Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Literature & Fiction

The First World War is over, and in a quiet Hampshire village, artist Stanley Spencer is working on the commission of a lifetime, painting an entire chapel in memory of a life lost in the war to end all wars. Combining his own traumatic experiences with moments of everyday redemption, the chapel will become his masterpiece. When Elsie Munday arrives to take up position as housemaid to the Spencer family, her life quickly becomes entwined with the charming and irascible Stanley, his artist wife, Hilda, and their tiny daughter, Shirin.

Mike Engleby says things that others dare not even think. When the novel opens in the 1970s, he is a university student, having survived a "traditional" school. A man devoid of scruple or self-pity, Engleby provides a disarmingly frank account of English education. Yet beneath the disturbing surface of his observations lies an unfolding mystery of gripping power.

Birds Without Wings tells of the inhabitants of a small coastal town in South West Anatolia in the dying days of the Ottoman empire: the local Potter and fount of proverbial wisdom; a Christian girl of legendary beauty; childhood friends who play in the hills above the town, and the two holy men of different faiths, who greet each other with the words 'infidel efendi'.

Grace and Tom Penderford are the luckiest people alive. They have a wonderful marriage, a comfortable life and a beautiful baby girl, Chloe. Then, in a heartbeat, happiness becomes despair, and their lives change forever. When three-year-old Chloe falls ill and dies, Tom and Grace's world is ripped apart. As their family of three becomes two, they must find a way to mend each other's broken hearts...and save their marriage, if they can.

Napoleon's forces are poised to invade Britain, and Commander Thomas Kydd's ship is at the forefront of the fleet defending the English coast. His honour restored after temporary disgrace in the Channel Islands, and reunited with his ship Teazer, Kydd seizes the chance to fight for his country. Then Kydd is abruptly withdrawn from the fleet and sent back to Dover on a secret mission to guard a mysterious American inventor.

A dazzling mixture of crime, romance, magic and myth from the acclaimed author of The Psychology of Time Travel. The Kendrick family have been making world-famous dolls since the early 1800s. But their dolls aren't coveted for the craftmanship alone. Each one has a specific emotion laid on it by its creator. A magic that can make you feel bucolic bliss or consuming paranoia at a single touch. Though founded by sisters, now only men may know the secrets of the workshop.

AD 260 - Betrayed by his most trusted adviser, the Roman Emperor Valerian has been captured by the Sassanid barbarians. Ballista looks on helplessly, but vows to avenge those who have brought the empire to the brink of destruction with their treachery. First he must decide what price he will pay for his own freedom. Only the fearless and those whom the gods will spare from hell can now save the empire from a catastrophic ending. Ballista, the Warrior of Rome, faces his greatest challenge yet.

Sofia Solanas grows up on a beautiful ranch in the middle of the Argentine pampa. In a world of old-fashioned values, she carves out a place as a rebellious and passionate young woman. But eventually, her stubborn nature leads her to trouble. When Sofia’s mother Anna discovers that Sofia has embarked on a forbidden love affair, she must act in order to save the family from shame. She sends Sofia to Europe - away from her friends and family and the man Sofia loves.

One Sunday morning, the outspoken speaker of the House of Commons steps out of his front door only to be crushed under a mountain of citrus fruit. Bizarre accident or something more sinister? The government needs to know because here's a man whose knowledge of parliament’s biggest secret could put the future of the government at stake. It should be the perfect case for Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit, but unfortunately one detective is in hospital, the other is missing and the staff have all been dismissed.

Every bouquet tells a story. And every story begins at Blossom & Grow, a tiny, jewel-like flower shop in the heart of Dublin. Here, Lara works her magic: translating feelings into flower arrangements that change hearts and lives. But what about her own heart? Has she really healed since she lost her chance to be a mother? What will happen when her own story takes a sudden turn?

Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing. Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love; the smell of fresh herbs, the games they played, and the songs and stories of her childhood. As time passes, Marianne struggles to adjust, fixated on her mother’s disappearance and the secrets she’s sure her father is keeping from her.

Hester and Harriet are reluctantly driving to visit relatives on Christmas Day when they come across a young woman hiding with her baby in a bus shelter. Seeing the perfect excuse for returning to their own warm hearth, the sisters insist on bringing Daria and Milo home with them. But with the arrival of a sinister stranger looking for a girl with a baby, Hester and Harriet's carefully crafted peace and quiet quickly begins to fall apart....

Dan and Gemma have found their dream first home, but the asking price is the stuff of nightmares. The only way they'll ever save for a deposit is by returning, rent free, to Dan's childhood home. Obviously no one wants to move back into a bedroom still adorned with Kylie posters, with a mother whose culinary skills are noted for their spectacular gastrointestinal effects. But it's for only six months. Even they can manage that. Surely.

Flavius Ferox, Briton turned Roman centurion, is charged with keeping Rome's empire intact. But from his base at Vindolanda on the northern frontier of Britannia, he feels enemies closing in on him from all sides. Ambitious leaders await the chance to carve out empires of their own while men nearer at hand speak in whispers of war and the destruction of Rome. And now new threats are reaching Ferox's ears. Stories about the boat-dwelling men of the night who have cursed the land and come ashore only to feast on men's flesh.

1942. When Helda Dahlstrøm flees her abusive husband and Nazi-occupied Norway with her eight-year-old son she doesn't know if they'll make it out alive. In her desperate journey to safety she'll find safety on the rocky shores of the Shetland Islands, rescued by Canadian Flight Sergeant Bill Gauthier. As WWII's destruction rages at their doorsteps, can love find its way through the rubble?

It's the heatwave summer of 1976 and 14-year-old would be poet Jackie Chadwick is newly fostered by the Walls. She desperately needs stability, but their insecure, jealous teenage daughter isn't happy about the cuckoo in the nest and sets about ousting her. When her attempts to do so lead to near-tragedy—and the Walls' veneer of middle-class respectability begins to crumble—everyone in the household is forced to reassess what really matters.

Jack Parker knows all too well how treacherous life can be. His parents did not survive a smallpox epidemic. His grandfather was murdered. Now his sister Lula has been kidnapped by a bank robber. Alongside bounty hunter Shorty, an eloquent dwarf with a chip on his shoulder, and Eustace, the grave-digging son of an ex-slave, Jack sets off to rescue Lula. In turn-of-the-century Texas, that quest is likely to turn dangerous.

The house has soft, purple wisteria twining around the door. You step inside. The hall is cool after the hot summer’s day. The welcome is kind, and always warm. Yet something makes you suspect life here can’t be as perfect as it seems. After all, the brightest smile can hide the darkest secret. But wouldn’t you pay any price to have a glorious place like this?

1942. Sixteen-year-old Poppy Percival turns up at Trout's clothing factory to start work as a seamstress. Poppy harbours a secret - one from which she is still suffering. But she's not the only one with a secret. Each of her new friends at the factory is hiding something painful. The war will throw their lives into turmoil but also bring these women closer to each other than they could ever have imagined.

When the former head of Israeli intelligence is killed on a paragliding trip, it's the latest in a series of 'accidental' deaths befalling key members of the American and Israeli governments. Mossad bring in terrorist hunters Aaron and Shoshana to investigate–and they know just who to call. Taskforce operator Pike Logan has been out of action for too long, so he jumps at the chance to take on the mission. An Iranian-funded militia group has claimed responsibility for the deaths. But something doesn't add up.