Historical Homes

Hidden within the depths of the boreal forest lies a secret that could change everything for Ashenee, a young Cree woman born to a traditional family. In her isolated community, they follow the customs and beliefs of their ancestors, blissfully unaware of the countless missing aboriginal women from other nearby communities. As Ashenee embarks on a journey to her mother's village, she begins to sense a foreboding presence, a warning that something is amiss.

At eight years old, Raeford "Junebug" Hurley has known more than his share of hard lessons. After the sudden death of his parents, he goes to live with his grandparents on a farm surrounded by tobacco fields and lonesome woods. There he meets Fancy Stroud and her twin brother, Lightning, the children of black sharecroppers on a neighboring farm. As years pass, the friendship between Junebug and bright, compassionate Fancy takes on a deeper intensity.

A moving tale of the unshakable bond between two brothers set against a backdrop of family secrets, loyalty, and small town life. Earl "Earwig" Gunderman is sixteen-years-old when the world is thrust into war and his older brother Jimmy is shipped out to the Pacific theater. Being what they used to call simple-minded, Earwig must cope without the protection of his revered older brother as he strikes out towards independence and adulthood.

The First World War is over and air mechanic Wally Shiers has promised to return home to his fiancée, Helena Alford. But Wally never reckoned on charismatic fighter pilot Ross Smith and an invitation to compete in the world's most audacious air race. A £10,000 prize has been offered for the first airmen to fly from England to Australia. Smith is banking on an open-cockpit Vickers Vimy, a biplane with a fuselage that looks ominously like a coffin. And who can resist a hero?

North London, 1916. When Olivia Bone and Lieutenant Lucas Black shared a passionate kiss one summer's evening, it seemed as if their love might finally have a chance to bloom. But their brief happiness is cut short when Lucas is sent to fight on the front line, leaving Livvie uncertain if she'll ever see him again. And after a chance encounter with one of Lucas's old flames, Livvie is left doubting whether an ex-factory girl like her will ever fit into his world - and wondering if she would be better off protecting her heart.

When a bitter feud between her father and her employer reveals a secret from the past that threatens to destroy her family, Meriel Evans turns to her lifelong friend Leo for support. Can a young woman overcome the tension between her work and home? Meriel Evans has worked for her father's estate agency ever since she left school. While happy there, she knows she must carve a career of her own, so lands a job with Cwm Derw’s Ace Estate Agency.

For Amelia and her brothers and sisters, the grim past which their mother, Emily, had endured seemed very far away. As pretty as a picture and now learning to be a teacher in York, Amelia looked forward with pleasure to becoming acquainted with the young men clamouring to get to know her, and especially the two gentlemen who had come all the way from Australia to meet her family. Ralph Hawkins, bringing with him his friend Jack - a handsome half-aboriginal Australian who was determined to make a good living for himself - arrived in Hull looking for his roots.

The United States has always been a nation of immigrants---never more so than in 1917 when the nation entered the First World War. Of the 2.5 million soldiers who fought with U.S. armed forces in the trenches of France and Belgium, some half a million---nearly one out of every five men---were immigrants. In The Long Way Home, David Laskin, author of the prizewinning history The Children's Blizzard, tells the stories of 12 of these immigrant heroes.

After seven years in prison, Duncan Malone has returned home to Washita, Texas, to reclaim his land that now belongs to strangers. But his homecoming isn't a warm one; his mother lies in a catatonic state, and the residents of Washita aren't taking well to a murderer living amongst them. Franki Taylor is seven-months pregnant, alone, and forced to run her grandfather's farm as he succumbs to pneumonia.

In post-Civil War New York City, sixteen-year-old Aislynn Denehy cannot find a job, she has no place to live and no family to help her. Some might think this is a problem; Aislynn believes it is an opportunity. No formulaic romance, this well-researched love story depicts life as it truly was for the thousands of women who went west reaching for a new life. Aislynn's journey begins in a New York City tenement and leads her across the frontier to a Utah mining camp where she must cope with the three very different men in her life: smart, solicitous Tim; good-natured, good-guy Johnny; and the intense but intriguing Liam Moran. Life in the roughshod camp brings small joys and devastating losses. Susan Denning's engaging debut novel races through authentic experiences involving historical events until it erupts in an unexpected ending.

