Historical Fiction Books

Her beauty saved her life... and condemned her. In 1942, Cilka Klein was sixteen-years-old when she was taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Noticing her beautiful long hair, Commandment Schwarzhuber forced her to separate from the other women prisoners. Cilka was then charged as a collaborator by the Russians and sent to Vorkuta, a prison camp in Siberia. Once again, Cilka faced a familiar and horrifying battle for survival. Befriending a woman doctor, Cilka learnt to nurse the ill in the camp... eventually tending to a man named Alexandr. The story of Cilka's discovery that there is room in your heart for love, despite all unimaginable circumstances. A powerful testament to the triumph of human will, based on what is known of Cilka Klein's experiences. The sequel to the No.1 Bestseller - The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Product Information:• ISBN: 9781785769047• Author: Heather Morris• Publisher: Zaffre• Format: Hardback• Pages: 401• Dimensions: 24 x 16 x 4cm

What will you find from his story? Nuri is a beekeeper, his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo - until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape. As Nuri and Afra travel through a broken world, they must confront not only the pain of their own unspeakable loss, but dangers that would overwhelm the bravest of souls. Above all - and perhaps this is the hardest thing they face - they must journey to find each other again. Moving, powerful, compassionate and beautifully written, The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit. Told with deceptive simplicity, it is the kind of book that reminds us of the power of storytelling. Product Information:• ISBN: 9781838770013• Author: Christy Lefter• Publisher: Manilla Press• Format: Paperback• Pages: 384• Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.8 x 19.8 cm

It is 1939 and working class Evie Bishop has received a scholarship to study mathematics at Oxford when tragedy turns her life upside down. Evie must seek a new future for herself and, inspired to contribute to the war effort, joins the Women's Auxiliary Air Force as an Ops Room plotter. Posted to a fighter station on the Sussex Coast, Evie befriends two other WAAFs shy, awkward May and flirty, glamorous Jess. Faced with earning the approval of strict officers and finding their way in a male dominated world, the three girls band together to overcome challenges, navigate new romances and keep their pilots safe in the skies. But the German bombers seem to know more than they should about the base's operations, and soon Evie, May and Jess are caught up in a world more dangerous than they ever imagined... Product Information: • ISBN: 9781800320918 • Author: Vicki Beeby • Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing • Format: Paperback • Pages: 368 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.2cm

Love, family and survival... Life is tough on the cobbled backstreet courtyards of Abbey Street, Warwickshire, in the 1840s: boys are destined for the pit and girls for the mill. Despite this, clever, feisty Maryann is happy there - until her mother dies. Her family collapses, leaving Maryann coping with everything, exhausted and lonely. Especially as Toby, the boy she is set on marrying, insists they wait. When things are at their bleakest, Maryann is offered a lifeline: a position as nanny to the daughter of the mill owner, Wesley Marshall. Though the house is filled with secrets and heartache, there is kindness, too, and to Maryann's surprise she grows close to Marshall. But their relationship has not gone unnoticed and it threatens to unleash a world of problems on them all... Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472101754 • Author: Rosie Goodwin • Publisher: Corsair • Format: Paperback • Pages: 431 • Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.5 x 2.7cm

Lancashire 1934. Three years after her husband's sudden death, Stella comes into some money unexpectedly and decides to make a new start in the country. She settles on Ellin Valley, where she quickly begins to make friends. She falls in love with a cottage in Birch End, but an unscrupulous man wants it too. Will she be able to buy her dream home? Life has changed drastically for local handyman Wilf Pollard as well. When tragedy strikes, Wilf is left as the only support of his two young children. But his friends rally round to help so that he can pull his life together and take up an exciting new job with a well-respected builder. Some of the local council are eager to deal with the squalid conditions of the Backshaw Moss slum, but others will stop at nothing to keep their profitable rents. And Stella's dream cottage is threatened by their plans to build yet more cheap housing. Can Stella, Wilf and the residents of Birch End pull together to make sure good triumphs over evil? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781473677852 • Author: Anna Jacobs • Publisher:  Hodder • Format: Paperback • Pages: 368 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 3cm

