Showing results by publisher "Soundings" in Historical

Wanting to support her family through the depression in 1930s Glasgow, Jean Logan is seduced by the glamour of the city's many palais de danse. Working as a paid dancing partner, she is taken on by the new and sophisticated Luxor and it seems that all her dreams have come true. But she soon finds herself drawn into the sinister world that lurks behind the club's dazzling façade and learns, to her own great personal cost, that not all that glitters is gold.

Liz MacMillan has wanted to be a nurse ever since her baby brother died of scarlet fever but her domineering father won't allow it. With the outbreak of war, nursing becomes a patriotic duty and Liz gets her chance, together with her new friend Helen Gallagher, whose large, Irish-Catholic family provides a striking contract to the constraint of the MacMillan household. Working in Glasgow's Western Infirmary, one of the other students, Mario Rossi, touches Liz's heart.

1939, Warsaw, Poland: Pilot Jan Grabowski receives orders that take him to the heart of the escalating conflict. He leaves behind his wife, Rulka, who sees Poland overcome by the Nazis. In constant danger and amid cruel reprisals, she joins the Resistance. Norfolk: Louise Fairhurst's war is very different. Evacuated with her class of 10-year-olds from London she finds herself acting mother as well as teacher to the children.

Forbidden by her father to work on their farm, Celia Raines takes a job at the local printing works. When war comes, Celia hopes to achieve her ambition of being a farmer. But her boss has taken on sensitive work for the Ministry of Information and Celia is forced to stay. Romance blossoms between Celia and Matthew Dangerfield, an RAF friend of her brother, Edgar. Both men are engaged on bombing missions but Edgar is beginning to have doubts.

1949. Attractive and spirited Roz Rainey, who lives in post-war Edinburgh with her widowed mother, her sister, Chrissie, and brother, Douglas, enjoys working in a lawyer’s property office where she dreams, not of love, but of one day having a beautiful house of her own. After all, why shouldn’t she be ambitious? Then the unexpected happens when she falls in love with her new boss, the charming Jamie Shield. Full of happiness, it seems as though a blissful future beckons for Roz. Fate, however, has other ideas…

The outbreak of war brings mixed feelings for Judy Truman and it is a relief to get away from the East End and her disastrous marriage. With her two small daughters, she is evacuated to Norfolk, and billeted on kindly Maggie and Bill Hurst. The children flourish and Judy's confidence returns. But when husband Sid comes home on leave, his violent jealousy frightens Judy and shocks Maggie and Bill. A meeting with a young airman, Pete Gresham, teaches her that men can be gentle and loving. She falls in love but living her life with Pete seems an impossible dream.

It is March 1950 and Honey Brown marries the farmer she adores - August Blake Esq. With her mother-in-law determined to turn Honey, an ex-showgirl, into a respectable lady of the manor she has a struggle on her hands. Honey longs for the bright lights and glamour of the Windmill Theatre and the companionship of the other girls. To make matters worse, Honey feels increasing animosity towards dairyman Nick and his insolent stare. Why does she dislike the handsome young man when everyone else appears to like him?

After her father’s death, Theordora Buckleigh’s new adopted family want to give her a London season. But though she is a pretty girl, Theodora has limped from birth, and dreads exposure to the social round. She takes evasive action, accepting an invitation from Dorothy Wordsworth to stay with her and her poet brother William in Dorset. Here she will find love, danger and intrigue. Might Coleridge and the others be engaged in treason?

It’s the early 1920s. Julia Howard’s father is a toy manufacturer who created a paper doll in her image. However, Julia longs to cast off her goody-goody reputation, but her plans to do so are thwarted by wealthy businessman Latham Miller. When Julia marries Latham to please her father, Latham proves to be a controlling man who has no intention of giving up his outside pleasures. But when Julia is reunited with an old acquaintance, the attraction that once existed between them grows into love.

Osborne House, 1879. Queen Victoria has occupied the British throne for over 40 years. Bringing together her extended family from across Europe offers a chance for old alliances to be strengthened and new unions to be forged. May Teck, daughter of a duke and princess, is constantly reminded that she lacks the pedigree to be a true royal. Alicky lives in the shadow of her siblings, until she meets the heir to the Russian throne. And Willy is destined to be the kaiser of Germany. As shifting forces of power send warning ripples across Europe, an unavoidable war looms on the horizon....

