Fiction & Literature > historical

Somewhere else is a story based on the turbulent life of Adriana Blaauw, a young Dutch woman, caught up in the chaos of World War 2. It tells of her tears and laughter experiences as a prisoner in Japanese concentration camps on the island of Java in the then Dutch East Indies. After her liberation, Adriana tracks down her erstwhile lover who is an Australian National. They marry and as newly-weds live in Australia for several years before moving back to Java with their brand-new daughter. Not long after and as a direct aftermath o... read more

I was to stand trial for my life. I was twenty-two years old. I had been married for ten weeks and a widow for six.
 
In the summer of 1914, the Empress Alexandra, a magnificent ocean liner, suffers a mysterious explosion on its voyage from London to New York City. On board are Henry Winter, a rich banker, and his young new wife, Grace. Somehow, Henry manages to secure a place in a lifeboat for Grace. But the survivors quickly realize it is over capacity and could sink at any moment. For any to live, some must die.... read more

'Fans of Philippa Gregory will be entranced. Kate Quinn's unforgettable third novel is a mesmerising story of passion, ambition and betrayal.' Elle Under its beloved Emperor Trajan, the Roman Eagle spreads its wings, advancing ever further into the untamed world. But neither Trajan nor his reign can last for ever. Gladiator turned soldier Vix is back in Rome to make his fortune. Sabina, the wayward daughter of a senator, craves adventure. United by their devotion to the Emperor, Vix and Sabina are unaware that the wolves are gather... read more

The one and only Conn Iggulden takes on the story of the mighty Kublai Khan. An epic tale of a great and heroic mind; his action-packed rule; and how in conquering one-fifth of the world's inhabited land, he changed the course of history forever. A scholar who conquered an empire larger than those of Alexander or Caesar. A warrior who would rule a fifth of the world with strength and wisdom. A man who betrayed a brother to protect a nation. From a young scholar to one of history's most powerful warriors, Conqueror tells the sto... read more

This is a gripping tale of ambition and rivalry, madness and revenge - in the vein of Sarah Waters and Beryl Bainbridge. As Queen Victoria's reign reaches its end, Grace Farringdon dreams of polar explorations and of escape from her stifling home with her protective parents and eccentric, agoraphobic sister. But when Grace secretly applies to Candlin, a women's college filled with intelligent, like-minded women, she finally feels her ambitions beginning to take shape. There she forms an Antarctic Exploration Society with the gregar... read more

On 3 February 1931, Napier is devastated by a powerful earthquake – and Tamar Murdoch, beloved matriarch of Kenmore, is seriously injured. As she recovers, Tamar is preoccupied with the ongoing effects of the Great Depression. When her grandson threatens to leave for Spain to join the International Brigade, she feels a familiar dread – once again her family is threatened by war and heartbreak, as Hitler’s armies march. In the final volume of the Tamar trilogy, the story of the feisty Cornish seamstress who bec... read more

In 1914, Tamar Murdoch’s brothelkeeping days are behind her. Her life is one of ease and contentment at Kenmore, a prosperous estate in the Hawkes Bay, as storm clouds over Europe begin casting long shadows. In this gripping second instalment of Deborah Challinor’s sweeping family saga, Tamar’s love for her children is sorely tested as one by one they are called, or driven, into the living hell of World War One. During the Boer War, Joseph, her illegitimate eldest son, fought as a European, but this time h... read more

The epic, sensuous story of Catherine the Great's ruthless rise to power, through the eyes of a young girl groomed as the Empress's spy in 18th Century Russia. When Vavara, a young orphaned Polish girl, is brought to serve at Empress Elizabeth's glittering, dangerous court in St Petersburg, she is schooled by the Chancellor himself in skills from lock-picking to love-making, learning above all else to stay silent - and listen. Soon, she is Elizabeth's 'tongue' - her secret eyes and ears.

