Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Historical Fiction

1690. England is in crisis – the new protestant King William III has embarked on wars in France and Ireland, inflation is rampant and the price of corn is causing riots. At Measham Hall, Sir William Hawthorne faces a predicament of his own: his loyal steward has died, and he must find another. His problems appear to have been solved when the charming Mr Goodwyn arrives with a mysterious letter of recommendation and takes up the post. But soon, to the rest of the household's dismay, Goodwyn appears to have both Sir William and the estate dancing to his tune.

Sisters Ruth and Miriam Green spent most of their childhood loving each other and hating each other, treasuring each other and resenting each other. Now they're grown up their lives have taken them on very different paths, creating a rift which is proving difficult to heal. Ruth has followed her traditional Jewish upbringing. Miriam has not–and while she wants to instill her heritage in her children, they just want to fit in.

Elena Morandi has gained a fragile foothold in a master tailor's workshop, despite the profession being barred to women. But then Antonio della Fontana, a powerful man from her past, crosses her path and threatens everything she has built. Fontana has every corner of the city in his pocket and Elena knows all too well of his past abuses, but driven to fight for justice, she hatches a daring plan to get retribution for herself, a lost friend, and his other victims.

Clara Vine, the Anglo-German actress, is working undercover in Germany as an agent of British intelligence. During a hiatus in the filming of Goebbels’ latest propaganda film, the Sinking of the Titanic, she is covertly approached and asked to track down an errant British spy called Victor Stern. Stern is a physicist, feared to be passing vital secrets to the enemy. He also happens to be Clara’s former lover, who she met in Vienna at the home of the actress, Hedy Lamarr.

Mary Reddish, a young housemaid unjustly committed after defying her employer’s advances, must navigate the brutal treatments of the county asylum while trying to prove her sanity. Meanwhile, Ann and Thomas Morris, the asylum’s matron and director, struggle to uphold humane practices against outdated medical methods that haunt the institution.