Showing results by publisher "Oakhill Publishing" in Literary Fiction

England 1321: Deep in the countryside lies an isolate village governed by a sinister regime of Owl Masters. But their dark status quo is disturbed by the arrival of a house of religious women. Why do their crops succeed when village crops fail, their cattle survive despite the plague? Accusations of witchcraft and heresy run rife, while the Owl Masters rain down hellfire and torment on the women, who must look to their faith to save them from the lengthening shadow of evil... a shadow with predatory, terrifying talons.

London, 1849. As a cholera epidemic draws nearer, Joshua Jeavons, engineer, is working on his great drain plan for the capital. When the deaths begin, he works even more furiously, driven by the vision of a reborn London freed of rotting sewers. Then his beautiful young wife, Isobella, disappears, and Joshua must turn his attention to even more perplexing matters. His search for the answers to the mysteries that surround him leads from glittering Haymarket cafes to London's murky underworld.

Violet Dimond, the Holy Terror, has delivered many of the town children in her capacity as handywoman. But Violet’s calling is dying out with medicine’s advances. Grace, Violet’s adopted daughter, is a symbol of change herself. In the place where she has grown up and everyone knows her, she is accepted, though most of the locals never before saw a girl with skin that colour. For Violet and Grace the coming war will bring more upheaval: can they endure it, or will they be swept aside by history’s tide?

1915. Japanese-occupied Korea. Najin Han, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher, longs to choose her own destiny. When her traditional father seeks to marry her into an aristocratic family, her mother defies generations of obedient wives and instead sends Najin to serve in the King's court as a companion to a young princess. But the King is assassinated, and the centuries-old dynastic culture comes to an end.

It is the summer of 2001 and in Cairo’s crowded streets the heat is rising ...The unsolved murders of young homeless boys are fanning the embers of religious hatred. As tensions mount, Makana is hired to investigate threats made to a hapless travel agent. But Makana’s troubled past is trying to lay claim to him and when Makana witnesses a brutal killing he attracts the attention of both the security services and a dangerous gangster family....

When Elizabeth Price engages private detective Roland ‘Orlando’ Gibbons to find out the truth about her husband’s suspected affair, she unwittingly sets off a chain of correspondence that reunites four formerly close-knit couples. They all live just a few suburban streets away from each other, they are all still married, so how – and why – did they become so estranged? In a series of letters, each protagonist is far more self-revealing than they would ever be in person.

When Sarah, struggling to get over tragedy, stumbles across her grandparents' ruined farm, it feels as if the house has been waiting for her. She is drawn to their apparently idyllic way of life and starts to look into her family history - only to learn that her grandfather, Jack, was murdered. Why has nobody told her? Sarah becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Gwen and Jack. But are there some family stories that should never be told?

When Tess agrees to move into her aged mother-in-law's idyllic country cottage, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to escape the distractions of the city and start work on a novel. However, life in the Gingerbread House is no fairy tale. Tess is utterly unprepared for the reality of caring for Eleanor, who suffers from dementia. Feeling increasingly isolated, she struggles to cope as Eleanor fluctuates between violent mood swings, childlike dependency and moments of heart-wrenching lucidity. Meanwhile, Tess' teenage daughter, Katia, is helpless to intercede. In the end she can only watch as things fall apart and a tragedy even closer to home surfaces....

When Colin discovers his son is on a murder charge in France, he trails his small boat, The Dragonfly, across the Channel to help. There he meets his granddaughter - the irrepressible Delphine - for the first time. They embark on a boat journey through the picturesque French canals, heading south through Burgundy, 'until the butter melts'. Along the way, they catch up with Tyler, a spirited American, and land big fish, cultivate new loves and uncover a burning secret. But can Colin help his son get off the hook?

Mark Chadwick is cycling home from work, eager to get back to his pregnant wife, Katy, and two children, when he sees the police calling at his house. He knows exactly why they are there, and he knows that the world he has carefully constructed over 20 deliberately uneventful years is about to fall apart. He could lose everything.... A story of a toxic love gone wrong, with a setting that moves between present-day London and 1990s Cambridge, Stronger Than Skin is utterly compelling, combining a gripping narrative with a keen eye for the absurdities of the way we live now.

