Historical Family Saga

‘I can take him away from you any time I want.’ Her mistress’s cruel taunt is deeply disturbing to Jenny Dickens—why would Claudia be interested in a servant’s sweetheart? All the same, Jenny reckons without Claudia’s vicious nature. Using a wily trick, Claudia seduces Frank who, overcome with shame, leaves the household for a new life in Blackburn. Losing Frank is just the first of many disasters that leave Jenny struggling to cope alone.

The Llewelyn family's livelihood largely depends on the ferry, run by Siona Llewelyn, the kindly yet rugged head of the family. The family is large but close knit, held together by their mother Emily—a hard-working woman made old before her time having borne seven sons, and now with child once again. As the boys grow into young men, tensions flare in the family unit, made worse by a web of rivalries and ambitions. When a death shocks the family to its core, it will take the intervention of a special person to remind them of what they have lost.

Rita Blackthorn’s heart was barren and hard. In all of her life, she had never truly loved. But she had hated. Beneath the loving gaze of her daughter’s soft green eyes, her heart swelled with dark and dangerous emotions. Young Cathy Blackthorn has never experienced any loving response from her mother. It is her beloved Aunt Margaret, with a heart as big and warm as the summer sky, who has been more of a mother than her own could ever be. And when Cathy’s father brings home a London street urchin, Cathy despairs of ever winning her parents’ love.

1930 - Douro Valley, Portugal. Twelve-year-old Catherine is watching the Rabalo race in Porto when the sound of a shot being fired changes her life forever. Her beloved mother, mistress for some years to Walter Shellard, a Bristol-based wine and port merchant has received distressing news that her lover, Walter, has married a wealthy heiress. In her anguish she takes her own life, leaving poor Catherine alone and heartbroken. Angry and grieving, Catherine is sent to live under the guardianship of her eccentric Aunt Lopa in a small farmhouse high above the rich vineyards of the Douro valley.

Diane Allen's The Yorkshire Farm Girl is a heartfelt novel of a family dreaming of a better life when war looms on the horizon. Life is hard for the Fothergill family as they try to make a living on their farm in the Yorkshire Dales. Bob Fothergill has set his sights on buying his own farm...

Born in a quiet English village shortly before the onset of the Second World War, Simon Brand’s life is quickly and inextricably interwoven with the Clare-Thompson family and their country Estate which borders the village. His mother moves them away from the village after the war, and an honors degree in economics at Cambridge sees him opting for what proves to be a brilliant career as a business/financial consultant in the City. At the end of a day of goodbyes, in Cambridge, his eyes meet those of an extraordinarily beautiful young woman through the window of a bus.

Die bewegende Geschichte zweier Schwestern eines Lakritzimperiums und das spannende Porträt einer faszinierenden Zeit. Der neue Roman der Bestsellerautorin Tara Haigh. Bamberg 1887: Das Süßholzimperium Imhoff ist in Schwierigkeiten. Nur eine Vernunftehe mit einem Bankier könnte das Familienunternehmen noch retten. Doch die freiheitsliebende jüngere Tochter Elise flieht mit ihrem Geliebten nach Paris. Um jeden Preis will sie ihren Traum von einer eigenen Confiserie verwirklichen – auch wenn sie damit das Verhältnis zu ihrer Schwester Amalie schwer belastet.

Despite being part of the large O'Donnell family Milly has felt alone in the world since her father went missing in the Irish Civil War. Now, ten years later she is forced to flee her home and journey to Liverpool seeking a better future for herself. There she is taken in by distant relatives and eventually reunited with her paternal grandmother. As Milly tries to build a new life she is haunted by her father's mysterious disappearance. Her new friends strive to help her find answers, but meanwhile Milly's mother seeks to remarry on the assumption that her husband is dead.

Alicia Woodman was born into a home that should have been filled with comfort and joy. Her mother Elizabeth was bright and vivacious, Humphrey Woodman was a prosperous businessman. But Alicia was not Humphrey’s child and he would have nothing to do with her, and before long Elizabeth, too, turned her back on her daughter. It was left to Polly Ford, widow of a dock labourer, to bring Alicia up, to teach her to say ‘Yes, Mama’ and to give the child the love she so desperately needed.

Liverpool, 1928. Fifteen-year-old Annie Anderson was adopted by Sylvia and Hugh after the death of their own daughter. Annie is told that her own mother died in childbirth and her father died before she was born. A chance encounter introduces Annie to local lad Andrew Fraser. Their friendship blossoms, but once Annie's adoptive parents learn of it they forbid her from seeing him. When Annie asks why, it sets her on a path to discover more about her origins - but will what she learns bring heartache or joy?