It is 1902 and Babs and Beth are identical in looks, but very different by nature. Kidnapped by gypsies a decade ago as young girls, Beth has accepted their plight, but Babs has always yearned for their real mother, Tilly, and their beloved hometown of Blackpool. Desperate to be reunited with their mother, Babs hatches a plan to escape. But Beth is too afraid and Babs realises if she ever wants to go home she'll have to leave her sister behind. 1914. Babs' life has been blighted by misfortune ever since she walked away from her sister. She's never given up hope of finding her family, but now having found peace and purpose as a nurse, the war is sending her to France, away from them. Or so she believes... As the Great War continues to tear families apart, could it be that Babs, Beth and Tilly will be reunited at last? Product Information: • ISBN: 9780751577167 • Author: Maggie Mason • Publisher: Sphere • Format: Paperback • Pages: 432 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 3.4cm

A family pulled apart. A love silenced... For as long as Briony Valentine can remember she has been soft on Eddie, the boy next door. But their chance of romance is stifled when the Luftwaffe begin dropping bombs on the midlands. Eddie is called up to serve, as is Briony's father, tearing her world apart. As the telegrams arrive, all she can do is pray. Despite past disagreements, Briony's affluent grandparents open their doors to the three Valentine children, offering them the safety of Cornwall - far from the bombs and far from the only world they've ever known. Will the Valentine family ever unite, and will Briony ever see Eddie again? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472101723 • Author: Rosie Goodwin • Publisher: Constable & Robinson • Format: Paperback • Pages: 440 • Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.6 x 2.9cm

1940: When trainee nurses Clare and Gaye, alongside their new friend Diana discover that the war is forcing the mothers and children of Guernsey to seek safety in Stockport they immediately volunteer. Yet, they each has their own troubles to face: Clare misses her family in Ireland, while Diana struggles to find her place in the parachute factory. And Gaye must hide a secret that could tear her family apart . . . With the danger of war coming ever closer, it is their friendship and determination that will see them and the children in their care through. But can the girls and the evacuee families make a home in Mersey Square? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781409192008 • Author: Lilly Robbins • Publisher: Orion • Format: Paperback • Pages: 384 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.8cm

Ginny is devastated by the death of her mother, her two little brothers and her sister - but her father is destroyed by the loss. After a series of drunken mistakes, her father is imprisoned for murder, and Ginny and her little brother Charlie lose the only home they've ever known.  Worse is to come. Charlie is only eight years old and has a weak chest. Ginny is determined to keep him with her, but he is taken to the workhouse before she has a chance to save him. Lonely and desperate, Ginny wanders the streets of Nuneaton. She finds honest work at the pie shop - until she is forced to fight off the unwanted advances of the baker and she's out on the streets.  It's only then that she remembers her father's final words - the housekeeper of Lamp Hill Hall will help her. Soon Ginny is employed as a laundry maid, the very lowest rung of the ladder. Her beauty and grace mean that she catches the eye of the house's mistress, who raises Ginny up to play lady's maid to the difficult and demanding Miss Diana.  All Ginny wants is to find her brother - and it will take all her strength of heart and courage to bring her family together again. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472117786 • Author: Rosie Goodwin • Publisher: Corsair • Format: Paperback • Pages: 470 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.6 x 2.8cm

Born in Sunderland's filthy, crime-ridden East End, Pearl Croft's childhood is desperately troubled. When her violent, drunken father is killed in a fight and Pearl's elder brothers are sent to prison, she is left to care for her baby brothers. Then Pearl's mother brings a 'client' to the house who has a penchant for little girls. Terrified and hurt, Pearl runs away from home and is found, feverish and near death, by Romany gypsies. But this is far from the end of her struggles. Years pass and as Pearl reaches womanhood she wonders if she will ever find happiness? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472266606 • Author: Rita Bradshaw • Publisher: Headline • Format: Paperback • Pages: 416 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 3.2cm

