Showing results by publisher "ISIS Audio Books" in Historical Fiction

It is 1752. As winter approaches, two guilty secrets drive 17-year-old Agnes Trussel to run away from her home in rural Sussex. Pregnant with an unwanted child and carrying stolen coins, she is shocked by the squalor of London. She finds work as an assistant to a firework-maker, John Blacklock. Soon she meets Cornelius Soul, seller of gunpowder, and hatches a plan which could save her. But why does Blacklock disapprove of Mr Soul? And what is Blacklock hiding from her?

For Rose Lucas, a spirited, intelligent girl born into a large family in the slums of pre-war Birmingham, life is hard. But through her friendship with Diana, daughter of a vicar from middle-class Moseley, she learns to aspire to a different and better existence. But life seldom follows dreams, and after losing a love she has fought hard for, and after travelling in Italy, she returns to Birmingham with her hopes shattered. But Rose's powerful spirit will not be defeated.

England, 1810. Young Parson Tobias Campion is excited to be starting at the small parish of Moreton St Jude's. But his first night in the village brings excitement of the wrong kind when he has to intervene in the attempted rape of housemaid Lizzie Woodman. Even in the normal course of events, village life is far from quiet, and soon Tobias has to deal with suspicious deaths.

All her short life, 11-year-old Rose Webster has encountered closed doors. Growing up in the slums of London with her siblings, trying to avoid their violent, drunken father, she develops an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and becomes convinced that she and her loved ones deserve better. All Rose has is a quick mind and the will to survive. Can she open that door and seize the chance to make something of herself?

The village of Burracombe is looking forward to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, but the year of 1953 is to prove a year of heartbreak as well as celebration. While Stella Simmons begins to plan her wedding, her sister Maddy is only just coming to terms with the loss of her own fiancé; Val and Luke Ferris are wondering if they will ever become parents, and Hilary Napier wonders if love will ever find her. The Tozer family also face anxiety.

Alderman John Foster purchases a piece of land from the Magdalen Nunnery intending to build a chapel, dedicated to the Magi - the Three Kings of Cologne - and some almshouses. He little imagines the shocking discovery about to be made.

London, June 1940. When the body of silent screen star Mabel Morgan is found impaled on railings, the coroner rules her death as suicide, but DI Ted Stratton of CID is not convinced. As he starts asking questions, it becomes clear that Morgan's fatal fall may have been the work of one of Soho's most notorious gangsters. When Stratton's path crosses with MI5 agent Diana Calthrop, they uncover a criminal network and a secretive pro-Fascist organisation.

Six brothers, trained since birth to become great warriors, prepare to experience their first taste of battle…The Norman/French border, 1033. The sons of Tancred de Hauteville are following in their father’s footsteps. As knights, they have but one true purpose: to fight. But denied service with their Duke, they are forced to take employment as mercenaries: their unequalled battle skills are for hire to the highest bidder.

It's 1943 and the country is at war. An unlikely group of land girls are finding out about life, love and loss, forming surprising friendships along the way. When Alice Todd's husband runs off with another woman, she is forced to find a means to provide for herself and her young son. Accepting a position as a hostel warden at an old Devonshire farmhouse, Alice finds herself looking after ten volunteer land girls. The job is not as easy as it first seems.

When Lady Helen Hardingham’s parents say she will never find a better husband than Richard, she agrees to marry him. But all too soon Richard returns to war, and Helen begins to wonder just who she has married. Then she meets Oliver Donovan. As the war continues, Oliver has to return to his regiment – and is never seen again. But Helen is left with more than just her memories: she is with child. Twenty years later and a second war is ravaging Europe.

In the grim recesses of the Tower of London, two captives begin a passionate love affair that will last years but is destined to destroy them. One is Robert Dudley, the other is the future Queen of England, Elizabeth I.

It is 1795. As war spreads across the globe, Harry Ludlow joins the struggle for the richest trade in the world. When half his crew is illegally pressed into the Royal Navy by the vicious Captain Toner, Harry sets off in pursuit. Toner's ship reaches the West Indies with Harry close behind, and they sail into a maelstrom of piracy, corruption, and murder, stirred up by a French privateer. Soon, the British officer in charge of the station calls upon each man to help as best he can.

India, 1922. In Panikhat, 50 miles from Calcutta, the wives of officers in the Bengal Greys have been dying violently, one every year and always in March. All the deaths are bizarre and seem accidental. The only link between them is the small red roses that mysteriously appear on the women’s graves on the anniversaries of their deaths. The first victim perished in a fire, the second was bitten by a cobra, another was thrown off her horse into a ravine, while the fourth drowned.

New Orleans, 1795. The discovery of an abandoned Spanish merchant ship off the coast of America plunges the Ludlows into a far-reaching conspiracy fuelled by jealousy, ambition and nationalistic fervour. The Bucephalas lies trapped under the gaping muzzles of the 32-punder Spanish guns of New Orleans’ harbour fort. It quickly becomes clear that the corridors of the governor’s residence are just as busy with treachery, double-dealing, and murder as the back alleys of the sweltering city outside.

1662. Cromwell is dead but Charles II presides over an uncertain court. Now, with rumour of treason brewing in the Scottish Isles, the king needs men he can trust… Men like young Matthew Quinton, a loyal but inexperienced sea captain. Matthew’s first command was lost at sea but this time he is determined to complete his mission. Vital to his success is Kit Farrell, a young mariner who has promised to help Matthew.

Following in the pioneering footsteps of the women who have gone before her, Ruby and her new husband James brave a long and treacherous journey to start their new life together. However, they soon discover that there are many more dangers than just those that meet the eye. When James is tempted away by the gold rush, Ruby must join forces with the Aborigine girl Kumali and learn to adapt.

Eugenie Winford is devastated when her beloved father commits suicide, having lost his fortune in the Wall Street Crash. Now Eugenie and her proud, spoilt mother are ruined. Eugenie changes her name and goes into hiding as a housemaid for the Stannard family - anything is better than what her mother has planned for her. But her real identity is soon revealed, and Jen has to flee again. She ends up in Lambeth, with a poor but good family, and together they face the hardships of the Depression.

Along a blacked-out wartime street a girl is scurrying, a basket on one arm. As sirens begin and bombs crash down, she is filled with panic and, with a heavy heart, abandons her burden in a sheltered doorway, meaning to return later. Even as she disappears in the resulting chaos, the bundle in the basket begins to wail.

When Daisy's family lose their croft on the Connemara coast, her Aunt Jane, housekeeper to Dr. and Mrs Venables, offers to take Daisy back to Liverpool.

Hilary Napier is upset and angry when her father brings in a new manager for the family estate, which she's been running for the past year. Even though she resents his presence, she cannot help liking Travis Kellaway. When her defences are broken down by the illness of her brother's much-loved horse, she realises Travis' strength and compassion. It isn't long before their relationship moves to a new footing.