in Meryton with Mr. Phillips, a local solicitor and the Bennets's uncle.

When Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy left London four years ago, Europe was facing war and Billy Cavendish, the man she loved, had told her he could never marry her. Now, as London stands a shell of its former self, Kick returns to volunteer with the Red Cross, determined to do what she can for the city that holds a part of her heart, and to reconnect with Billy - despite what London society thinks of her.

Abril de 1937. Mientras en España transcurre la guerra civil, el marino mercante Miguel Jordán Kyriazis es enviado por el bando sublevado para atacar de modo clandestino el tráfico naval que desde la Unión Soviética transporta ayuda militar para la República. En la base de operaciones, una pequeña isla del mar Egeo, la vida del corsario español se cruzará en turbio triángulo con la de los propietarios, el barón Katelios y su esposa: una seductora mujer madura que busca, con fría desesperación, el modo de escapar a su destino.

King Richard the Lionheart is dead, and his brother, John Lackland, sits uneasily upon the throne of England. Across the sea, Prince Louis, heir to the powerful King Philip Augustus of France, looks to King John’s crown with a covetous eye. But King John must be wary of rebellion, as well as invasion, for even his own barons would see their king unseated, and the French pretender put in his place. Thrust amid this tumult is young Estienne Wace, orphan squire to Earl William Marshal – the greatest knight to ever serve the kings of England.

For the townspeople of Poole on the Dorset coast, the war feels like it's right on their doorstep. And with more and more men leaving to fight, one fisherman’s daughter is determined to do whatever she can to help. Peggy volunteers to use her skills on the water to work with the flying boats alongside the RAF based in the harbour. But when she is asked to undertake a special mission, she will have to make a terrible choice – between her duty to her country and her only chance of happiness.

When Jane Bennet meets Mr Bingley at the ball in Meryton she quickly loses her heart to him. Everyone thinks their union will be announced imminently, ut arrogant Mr Darcy has other plans. Determined to make a better match for his friend, Darcy contrives to separate the young couple, leaving Jane heartbroken. With Jane and Bingley both in London, the Bennet sisters hope their paths will cross, and Jane and Bingley will resume the relationship between them. But will fate – or others – intervene to keep these two young lovers apart forever?

Mr Darcy's Second Chance is a compilation of three previously published Pride and Prejudice Variations.

Paris, 1940. Clutching a delicate silver dove-shaped brooch–the last gift from her beloved Otto, with a message of love engraved in the back–Lally flees her home in Paris. With her closest friend by her side, she dodges the Nazi gunfire echoing all around the city streets. But as they become more and more desperate during the darkest days Europe has ever known, one must make a terrible sacrifice for them both to survive…

England in the early 1320s is a restless place. Edward II’s barons are disgruntled by his preference for Hugh Despenser, and in 1321 Roger Mortimer rebels against his king. With Baron Mortimer rides Adam de Guirande, Mortimer’s most loyal man. But when Edward II strikes back, things look uncomfortably dark for Adam who finds himself a prisoner—and abandoned by everyone but his wife.

1915, London: Shaking, she opens the faded red front door and her heart races as the young boy on the steps holds out the telegram. The words swim before her. They can’t be true; this can’t be happening. Nothing will ever be the same again. 1943, London: Elizabeth Carmichael rushes out down the steps of her town house in her smart army uniform, daydreaming of her handsome fiancé posted miles away in the RAF, and determined to play her part in the war effort. Not looking where she’s going, Elizabeth collides with a tall man in the middle of the street.

Mr. George Darcy, loved his eldest, illegitimate son, George Wickham, and indulged him by bringing him to Pemberley to live after the death of his wife. His heir, Fitzwilliam Darcy, paid a heavy price. Mr. Thomas Bennet, at the persistent urging of his wife, chose not to have his youngest children, including his only son, vaccinated for smallpox. When the plague hit Longbourn it devastated their family. His second child, Elizabeth, paid the heaviest price for this decision of her father. Will Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth be able to overcome the consequences of their father's choices?

After a whirlwind romance, usherette Connie is swept off her feet when projectionist Charlie proposes in a film reel added to the final frames of Casablanca. Her job at the Tivoli cinema in Tiverton has been a refuge from her violent and alcoholic father, Frank. But that night, Connie disappears, not only from Charlie's life, but from her own as well.