Three girls all turn up for work, the day war is declared... Dotty has never known a life outside of the orphanage where she grew up, let alone love. Lucy is the sole carer of her little sister, now that her brother has gone to war. Annabelle has led a life of privilege but everyone has to pinch the pennies at the moment. Adjusting to life on the shop-floor at Coventry's only department store is hard enough, but then the bombs begin to fall... As the devastating effects of war come to bear on the three women, their bond deepens. One thing's for certain, the girls are going to need each other. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472101013 • Author: Rosie Goodwin • Publisher: Canvas • Format: Paperback • Pages: 448 • Dimensions: 19.7 x 13 x 3cm

Their survival depended on one another... they knew they had to live for each other. It is 1940, the Nazis have occupied The Netherlands and the Final Solution is about to commence. But resistance is rising and two Jewish sisters Janny and Lien Brilleslijper, are willing to risk their lives in order to help those being hunted and bring them to the safehouse 'The High Nest'. Becoming one of the most important safehouses in the country, the High Nest's occupants are suddenly betrayed and the sister's most terrifying time begins... With the German defeat in sight, Janny and Lien are on their way to Auschwitz, alongside Anne Frank and her family. But the challenges the sisters are about to face is beyond human imagination and it will take all of their courage, resilience and love to keep the alive. For readers of the Tattooist of Auschwitz - the true story of two Jewish sisters' resistance in the heart of Nazi territory. Product Information:• ISBN: 9781841883731• Author: Roxanne Van Iperen• Publisher: Seven Dials• Format: Hardback• Pages: 299• Dimensions: 24 x 17 x 3cm

Within Lancashire, 1612, Fleetwood Shuttleworth is only 17 years old but married and pregnant for the fourth time... However, she still has no living child and her husband Richard is itching for an heir. But when she crosses paths with Alice Gray, a young midwife, she promises to help Fleetwood give birth to a healthy baby. Meanwhile, Alice is drawn into witchcraft accusations that are sweeping the north-west and Fleetwood risks everyone to try and help her. But the legendary witch trials are approaching and Fleetwood's stomach is growing by the minute... Are both of their lives at stake? 'Assured and alluring' - Jessie Burton. Product Information: ISBN: 9781785766145 Author: Stacey Halls Publisher: Zaffre Format: Paperback Pages: 420 Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 3.5cm

Georgie Deegan will do anything for money. His sister will do anything for love... Since they were kids in the backstreets of Liverpool, brother and sister Georgie and Katie Deegan have fought like cat and dog. Now Katie is at Moorehouse's lemonade factory, whilst Georgie has a good job at the B & A - and when he comes home he puts his feet up. Unlike Katie, who does her turn in their mother Molly's fish and game shop. Yet when their father dies suddenly, Georgie assumes the shop is his - and that his chance has come to rule the Deegan roost. Katie has other ideas, as does her strong-minded mother Molly. But, as World War II draws closer and Georgie's illegal money-making schemes gain momentum, neither Katie nor her mother has any idea what troubles lie in store for the women whose lives the ruthless Georgie Deegan is set to control - at any cost . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472267412 • Author: Lyn Andrews • Publisher: Headline • Format: Paperback • Pages: 416 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3.4cm

