World War Saga

1915. While World War One changes the country, with food becoming scarce and Britain's young men being called up, it is harder than ever to keep the grand Beach Hotel in Littlehampton running smoothly. Waitress Lili Probert has seen her hard work rewarded at the Beach Hotel, but hides heartbreak behind her sunny personality. Her sweetheart, Norman, is missing in action and has been presumed dead, but she cannot give up hope that he may be found. But when she meets injured soldier Rhodri, a fellow Welshman now living near Littlehampton, she fights hard to ignore her growing attraction for him.

1912. Fifteen-year-old Kate Truscott leaves her small Hampshire village to become a nursemaid to five children she's never met. She's looking forward to a new adventure. Life in town with the wealthy Winton family is different to anything Kate has known before. But she enjoys looking after her charges, becoming firm friends with Clara, the eldest daughter, and noticing that 18-year-old Philip, the eldest son, is so very handsome. But Kate knows that she would be considered an unacceptable match for a wealthy banker's son.

October 1940. Twenty-three-year-old Bobby Bancroft is working as a typist for a city newspaper, but she longs to be breaking the news herself. When she successfully applies for a junior reporter role at The Tyke, a magazine serving the Yorkshire Dales, she's thrilled – even if she only gets the position because so many men are away fighting. Bobby moves to the sleepy village of Silverdale, but she quickly discovers life in the countryside is a different world.

1938: Nach dem Tod ihres Vaters kehrt Alice nach Deutschland zurück, um die Erbschaft zu regeln. Doch sie erkennt ihr geliebtes Berlin nicht wieder. Die Stimmung ist umgeschlagen, viele Freunde sind in Gefahr. Verzweifelt nutzt die Familie alle Möglichkeiten, um die Galerie zu halten und geliebte Kunstwerke zu retten. Aber Alice erkennt schnell, welch unheilvolle Macht die Nazis bereits auf dem Kunstmarkt haben. Bald schon geht es nicht mehr nur um Gemälde von unschätzbarem Wert, sondern um Leben und Tod.

Ein erster, letzter Tanz mit dir. München, 1947: Helene wächst zwischen den Trümmern auf, die ihr Zuhause und Spielplatz zugleich sind. Doch dann kehrt ihr Vater zurück, und sie fasst einen Beschluss: von diesem Fremden wird sie sich nichts sagen lassen - und fortan rebelliert sie. Erst als ihre Mutter erkrankt und von ihrem Leben vor dem Krieg erzählt, erkennt Helene, wie auch ihr eigenes von der Vergangenheit gezeichnet ist. Breslau, 1931: Jung, reich, verheiratet - Käthe ist all das, was sich ihre Familie von ihr erhofft hat. Dabei möchte sie selbst nur eins: frei sein.

Thea has never met her grandmother Hedi, so she’s surprised when she receives a call from social services to take the frail old woman home. She’s not sure how Hedi will fit into her new life–the one where she’s left her boyfriend and moved into a run-down cottage miles from the nearest town. And Hedi refuses to talk about her past or why she and Thea’s mother haven’t spoken for more than 30 years. So when Thea spots Hedi’s old suitcase on the table, she can’t resist taking a peak inside.

1942. Working in the greengrocers and playing the piano in the pub a couple of nights a week isn't fulfilling nineteen-year-old Trixie Smith's idea of helping Britain win the war. One day she sees a poster advertising the Women's Timber Corps and decides to sign up—soon she is on her way to Scotland for four weeks of training to become a Lumberjill. On her journey north she meets Cy, an American soldier on leave. Their attraction is instant and they both feel that fate has brought them together.

April 1942. Enemy gunfire on Penzance beach brings the Cornish Girls rushing to the rescue. But even as the war rages around them, the biggest challenge facing each woman turns out to be one of the heart. Can the Cornish Girls help one another to open themselves up to love?

Martin and Asta came to America in 1913 to homestead and create a better life for themselves and a hoped-for family. Nineteen years later during the difficult years of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, they intend to improve the lives of three of their nine children by sending their 18-year-old daughter with her two younger sisters to Norway to live with relatives for two years. But things do not go according to plan. The oldest sister falls in love with and marries a young Norwegian man, leaving the two younger sisters with no one to take them home.

