March, 1916, and the Great War rages across Europe. In the British Army garrison town of Bethune in northern France, a woman’s body is found in a park. Her throat has been cut. Marie-Louise Toulon is a prostitute at the Blue Lamp, the brothel catering exclusively to officers of the British Army stationed in the […]
Paris, 1919: a fragile peace
How, in 1919, could nations come together to begin rebuilding a world shattered by war? The answer seemed to be the Paris Peace Conference, which put together a plan which led to the Treaty of Versailles and what turned out to be a flawed and fragile peace. Flora Johnston’s great-aunt was a typist there, and […]
The Paris Peacemakers by Flora Johnston
1919 in Paris. And as the guns fall silent, people attempt to start afresh while the fabric of Europe is stitched together for good or ill. Stella Rutherford, desperate to staunch her grief, has thrown herself into her work at the International Peace Conference, while the crucial negotiations play out. Her sister Corran is also […]
The long legacy of the First World War
Alan Bardos looks back at the long legacy of the First World War, which still causes conflict over a century later. This August marked the 110th anniversary of the start of the First World War and, with conflict in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, it seems an appropriate moment to trace how the war, […]
The Artist’s War by Clare Flynn
Hampshire, 1916: Alice traces her hand over the cold glass of the window as the pale morning light slips into the empty room. The pain of loss is worse than a physical one. Reminders of Edmund are all around her. The coldness of the sheet on the other half of the bed. The unrelenting silence […]
Researching rural Devon in the 1920s and 1930s
You’d think setting your interwar years novel where you live, in rural Devon, would make research easier. Not necessarily so, as Vanessa de Haan found out; the lives of ordinary people in the 1920s and 1930s hadn’t seemed worth recording. Walking the country lanes and talking to people was an important part of her research, […]
A Time to Live by Vanessa de Haan
Freddie was destined for a different life, determined to make his fortune in the plantations of Ceylon. But in 1918, just as the Great War comes to an end, Edward, the eldest brother and heir to Coombe Hall, doesn’t return. Torn between duty and freedom, Freddie must now sacrifice his own dreams to keep the […]
Christmas reading 2022 – our pick of top historical books
We asked nine well-loved authors to each recommend two historical books for Christmas 2022 to give, receive, or treat yourself with. These include many of the most absorbing books, fiction and non-fiction, published recently. We hope these suggestions inspire you. DV Bishop The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola. A winter’s tale full of mystery and […]