It is the summer of 1989 when Lucas witnesses an event that will tear his family apart. Over a decade later, his estranged father succumbs to a suspected heart attack. Lucas shuns grief and escapes to New York with his colleague Mariana. However, a dark secret from his past threatens to reemerge and destroy the burgeoning relationship before it has even begun. When his father's girlfriend fails to reappear after reporting his death, the true cause of his demise falls under scrutiny. And as the startling truth comes to light, Lucas must confront the fact that father and son may not have been so different after all.

When Esther's childhood best friend, Isabella, dies of cancer, she is devastated. Years later she is brought together with Isabella's sister Sally, who cared for Isabella in her last days and who subsequently nursed their mother through years of dementia. English professor Esther sees shy, innocent Sally emerge from a life of isolation and loneliness. But as Esther herself suffers blow after blow and sees her carefully ordered life collapse around her, she is forced to contemplate the notion of friendship and trust.

Dr Manne isn't himself when he's called out by the police to evaluate a man suspected of psychosis. But the man is perfectly calm, and insists he's not who the police says he is. Manne isn't sure what to believe, but something definitely isn't right. Before he knows it, he's helping his patient escape from an unfamiliar psychiatric hospital. Then a careless slip on the subway leads to a horrific accident.

June 1914. The beginning of another long, prosperous summer for Britain. But beneath the clear skies, the chill wind of social discontent swirls around this sceptred isle. Shots ring out in a distant European land - the assassination of a foreign aristocrat. From that moment the entire world is propelled into a conflict unlike any seen before. This is the story of five British communities, their circumstances very different, but who will all share in the tragedy that is to come.

The summer of 1939 broke the Maudsley family. Cecily was only 13 years old and desperate to grow up, desperate to be as desired and reckless as her older sister, Rose. Now in her 40s, the family resemblance is uncanny, but Cecily is a shadow of her former self. A part of her died that fateful summer. Returning to the deserted family farm, Cecily recalls the light before the storm, before the war came and before the terrible family tragedy. She remembers how everyone was guarding a secret.

Twelve-year-old Bobby Nusku catalogues traces of his mother’s life and waits for her to return home. Bobby thinks that he’s been left to face the world alone until he meets lonely single mother Val and her daughter, Rosa. They spend a magical summer together, discovering the books in the mobile library where Val works as a cleaner. But as the summer draws to a close, Bobby finds himself in trouble, and Val is in danger of losing her job. There’s only one thing to do - and so they take to the road in the mobile library.

After holidaying in France with a group of old university friends, Isobel and Eric discover that Ben and Maggie’s daughter, Iris, has been critically ill and is now permanently deaf. Isobel knows her decision not to have her own children vaccinated is to blame for Iris’ deafness. And Ben knows this too. To make matters worse, Isobel is the woman he fell in love with in his twenties--the woman who married his best friend.

Lily McCain is cursed. With just one touch she can see a person’s future, whether it’s a good fortune or a terrible fate. Afraid of the potent visions she foresees, she distances herself from the world, succumbing to a life of solitude. But at the touch of a mysterious stranger – who has powers of his own – Lily sees a new, chilling future for herself: one where she is fated to make a terrible choice.

Eamonn Lynch stares at the letter announcing the imminent arrival of his father, Dermot. His first thought is: I’ll make an excuse, I’ll put him off. But it is too late. Dermot is already here, in southern Spain, and soon he’ll discover that Eamonn lives in an unfinished building site; that Laura’s left him; and that it’ll be just the pair of them for two long, hot weeks. Eamonn doesn’t seem to know what to make of his father’s arrival.

As the three Henderson brothers - Jack, Douglas and Angus - head toward their childhood home in East Fortune for their annual summer gathering, they steel themselves against sibling rivalry, parental expectation and the vulnerability that comes with being with those who know you best. A subtle look at lives at the crossroads; about life and love, chance and hope - and how families survive.