There might be a war on, but that doesn't stop Georgina Garrett running her business with an iron fist. No one said running the Battersea gang was going to be easy, but her unflinchable nature makes Georgina unstoppable. With a role that requires a ruthless ability to seek revenge and pay out crippling punishments, Georgina's enemies are growing in number. With a target on her back, Georgina knows she must do everything to protect her family. But, with the loss of someone closest to her, can Georgina rise up from the ashes or allow a usurper take her crown?

Eine Familie. Eine Vision. Ein Weg. Hamburg 1912: Der junge Kaufmann Otto Lagerfeld ist zu Besuch bei seiner Familie, als er zufällig der Schwester seines besten Freundes begegnet. Er ist sofort von Theresias Liebreiz bezaubert. Zum Abschied schenkt sie ihm ein vierblättriges Kleeblatt als Glücksbringer. Trotz seiner aufregenden Reisen kann Otto Theresia nicht vergessen, ihren Glücksbringer trägt er immer bei sich. Doch gerade als Ottos neugegründetes Unternehmen zu florieren beginnt, bricht der Krieg aus, und er gerät in Gefangenschaft.

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.

Nach dem Bestseller "Ein neuer Himmel" folgt nun die bewegende Fortsetzung aus der Feder von Margit Steinborn. Die Geschichte der Jüdin Hannah Rosenberg und ihrer Tochter Melina geht weiter. Nach den Schrecken des Krieges schauen die Menschen in Deutschland nach vorn. Auch auf dem Sandnerhof ist man froh, dass endlich Frieden ist. Doch die Wunden der Vergangenheit sind allgegenwärtig. Während der älteste Sohn der Sandners noch immer in Gefangenschaft ist, verzweifelt Tristan fast an den Taten seiner Familie im Dritten Reich. Aber es gibt auch Momente großen Glücks.

1932. Dunfermline, Scotland. Marion Crawford, a bright, ambitious young teacher, is ready to make her mark on the world. Until a twist of fate changes the course of her life forever… 1936. Windsor Castle. At first this ordinary woman is in a new world, working as the governess to two young princesses, in a household she calls home but where everyone is at a distance. As the course of history changes, she finds herself companion to the future Queen, and indispensable to the Crown. And slowly their needs become her needs. Their lives become hers.

Norfolk, 1940. As war rages on, the residents of Great Plumstead are doing all they can to help the war effort, from running the mobile canteen for the Women's Voluntary Service to organising clothing drives and collecting salvage. When a young German girl seeks refuge at the local hall, many welcome her with open arms, while others treat her with suspicion. But when the government try to send her back, it'll take the whole community to keep her safe from war.

Florence, 1943. As the bells toll in the solemn dark streets and enemy soldiers loiter by the city’s beautiful bridges, schoolgirl Gabriella is racked with guilt. She is ashamed of the crush she had on the soldier with raven-black hair, a crush that allowed a secret notebook to fall into the hands of the enemy. Faced with her brother’s haunted eyes and the prospect of never seeing her father again, Gabriella is determined to make things right. She seeks out her old schoolfriend Stefanina, an unlikely member of the Italian resistance with her beautiful curls and scarlet ribbon.

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.

October 1944: In the long, narrow undressing rooms in Auschwitz-Birkenau, prisoner Jakub Bak toils under the scrutiny of SS guards. Like other members of the Sonderkommando, Jakub was selected on arrival for an unthinkable job: sorting through the clothes of the dead and moving their bodies from the gas chambers to the crematoriums. Jakub clings to the promise he made to his murdered father - to live, at any cost - and to the moments he is able to spend in the company of Anna, imprisoned in the women's camp.

1931. Fifteen-year-old Kate witnesses her mother, Millicent, push a stranger from a station platform into the path of an oncoming train. There was no warning, seemingly no reason and absolutely no remorse. 1940. Exactly nine years later, Kate returns to the station and notices a tramp laying flowers on the exact spot that the murder was committed; the identity of the victim still remains unknown.