It is January 1941, and the Blitz is devastating England. Food supplies are low and tube stations have become bomb shelters. As the U.S. maintains its sceptical isolationist position, Winston Churchill knows that Britain is doomed without the aid of its powerful ally. As bombs rain down over London a weary Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's most trusted advisor, is sent to London as his emissary and comes face to face with the Prime Minister himself and an attractive and determined young...

"Sneaks the reader behind the curtain of the grand stage that became the Second World War . . . a reminder of the victories, losses, and sacrifices." —Kristina McMorris, New York Times–bestselling authorIt's January 1941, and the Blitz is devastating England. Food supplies are low, Tube stations in London have become bomb shelters, and U-boats have hampered any hope of easy victory. Though the United States maintains its isolationist position, Churchill kno...

The dramatic true-life story of George Hogg, a young Oxford graduate who is caught up in the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the Chinese Civil war, and who leads a group of Chinese children hundreds of miles across 15,000-foot mountains to safety – only to die tragically in early 1945.The author, James MacManus, was working as a reporter in Shanghai in 1980s when he heard talk of a statue being up in the remote town of Shandon on the Mongolian border in memory of an Englishm...

Berlin, 1938. Newly-appointed military attache Noel Macrae and his extrovert wife Primrose arrive at the British Embassy. Prime Minister Chamberlain is intent on placating Nazi Germany, but Macrae is less so. Convinced Hitler can be stopped by other means than appeasement, he soon discovers he is not the only dissenting voice in the Embassy and finds that some senior officers in the German military are prepared to turn against the Fuhrer. Gathering vital intelligence, Macrae is drawn to Ki...

Have you ever wanted to just leave everything and disappear?Can the instinct for survival overcome almost anything…?Leo Kemp's life should be idyllic. He has a job that he loves at the Institute of Marine Biology and he lives in Cape Cod with his wife and daughter. But beneath the tranquil surface of their lives, heartbreak lingers; a few years ago their son was drowned in an accident at sea and the family cannot come to terms with his death.When Leo loses his job t...

In nineteenth century Paris, the young bohemian Charles Baudelaire roams the streets. Dressed impeccably - thanks to an inheritance that is quickly vanishing - and lost in the decadences of alcohol and opium, he is about to meet one woman destined to change his life forever: the beautiful Haitian cabaret singer, Jeanne Duval.Inspiring Baudelaire's most infamous poems - leading to the banning of his masterwork, Les Fleurs du Mal, and a scandalous public trial for obscenity - Duval b...

A vivid novel of Charles Baudelaire and his lover Jeanne Duval, the Haitian cabaret singer who inspired his most famous and controversial poems, set in nineteenth-century Paris.For readers who have been drawn to The Paris Wife, Black Venus captures the artistic scene in the great French city decades earlier, when the likes of Dumas and Balzac argued literature in the cafes of the Left Bank. Among the bohemians, the young Charles Baudelaire stood out—dressed impecca...

"As pacey as any modern thriller" this novel set on the eve of WWII "is a vivid portrait of an entire city in turmoil, seething with intrigue and danger" ( The Times, UK).Berlin in the spring of 1939. Hitler is preparing for war. Colonel Noel Macrae, a British diplomat, plans the ultimate sacrifice to stop him. The West's appeasement policies have failed. There is only one alternative: assassination. The Gestapo, aware of Macrae's hostility, seeks to compro...

Foreign correspondent Richard Brady arrives in Africa on a strict assignment to document the nationalist insurgency that has taken hold of a once-beautiful country. Arriving on the ground with few leads, he is soon courted by people on both sides of the fight.Of particular interest to Richard is Patience, a young township teacher with a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue. But his conscience is tested when he discovers that Patience is helping to smuggle boys across the border and ...

A lyrical and affecting family drama which challenges readers to re-examine their perception of natureA striking blend of realism and contemporary myth-making, this unforgettable novel tells the story of marine biologist Leo Kemp. Having lost his teaching position thanks to outspoken views, Leo decides to go on one last field trip with his students. The outing becomes disastrous when the weather turns and Leo is thrown overboard. The evocative des...

In 1942, Cork-born Kay Summersby’s life is changed forever when she is tasked with driving General Eisenhower on his fact-finding visit to wartime London. The pair takes an immediate liking to one another and so begins a tumultuous relationship against all military regulations. Kay becomes known as “Ike’s shadow,” but that does not stop him from using his influence to grant Kay US citizenship. When the US authorities discover Eisenhower’s plans, Kay is forced to take desperate measures to ...

In this heart-warming tale of female empowerment, a young woman comes to terms with the revelation that she may be able to fly.Alison Spedding is a loner; no real friends, no boyfriend and a job in which she goes unnoticed. At thirty-two, her only passion is birdwatching. One afternoon, high on a Scottish mountain, earnestly waiting for the rarest of sights - a white tailed eagle returning to its nest - she slips, falling silently. In shock, her fellow twitchers return to the hostel...