Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in 20th Century

It is 1916 and Rasputin has finally been killed by those who have long feared his influence over Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra. But for Princess Militza, famed as one of the 'Witches of St Petersburg', and her daughter Nadezhda, life is about to become extremely dangerous. Revolution is bubbling and with it will come the murder of the Romanov imperial family. Now the rest of the court is also on the run, fleeing from the mob. Against this violent and turbulent backdrop, Nadezhda, the witch's daughter, finds in exile and captivity an extraordinary and unlikely love.

On an orange-tinted evening in September 1905, Scheherazade is born to an opium-dazed mother in the ancient city of Smyrna. At the very same moment, a dashing Indian spy arrives in the harbour with a secret mission from the British Empire. He sails in to golden-hued spires and minarets, scents of fig and sycamore and the cries of street hawkers selling their wares. When he leaves, 17 years later, it will be to the heavy smell of kerosene and smoke as the city, and its people, are engulfed in flames.

Hong Kong, 1950: Rowena's daughter, conceived during the horrors of the Japanese invasion, is safely at boarding school. Her great love, Connor O'Connor, is by her side. But just as they begin planning a new life together, bad news comes. A female doctor is urgently needed in Seoul. The powers that be would like Rowena to go. At first she plans to refuse until rumours begin to swirl that the sinister, beautiful man who held her captive during the war may still be alive and looking for her. Korea on the brink of war seems safer by comparison. Except that of course it isn't.

London, 1936: At twenty-one, Kate Grifferty is a press photographer in a Fleet Street agency, an unusual job for a young woman. But Kate is both talented and daring, recklessly going wherever the story might be—including, one October day, to an anti-fascism protest in East London. There, she meets David Rabatkin, a brilliant Jewish medical student. While his idealistic brother is eager to go to Spain and join the fight for the Republic, David knows where his path lies: at home, fulfilling the expectations of his profession and his family.

1916. Young artist Sam Burke is spared death by firing squad on the battlefields of France and brought to a remote castle by the Irish Sea. At the ‘Tin Nose Shop’, he is tasked with creating intricate masks to hide the mutilated faces of his fellow soldiers from the Front. While he tries to come to terms with the death of his best friend and the promise he failed to keep, Sam and the disfigured soldiers struggle to return to their former lives and their loved ones.

Plymouth, 1954. The future seems rosy for Plymouth schoolgirl Anna Millington, as she prepares for teacher training college. But Anna's life is not what it seems. Her family is hiding a cruel secret that resulted from the worst night of the Plymouth Blitz. Now, the devastating consequences are about to erupt again. Fearing for her life, Anna leaves her dreams behind and flees to nearby Dartmoor. It isn't long before Anna secures a position as a serving girl at Ashcroft Hall.

Summer, 1929. The Hinton Dysart estate is dying from lack of money, and Kit Dysart, the heir, sees no way out. Then, at his sister's wedding, he meets the vibrant Daisy Chudleigh and her cousin, the heiress Matty Verrall. In love with Daisy but troubled by his family's decline, Kit chooses to marry Matty, though neither Kit nor Daisy is able to forget the other. When Matty, growing increasingly unhappy in her troubled, empty marriage, decides to re-create the estate's garden, she discovers solace and a gift of which she never dreamt.

When Zoe and Win move into their new home it's meant to be a fresh start. But pushed to the back of a cupboard is a suitcase - inside is a wedding dress, letters and a diary all belonging to a woman called Libby. Zoe follows Libby's trail across Europe, but when Libby's story takes a darker turn, Zoe becomes increasingly obsessed with discovering what really happened all those years ago.

When widow Millie Sanger finds injured enemy pilot Lukas Schiller on her farm, the distant war is suddenly at her doorstep. Compassionate Millie knows he’ll be killed if discovered and makes the dangerous decision to offer him shelter from the storm. On opposite sides of the inescapable conflict, the two strangers forge an unexpected and passionate bond. But as the snow thaws, the relentless fury of World War Two forces them apart, leaving only the haunting memories of what they shared and an understanding that their secret must never see light.

In war-torn France, Spaniard Luis and Elise elope to live in a small village in Catalonia. Little do they know that war will rip them apart, sending Luis to his death in the Resistance. Years later their daughter, Madeleine, returns to France to seek out her roots and the truth of her parents’ story. But her arrival in the Catalan village unleashes more than she had bargained for as the shocking truth behind her father’s death are uncovered.

As war looms, genteel Flora's ancestral home is turned into a hospital, where she meets dashing revolutionary Geraint, whose passionate, sizzling kiss has her praying for this soldier's safe return! Rugged British soldier Robbie had one hedonistic night in Paris with beautiful French Sylvie. But, as all Europe is torn apart, can these star-crossed lovers forge a lasting bond through their letters?

It is 1910. Elizabeth Pennington should be the rightful heir of Bath’s premier department store through her enterprising schemes and dogged hard work. Her father, Edward Pennington believes his daughter lacks the business acumen to run his empire and is resolute a man will succeed him. Determined to break from her father’s iron-clad hold and prove she is worthy of inheriting the store, Elizabeth forms an unlikely alliance with ambitious and charismatic master glove-maker Joseph Carter.

Increasingly wary of her father's genetic research, Rachel Kramer has determined that this trip with him will be her last. A letter from her friend changes everything. Married to SS officer Gerhardt Schlick, Kristine fears her husband views their daughter, Amelie, deaf since birth, as a blight on his Aryan bloodline. Rachel fears her father's files may hold answers about Hitler's plans for others like Amelie. Rachel turns to journalist Jason Young, who connects her to the resistance....

Rosemary Gresham has no family beyond the band of former urchins that helped her survive as a girl in the mean streets of London. Grown now, they concentrate on stealing high-value items and have learned how to blend into upper-class society. But when Rosemary must determine whether a certain wealthy gentleman is loyal to Britain or to Germany, she is in for the challenge of a lifetime. How does one steal a family's history, their very name? Peter Holstein, given his family's German blood, writes his popular series of adventure novels under a pen name.