A terrible secret lies buried at the heart of this house. August 1939. As the world goes to war, Hetty Cartwright arrives at Lockwood Manor, to take up her new post for the duration of the war, as safekeeper of the natural history museum’s most treasured animal collection, recently evacuated from London. Yet life at… Continue reading The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey
Category: History
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
After a storm has killed off all the island's men, two women in a 1600s Norwegian coastal village struggle to survive against both natural forces and the men who have been sent to rid the community of alleged witchcraft. Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Bergensdatter stands on the craggy coast, watching the sea break into… Continue reading The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
My favourite books growing up – part two
I wrote part one of this post in mid November and I realised I had left out a lot of books I enjoyed growing up so I knew I had to write a second instalment in this little series. As I mentioned in that post, books were a vital ingredient in my life and still… Continue reading My favourite books growing up – part two
A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie
July 1914. Young Englishwoman Vivian Rose Spencer is running up a mountainside in an ancient land, surrounded by figs and cypresses. Soon she will discover the Temple of Zeus, the call of adventure, and the ecstasy of love. Thousands of miles away a twenty-year old Pathan, Qayyum Gul, is learning about brotherhood and loyalty in… Continue reading A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie
The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis
Before they became legendary writers, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Anne Brontë were detectors in this charming historical mystery... Yorkshire, 1845. A young wife and mother has gone missing from her home, leaving behind two small children and a large pool of blood. Just a few miles away, a humble parson's daughters--the Brontë sisters--learn of the crime.… Continue reading The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond, from the author of Me Before You and The Peacock Emporium . Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living… Continue reading The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
The Ballroom by Anna Hope
Where love is your only escape .... 1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, where men and women are kept apart by high walls and barred windows, there is a ballroom vast and beautiful. For one bright evening every week they come together and dance. When John and Ella meet It… Continue reading The Ballroom by Anna Hope
The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
It begins with the discovery of a tattered photo, a letter and a tiny leather shoe... World War Two, Poland. Alina and Tomasz are childhood sweethearts. The night before he leaves for college, Tomasz proposes marriage. But when their village falls to the Nazis, Alina doesn't know if Tomasz is alive or dead. 2019. Life changed beyond… Continue reading The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of all of them… In the middle of the night, Creusa wakes to find her beloved Troy engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of brutal conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over, and the Greeks are victorious. Over… Continue reading A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Red Oblivion by Leslie Shimotakahara
Family secrets surface when two sisters travel to Hong Kong to care for their ill father. When Jill Lau receives an early morning phone call that her elderly father has fallen gravely ill, she and her sister, Celeste, catch the first flight from Toronto to Hong Kong. The man they find languishing in the hospital… Continue reading Red Oblivion by Leslie Shimotakahara
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