The fourth novel in the number one bestselling Conqueror series, continuing the life and adventures of the mighty Khan dynasty.
Genghis Khan is dead, but his legend and his legacy live on. His son Ogedai has built a white city on a great plain and made a capital for the new nation. Now the armies have gathered to see which of Genghis' sons has the strength to be khan. The Mongol empire has been at peace for two years, but whoever survives will face the formidable might of their great enemy, China's Song dynasty. The great le... read more

The master storyteller continues the Clifton saga with this, the second novel. On arrival in America, Harry Clifton is arrested for first degree murder, for killing Bill Bradshaw. He is tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death by the electric chair. Meanwhile Emma goes to London to give birth to Sebastian, Harry's child. On visiting Maisie to introduce her to her grandson, she becomes convinced that Harry is still alive. With the help of Sir Walter, she goes to America in search of Harry, where she must then fight to save his l... read more

This is a story of right and wrong, and how sometimes they look the same. 1926: Tom Sherbourne is a young lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Western Australia. The only inhabitants of Janus Rock, he and his wife Isabel live a quiet life, cocooned from the rest of the world. One April morning a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man and a crying infant - and the path of the couple's lives hits an unthinkable crossroads. Only years later do they discover the devastating consequences of the decision they made that day - as the b... read more

On a summer's day in 1922 Cora Carlisle boards a train from Wichita, Kansas, to New York City, leaving behind a marriage that's not as perfect as it seems and a past that she buried long ago. She is charged with the care of a stunning young girl with a jet-black fringe and eyes wild and wise beyond her fifteen years. This girl is hungry for stardom and Cora for something she doesn't yet know. Cora will be many things in her lifetime - an orphan, a mother, a wife, a mistress - but in New York she is a chaperone and her life is about... read more

The master of historical fiction presents the iconic story of King Alfred and the making of a nation. As the ninth century wanes, England appears about to be plunged into chaos once more. For the Viking-raised but Saxon-born warrior, Uhtred, whose life seems to shadow the making of England, this presents him with difficult choices. King Alfred is dying and his passing threatens the island of Britain to renewed warfare. Alfred wants his son, Edward, to succeed him but there are other Saxon claimants to the throne as well as ambiti... read more

A gorgeously written, The English Patient-style novel about the real-life romance between the war photographers Robert Capa and Gerda Taro during the Spanish Civil War.
Love, war and photography marked their lives. They were young, anti-Fascist, good-looking, and nonconformist. They had everything in life, and they put everything at risk. They created their own legend and remained faithful to it until the very end! A young German woman named Gerta Pohorylle and a young Hungarian man named Endre Friedmann meet in Paris in 193... read more

Set from just before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and through World War II, 'The Seamstress' follows the life of Sira Quiroga, a Spanish seamstress who becomes embroiled in a glamorous and dangerous world far from where she belongs, one filled with the idle rich and politically powerful. Abandoned by her lover and beset by debt, Sira clings to her gift for sewing and forges a new life as the most sought-after couturiere in Morocco. But her wealthy clients bring more than their business to her tiny studio. Caught up in inte... read more

London, 1914. Belle Reilly finally has the life she's dreamed of thanks to a devoted husband in Jimmy and the hat shop she's wanted to own since she was a child. But as the storm clouds of World War One begin to gather, Belle's already turbulent life is to change in ways she never imagined possible. When Jimmy enlists in the army and leaves for the battlefields of Ypres, her world is shattered and she realises she can no longer stand by and watch, she must volunteer to help the wounded. But her work as a Red Cross ambulance dr... read more

III/II miss my smiling son more than any other man before or since./I /I London 1866. Elizabeth Smith is struggling to survive when she hears her New Zealand employers Judge and Lady Martin are returning to England. Accompanied by her dear friend, the lunatic Reverend Cotton, she makes a pilgrimage to settle old scores. Elizabeth is also accompanied by liberal doses of opiates and two small ghosts, walking by her side, whispering, murmuring, calling her. Award-winning writer Stephanie Johnson lovingly peoples a landscape of the pa... read more