From Liverpool’s best-loved author comes a superb novel of loss and grief, love and hope, set on Merseyside in 1920.

1929. When a passionate love affair threatens to leave Lucy in disgrace, she chooses a respectable marriage over a life of shame. With her husband, coffee-plantation-owner James, she travels to her new home in India. Everything in India is new to Lucy, from the jewel-coloured fabrics to the exotic spices. When her path crosses that of Gowri, a young woman who tends a temple, Lucy is curious to find out more about her, and the events that lead her to live in isolation from her family.

Auf der Suche nach dem, was uns glücklich macht. Lüneburg, 1961. Im Rathaus der Stadt restauriert Monika Hansens Vater alte Kulturgüter. Auch Monika arbeitet mit, doch niemand soll davon erfahren - eine Frau habe im Handwerk nichts zu suchen, heißt es. Und während ihr Bruder Wolfgang davon träumt, gegen den Willen des Vaters bei einer Beatband in Hamburg zu spielen, kämpft Monika um das Recht, einen Beruf zu ergreifen.

"I giorni dell'eternità" è la conclusione della trilogia "The century", dedicata al Novecento, nella quale Ken Follett segue il destino di cinque famiglie legate tra loro: una americana, una tedesca, una russa, una inglese e una gallese. Dai palazzi del potere alle case della gente comune, le storie dei protagonisti si snodano e si intrecciano nel periodo che va dai primi anni sessanta fino alla caduta del Muro di Berlino, passando attraverso eventi sociali, politici ed economici tra i più drammatici e significativi del cosiddetto "secolo breve".

Amburgo, 1889. Oscar Troplowitz è un giovane farmacista, deciso a sperimentare nuove formule per quello che secondo lui sarà l'affare del secolo: i prodotti di bellezza per le donne. Così, quando scopre che l'imprenditore Paul Beiersdorf vende il suo laboratorio farmaceutico per ragioni famigliari, non esita a farsi avanti. Tuttavia, all'entusiasmo iniziale fanno seguito le prime difficoltà: Oscar è ebreo, e inoltre ha idee “troppo” moderne sui benefici da riservare ai lavoratori.

Schoolboy Luke runs away to London, far from the abusive orphanage where he grew up. He’s desperate not to end up as a petty criminal and forced to beg for scraps on the street. Luke wanders the East End docks, struggling to find honest employment and morsels of food to fill his grumbling stomach. Longing to be a part of the close-knit community, Luke volunteers to work with the local doctor and his wife. Their kind words and welcoming home is everything he’s ever wished for. But not everyone wants the best for Luke and his new friends.

Une nuit d'hiver 1946 à Londres, une infirmière sonne à la porte de la maison des Freud. Anna, la fille du célèbre psychanalyste, est entre la vie et la mort. Épuisée et fiévreuse, elle confie des bouts de son existence à cette inconnue : son adolescence difficile, toute de désirs contrariés et de fantasmes honteux, les années d'analyse avec son père, sa rencontre décisive avec la fantasque Lou Andreas-Salomé…

It is 2003 in New Zealand, and Louisa Greenwood and her daughter Ngaroma are on a quest to discover their ancestry. Louisa has a greenstone necklace left to her in her father’s will, and from the first time Ngaroma wears it, she has unusual experiences, both good and bad. It leads her to various locations in New Zealand and England until, through a series of meetings and coincidences, she discovers the final resting place of her five times great grandmother.

Lovisa Lindegren lever sit drømmeliv i London. Men da hun pludselig mister sit job og bliver forladt af sin forlovede, beslutter hun sig for at vende tilbage til den lille svenske kystby Halleholm. Hun har arvet sine bedsteforældres bageri – og hele den tilhørende ejendom ved torvet – hvor farfar John engang bagte sine berømte kanelboller, og farmor Amelia syede haute couture på førstesalen. Testamentet indeholder dog en særlig betingelse: Hvis Lovisa vil sælge ejendommen, før hun fylder 30, skal hun sælge til familiens arvefjender – Halleholm-slægten.

Nuneaton, 1935. Kathy has grown up at Treetops home for children, where Sunday and Tom Branning have always cared for her as one of their own. She enjoys her life at Treetops Manor, surrounded by her beloved horses, and with a future as a nurse ahead of her, she could wish for nothing more. Her foster sister Livvy is not as driven as Kathy. Sunday is keen to see both her girls married, but Livvy has no intentions of settling down and would much rather spend time with her friends. When Kathy falls for the wrong man, her ambitions are soon forgotten as she embarks on a secret affair.