Young Mikey Quinn, scavenging on the streets of Hull, is thrown into prison for stealing a rabbit from the butcher. His chief accuser, a well-to-do lawyer, has a daughter, Eleanor, whom he badly mistreats. When Mikey is released he finds that his mother has died and his brothers taken into the workhouse - determined to find a better life for his family, he walks all the way to London to seek his fortune.

Trapped in what appears to be an endless bloodbath - vividly presented with Heffernan's meticulous historical research - three boys gradually begin to change until their close-knit childhood ties are little more than a fractured memory. By war's end, one boy is dead, one returns a physically crippled and emotionally compromised man, and the third comes home as an unfeeling psychopath. The novel turns on the subsequent murder of the psychopath, and the offer of redemption for the wounded young man.

In 1958 Detroit, neighbors on Alder Avenue struggle to care for one another amid a city rife with conflicts that threaten their peaceful street. Grace, Alder’s only expectant mother, eagerly awaits her firstborn; her best friend, Julia, prepares to welcome twin nieces; and Malina sets the tone with her stylish dresses, tasteful home, and ironfisted stewardship of St. Alban’s bake sale. Life erupts when childlike Elizabeth disappears while in the care of Grace and Julia. All the ladies fear that the recent murder of a black woman at the factory on Willingham Avenue where their husbands work may portend what has become of Elizabeth.

Isabelle Wardrop’s well-to-do life has completely unraveled. Within months, she’s lost both her parents, her fortune, and her home. With nowhere else to turn, she and her younger sister move in with a trusted former servant in an impoverished

Spring 1940. As the war rages on, Vickers steelworks is busier than ever, which is proving tough for Nancy as she juggles working long hours and looking after two young children, all while waiting for her husband to return home safely. Betty is determined to roll up her sleeves and joins the Women’s Voluntary Service to keep busy and from fretting about her fiancé. But Patty is left worrying about someone closer to home. Sweetheart Archie has been keeping a secret from her, and one that puts him in great danger. Will it threaten to pull them apart for good?

The Second World War ends and Josje is returned to his parents. Who are these people who call themselves my parents, he imagines. He is three years old and feels abandoned, confused and angry. He wants to return to his “real” parents who loved and sheltered him during the war. “My name is Pietje Dijkstra not Josje Gosler!”, he states tearfully when goaded by his cousin. As a Jew and a Hidden Child, his innocence protected him as much as his Christian family.

Der Preis der Freiheit. Lady Aisla Montgomery führt eine durchaus erträgliche Ehe - ihr Mann bleibt in Schottland und sie in Paris. Doch irgendwann reicht ihr dieses Leben nicht mehr und sie will nur noch eines: die Scheidung. Niall Stuart Maclaren, der raubeinige Laird von Tarbendale, bereut den Tag, an dem er seine schöne, widerspenstige Frau kennenlernte. Der Gedanke an sie löst bittere Wut in ihm aus. Und doch hat keine andere Frau sein Blut je so in Wallung gebracht.

To escape gossip about her disastrous engagement, Sarah Miller flees to Wylder, Wyoming, where her aunt owns a dress shop. But the danger she discovers in the wild west has her ready to board the next stagecoach out of town. Daniel Taylor rescues a damsel in distress, only to fall in love with her at first sight. When Sarah is forced to face down the men who have tormented her since her arrival in Wylder, she will have to make the most difficult decision of her life.

Yorkshire, 1946. At last, Sonny and Rachel Cowgill hear the news they’ve been so desperate for. Their son Mark, who was injured in the very last days of the fighting, will make it home in time for Christmas. But their youngest son Billy has not been so lucky. He was declared missing in action in Crete and is presumed dead. Sonny and Rachel are learning to give up hope of seeing him again. Meanwhile, in Australia, Luke Fisher returns from the German prisoner of war camp where he was interned. His beloved fiancée Isabella Finnegan is waiting for him. But all is not well.

Will six strangers find hope, love, and family at Christmas? A collection of three historical western short stories to inspire love and warm the heart on the western frontier.