It’s AD797, and warrior-monk Hunlaf and his crew are on a voyage to Cyprus to acquire an important Christian relic before it falls into the hands of Byzantium’s scheming Empress Eirene. Hunlaf’s crew receive unexpected help as they seek their treasure, but soon find themselves betrayed. About to leave for home empty-handed, the adventurers instead […]
Discovering Shanghai’s International Settlement
Shanghai, the ‘Pearl of the Orient’, was invaded by Japanese troops in 1941. The comfortable lives of the Westerners living in the city’s International Settlement were over. Deborah Swift looks back at the history of what happened, and her experiences of researching it for her latest novel, The Enemy’s Wife. At the end of my […]
Woodspring by Elizabeth Buchan
Since the house was built in 1810, the Danes have lived in the elegant, light-filled rooms of Woodspring, and walked in the fields and woods that surround the house. Over the years, and through the changing seasons, it has brought shelter, solace and joy. But now it’s 1940 and Europe is on the brink of […]
Elizabeth and Marilyn by Julie Owen Moylan
London, October, 1956. A glittering Royal Film Premiere. The whole world is watching. Tonight, Elizabeth II will formally greet an array of stars. Though she was not born to be Queen, this young mother and wife has embraced her patriotic duty and its unforgiving demands. A limousine pulls up. Out steps a vision in dazzling […]
The Library of War and Peace by Louise Morrish
Josie Everley may have survived the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, but she lost the man she loves most to the sea. Broken-hearted and destitute, Josie must start afresh as a library assistant at a ground-breaking, all-female-run military hospital in Endell Street. As she focuses on her work, she never expected to meet Theo, a […]
Storm of Mercia by MJ Porter
By AD836 the Viking raiders’ devastation has been halted once more — by the shields of Mercia, as opposed to Wessex. ,But their whereabouts are unknown. King Wiglaf of Mercia is keen to ensure the Viking raiders are swept from his shared border with Wessex but these Viking ships are quick and difficult to track. […]
The Darkening Globe by Naomi Kelsey
It’s 1597, and in London, when Beatrice’s husband returns from exploring the New World, he comes home with unexpected company: a mysterious woman, and an enormous painted globe. As Hugh refuses to explain who their female guest is, Beatrice’s foreboding grows. The unwieldy globe now strikes her as sinister – a reminder of the world […]
The Turncoat’s Revenge by Eleanor Swift-Hook
Spring 1628, and England is at war with France as the rest of Europe consumes itself in increasingly bitter conflict. In Dunkirk, Philip Lord, disgraced adventurer, has a new ship and through it the chance to gain enough from his privateering to follow his guiding star. But when he must risk everything to rescue a […]