Felicity Fox is a rarity for a woman living in the early 1800s. Not only does she frequent the 'gambling hells' where most ladies would not dare to tread, she can also beat any man at his own game. It’s no wonder she’s gained notoriety as the 'Queen of Diamonds'. Edward, Earl of Addington, despises gambling and is not exactly enamoured of Felicity Fox either, especially after she tried to swindle his family. Except now the Earl requires assistance from the Queen of Diamonds - and there’s everything to play for.

Jenny Simmons has always thought of herself as the ugly duckling of her family, so when she blossoms into a swan, she’s not quite sure what to do. When amateur boxer Bryn Thompson walks into her life, it seems happiness really is possible. But then a well-kept family secret rears its ugly head, a secret that could put her very life in danger.... Helen Hall, a newly qualified doctor, may just be able to help her, but will she risk the job she loves in order to do it?

A promise to a fellow soldier leads Nicholas to Cornwall for Christmas, and to the tea shop managed by Rose, the youngest daughter of a family whose festive spirit has been blighted by their wartime experiences. But as Nicholas strives to give Rose the best Christmas she could wish for, he begins to question whether his efforts are to honour his friend or whether there is another reason....

East Kent, 1876. With doting parents and siblings she adores, 16-year-old Rose Cheevers leads a contented life at Willow Place in Canterbury. A bright future ahead of her, she dreams of following in her mother’s footsteps and becoming a teacher. Then one traumatic day turns the Cheevers’ household upside down. What was once a safe haven has become a place of peril, and Rose is forced to flee with the younger children. Desperate, she seeks refuge in a remote village with a long-lost grandmother who did not know she existed.

Helen Bygrove is managing the hotel, now that her husband has been conscripted. Against all expectations, Helen and her team are doing marvellously, despite the shortages brought by war. Even the exacting Lady Blackmore agrees. But then the calm is shattered when poison pen letters are sent to prominent townsfolk and Helen finds herself the target of a police investigation. Is someone trying to ruin Helen, and the Beach Hotel? And can she rely on the handsome but taciturn Inspector Toshack to help her?

In 1939, the unexpected death of Sandra Anderson dramatically and ruthlessly changes forever the lives of the family she leaves behind. Kitty, her spoiled and pampered 15-year-old daughter, has to give up her dreams of a career as she becomes the family drudge. Sandra's heartbroken husband, Johnny, finds solace for his grief by becoming the main mouthpiece for his trade union in the shipyards, leaving little time for newborn Rosebud, whose birth caused her mother's death.

After becoming pregnant out of wedlock, only to find out her betrothed was already married, Kathy feared for her future. Her mother agreed to pass off baby Dennis as her own, treating Kathy as his older sister instead. Then a chance meeting with Alisdair, a handsome RAF airman, changes everything. They grow close quickly, but when Kathy believes Alisdair has discovered her secret, she runs away from heartbreak by joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

Determined not to waste his life toiling for his cruel brother, Silas arrives in town to seek his fortune. Harriet has reconciled herself to a life of domestic service for her austere uncle. And John Gunson, Chief Engineer at the Sheffield Waterworks Company, has just completed his crowning glory – the Dale Dyke dam. But one stormy night, the unthinkable happens. The dam bursts. Fatefully brought together, Silas and Harriet must now contend with their families as new love blooms. Meanwhile, Gunson faces not only an angry community but also a court of inquest looking for a scapegoat.

Clara Fitzroy refuses to conform to convention. Her reckless behaviour has devastating consequences and an ill-judged liaison threatens to destroy everything she's hoped for. Clara has to make a decision that will change her life. Will she make the right one? She asks Daisy Carter, the hotel housekeeper, for help, but Daisy has problems of her own. A family relationship brings grief and heartache and a well meaning action ends in disaster. A life-changing moment, a heartbreaking choice.

Verity Templeton, 18 and fiercely independent, travels to London with her aunt for the season. During a weekend with her friend Charlotte Huntington-Smythe an encounter with Charlotte's brother shows her another side of the family. Then she meets Brandon Summerville, the handsome, arrogant, wealthy man about town Charlotte is in love with. Will she be able to resist his obvious charm? When a secret from the past turns her life upside down she doubts everything she's believed in. Her fight to find the truth brings more heartache.