Showing results by publisher "HarperCollins Publishers Limited" in Historical Fiction

Devon, 1349: In Brauntone, where seagulls screech across the fields and the wind has a mind to change, Father Thomas arrives as the new priest. Determined to impress his congregation, he quells fears of the coming pestilence with promises of protection. For Anne, the priest's arrival is an opportunity that at 16, she feels all too ready for. Convinced a grand fate awaits, she moves in as Thomas' housekeeper, though hopeful of something more. But his home is a place without love or kindness.

Nazneen's inauspicious entry to the world, an apparent stillbirth on the hard mud floor of a Bangladeshi village hut, imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents when she is married off to Chanu. Her life in London's Tower Hamlets is, on the surface, calm. For years, keeping house and rearing children, she does what is expected of her. Yet Nazneen walks a tightrope stretched between her daughters' embarrassment and her husband's resentments.

Absorbing and richly observed, The Restless Sea is a masterful story of the turbulent years of the Second World War. Three lives collide in a way that only the war makes possible.... Jack, a child of the Blitz, has fled the law to become a seaman in the Merchant Navy. The frozen world of the Russian Arctic convoys may be harsh, but it opens his eyes to a new life.

Brenda Stuart returns to her late husband's home devastated by his loss only to find herself accused of bestowing favours upon the Germans. Life has been difficult for her over the war, having been held in an internment camp in France simply because of her nationality. Thankful that her son at least was safe in the care of his grandmother, she now finds that she has lost him, too, and her life is in turmoil. Prue, her beloved sister-in-law, is also a war widow but has now fallen in love with an Italian POW.

Shipwrecked on an uninhabited island in the Dutch East Indies as the Napoleonic Wars rage on, circumstances look far from promising for Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew. And yet, having overcome the odds and contrived their escape, still further peril awaits in the fiercely tidal waters of the Salibu Passage and the penal settlements of New South Wales.

A charming and evocative tale of family and fortune from the queen of the West Country saga, Linda Finlay. Isabella Carrington has been brought up in a life of privilege in London. Her life seems perfect until her father suddenly announces bankruptcy. To save Isabella from destitution he sends her to stay with family she has never met, far away on a violet farm deep in Devon. Isabella is horrified to find her uncle expects her to work for her keep, packing up the flowers and selling them in the nearby market.

Bernard Cornwell's new novel, following the outstanding success of his Arthurian trilogy, is the story of three brothers and of their rivalry that creates the great temple we know as Stonehenge.

Christopher 'Kit' Ellingsworth, war veteran and newly minted Earl of Blakemere, buries his demons under every sort of pleasure and vice. His scandalous ways have all but emptied his coffers...until a wealthy mentor leaves him a sizeable fortune. The only stipulation? He must marry within one month to inherit the money. Kit needs a bride, and the bold, mysterious Miss Tamsyn Pearce seems perfect. Husband hunting isn’t Tamsyn’s top priority - she’s in London to sell her new shipment of illicit goods - but she’s desperate for funds....

Jack Aubrey is a naval officer, a post-captain of experience and capacity. When The Letter of Marque opens he has been struck off the Navy List for a crime he has not committed. With Aubrey is his friend and ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, who is also an unofficial British intelligence agent.

The third book in Sidebottom's epic series set in third-century Rome - a dramatic era of murder, coup, counter-rebellions and civil war.

Set in the Puritanical society of 17th-century Boston, this novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, a married woman who has an affair and gives birth to a daughter. Hester refuses to name her lover, but when her estranged husband appears unexpectedly, he determines to discover the man's identity.

A sweeping international epic, perfect for all fans of Penny Vincenzi and Barbara Taylor Bradford June 1909, in a large Berlin mansion, cousins Zelda and Vicky are about to meet brothers Berthold and Josef for the first time – an evening that will alter the course of their lives forever…

In 1922, Christian, a young artist, travels to Weimar to begin his studies at the Bauhaus, where the avant-garde confronts conservative elements around it. With postwar Germany in turmoil, while the Bauhaus attempts to explore radical ways of thinking and living, Christian finds that love will change him forever. And in 1970s London Duncan uses his inheritance to establish the country's first gay bookshop in the face of opposition from the neighbours and victimisation by the police.

When Elizabeth Stewart, the only daughter of Protestant parents, announced that she wants to leave Belfast for the west coast of Ireland, her family can’t help but question her judgement. What could she possibly find in leafy Lisara that isn’t available in the city? A stranger in the village, Lizzie’s presence draws the attention of all the locals. And her charming spritely nature doesn’t escape the attention of the charming Patrick Delargy. It’s not long before Lizzie discovers that more than the rolling green hills and beautiful landscapes have captured her heart.

This bitterly humorous debut is a novel of love, narcissism, and ailing cattle. Katherine has given up trying to be happy. Her cynical wit repels the people she wants to attract, and attracts the people she knows she should repel. Her ex Daniel, meanwhile, isn’t sure that he loves his new girlfriend. But somehow not telling her he loves her has become synonymous with telling her that he doesn’t love her, meaning that he has to tell her he loves her just to maintain the status quo.

The Pale Horseman is the compelling sequel to the best-selling The Last Kingdom. Uhtred, Northumbrian born, raised a Viking and now married to a Saxon, is already a formidable figure and warrior. But at 20 he is still arrogant, pagan, and headstrong, so not a comfortable ally for the thoughtful, pious Alfred. But these two, with Alfred's family and a few of Uhtred's companions, are apparently all that remains of the Wessex leadership after a disastrous truce.

A big-hearted, hilarious tale of forgiveness, hope and acceptance, reminding us that there is no road map to life.

A tense and brilliantly dramatic short story from the best-selling author of The Throne of the Caesars Series. AD 238. Emperor Maximinus' reign is under threat as Gordian the Younger and Elder are proclaimed emperor. Julius Burdo, official of the empire, must accompany the knife-boy Castricius north to assassinate Maximinus. The order is from the new Augusti; death is a certain fate to both men whether they succeed or fail.

The latest in a new series of classic detective stories from the vaults of HarperCollins involves the murder of a notorious criminal in the home of a famous millionaire. But there are no clues, no evidence. The police are convinced that someone may have just committed the perfect crime. The Detective Story Club, launched by Collins in 1929, was a clearinghouse for the best and most ingenious crime stories of the age, chosen by a select committee of experts.

Theo Miller is 14 years old, bright and ambitious, when he steps off the train into the simmering heat and uproar of 1920s Nairobi. Neither he nor his earnest younger sister, Maud, are prepared for the turbulent mix of joy and pain their new life in Kenya will bring. Their father is Director of Kenyan Railways, a role it is assumed Theo will inherit. But when he meets enchanting American heiress Sylvie de Croÿ and her charismatic, reckless companion, Freddie Hamilton, his aspirations turn in an instant.