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

Com 23 anos, a infanta Catarina de Bragança, filha de D. Luísa de Gusmão e de D. João IV, deixou para trás tudo o que lhe era querido e próximo para navegar rumo a uma vida nova. No coração, um misto de tristeza e alegria. Saudades da sua Lisboa, de Vila Viçosa, do cheiro a laranjas, dos seus irmãos que já haviam partido deste mundo e dos que ficavam em Portugal a lutar pelo poder. Mas os seus olhos escuros deixavam perceber o entusiasmo pelo casamento com o homem dos seus sonhos, Charles de Inglaterra, um príncipe encantado que Catarina amava perdidamente ainda antes de o conhecer.

Ein heldenhafter Abenteurer? Ein geistreicher Berater der Mächtigen? Oder doch nur ein einfacher Betrüger? Die einzige Romanbiografie über eine der schillernsten Figuren des Mittelalters: Marco Polo. Ist dieser Mann ein Held, ein Genie oder nur ein Lügner? Diese Fragen gehen dem Geschichtenerzähler Rustichello durch den Kopf, als er der Erzählung seines Mitgefangenen Marco Polo lauscht. Hat dieser Marco es wirklich bis an den Hof des Kublai Khan geschafft?

Última rainha de Portugal, D. Amélia viveu durante 24 anos num país que amou como seu, apesar de nele ter deixado enterrados uma filha prematura que morreu à nascença, o seu primogénito D. Luís Filipe, herdeiro do trono, e o marido D. Carlos assassinados em pleno Terreiro do Paço a tiro de carabina e pistola.

お気楽者の麻之助、ついに父に――！妻のお和歌が子を宿した麻之助。子どもの名前を考えながら、今日も町の揉め事に立ち向かう！　大好評「まんまこと」シリーズ第９弾。

Ein stinkender Keller voll Schlafender und ein fluchender Mann mit Dreispitz - Henry Ingram traut seinen Augen nicht, als er nach einem heftigen Rausch zu sich kommt. Nur langsam begreift er das Unglaubliche: Er wurde um dreihundert Jahre in der Zeit zurückversetzt, mitten hinein ins London des 18. Jahrhunderts, ein London der Ganoven und Diebe. Unfreiwillig hilft er beim Ausbruch des Räuberhauptmanns Jack Sheppard aus dem berüchtigten Newgate-Gefängnis - und wird so selbst zum gejagten Gesetzlosen.

牢屋敷の首打役と刀の試し斬り御用を生業にする浪人、別所龍玄。ときに切腹の介錯を務めることもある。ある日首を打った僧侶の末期の声を聞いた龍玄は、幼い頃父親と訪ねた母子の店のことを思い出す（「妻恋坂」）。

飲み屋で男二人が喧嘩をした。一人は大怪我、殴った男は遁走の果てに首を吊った。町方にすれば“些末な”事件のはずだった。

小間物問屋〈遠野屋〉の元番頭が亡くなった。その死を悼む主の清之介は、火事で焼けた仕舞屋で見つかった若い女が殺されていたと報される。

「きやぁぁっ」老舗の油問屋で悲鳴が上がる。大店で知られる東海屋の主が変死した。内儀は、夫の口から牡丹の花弁が零れているのを見て失神し、女中と手代は幽霊を見たと証言した。

シリーズ化も決定！　西條奈加の〈ど真ん中〉傑作人情時代小説

葉茶屋・青陽堂の嫁として初めての新年を迎えた律。若おかみの務めと上絵師の仕事――その両立に励む折り、懐妊の兆しに気づく。喜びと不安に揺れる律に、女形の役者から着物の仕事が舞い込んだ。

辻斬りで母を亡くし、上絵師の父も失意のうちに死んだ。律は、幼い弟のためにも、父の跡を継ぎ、布に家紋や絵を描く上絵師としての独り立ちを目指していた。

上絵師として、初めて着物を手がけることになった律。粋人として名を馳せる雪永が親しい女に贈るものだ。張り切って下描きを仕上げる律だが、なかなか良い返事がもらえない。

鞠の意匠をあしらった「鞠巾着」が人気となり、安定した仕事をもらえるようになった律。涼太との祝言の日取りも決まり、幸せをかみしめながら、職人の仕事も一生続けていこうと決意するのだった。

涼太と祝言を挙げ、青陽堂の嫁としての新たな生活を迎えた律は、息抜きに出かけた先で、同じく嫁いだばかりの女たちと知り合う。悩みを打ち明け合える知己を得て心強く思う律だった。