'I was twelve when the coat was made. Nathan, our tailor and dear friend, cut it for Grandfather in the first week of March 1938. It was the last week of freedom for Warsaw and for us...' Even in the most difficult of lives, there is hope. When Mika's grandfather dies in the Warsaw ghetto, he inherits not only his great coat, but its treasure trove of secrets. In one remote pocket, he finds a papier mache head, a scrap of cloth... a puppet prince. And what better way to cheer the cousin who has lost her father, the little boy who is ill, the neighbours living in one cramped room, than a puppet show? Soon the whole ghetto is talking about the puppet boy - until the day when Mika is stopped by a German officer and is forced into a secret life... This is a story about survival. It is an epic journey, spanning continents and generations, from Warsaw to the gulags of Siberia, and two lives that intertwine amid the chaos of war. Because even in wartime, there is hope... Product Information: • ISBN: 9781474617147 • Author: Eva Weaver • Publisher: W&N  • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.6cm

Seren James longs for a child, to fill the emptiness left by a husband who has little care for her. But as the years go by, Seren begins to fear that she is almost out of time to have the one thing she wants most. But when Seren meets Anwen, a local woman who offers help, there is a problem: Anwen is suspected by the locals of witchcraft. Is the cost of association too high for Seren to pay, or can her problems be solved another way? Finding herself growing closer to the handsome local minister, Seren must ask how far she is willing to go for her own happiness... Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529403886 • Author: Lynette Rees  • Publisher: Quercus • Format: Paperback • Pages: 368 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6cm

Working at the local munitions factory has given Aggie the freedom she's long desired. But the Great War is coming to an end, and the men are coming home. Determined to hold on to her new-found independence, Aggie decides to join the Women's Police Service and become a Copperette. Like Aggie, Mim wants nothing more than to do her bit for her country. Never one to shy away from hard work, she's eager to help her fellow women and keep up morale - even if that does mean opening her home to Aggie and helping her train. With the last days of war upon them, Aggie and Mim face shocking loss. But in the face of great hardship, can they find a way to work together? Product Information: • ISBN: 9780751570878 • Author: Sue Wilsher • Publisher: Sphere • Format: Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.8cm  

Introducing Enola Holmes - London's newest and greatest detective! Sister of detective Sherlock Holmes, Enola is devastated when she hears the news of her mother's disappearance. Embarking on a journey to London in search of her, she suddenly finds herself involved in kidnapping of a young marquess, fleeing murderous villiams and trying to elude her older brothers! But amid all of the mayhem, will Enola be able to decode the neccesary clues to help find her mother? 'Exciting and adventurous!' - Milly Bobby Brown. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781471408960 • Author: Nancy Springer • Publisher: Hot Key Books • Format: Paperback • Pages: 176 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 0.9cm

Evie Kilgaren is a fighter. Abandoned by her mother and with her father long gone, she is left to raise her siblings in dockside Liverpool, as they battle against the coldest winter on record. But she is determined to make a life for herself and create a happy home for what's left of her family. Desperate for work, Evie takes a job at the Tram Tavern under the kindly watch of pub landlady, and pillar of the community, Connie Sharp. But Connie has problems of her own when her quiet life of spinsterhood is upturned with the arrival of a mysterious undercover detective from out of town. When melting ice reveals a body in the canal, things take a turn for the worst for the residents of Reckoner's Row. Who could be responsible for such a brutal attack? And can Evie keep her family safe before they strike again? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781838898366 • Author: Sheila Riley • Publisher: Boldwood Books • Format: Paperback • Pages: 348 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2cm

It is 1945. The people of Liverpool, after six years of terror and grief and getting by, are making the best of the hard-won peace, none more so than the ebullient O'Sheas. They welcome widowed Mary O'Malley from Dublin, her young son Kevin, and Breda, her bold strap of a sister, with open arms and hearts. Mary is determined to make a fresh start for her family, despite Breda, who is soon up to her old tricks. At first all goes well, and Mary begins to build an understanding with their new neighbour Chris Kennedy - until events take a dramatic turn that puts Chris beyond her reach. Forced to leave the shelter of the O'Sheas' home, humiliated and bereft, Mary faces a future that is suddenly uncertain once more. But she knows that life has to go on... Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472256744 • Author: Lyn Andrews • Publisher: Headline • Format: Paperback • Pages: 452 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 13.2 x 3.4cm