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

Aunt Maud's cruel words shock Rosie Quest. But they also explain the atmosphere of hostility that surrounds her on the run-down Wirral farm: no wonder her aunt resents having had to take in an illegitimate child, born in the workhouse. It's quite a relief to escape every day to her job as a machinist in Sheraing's garment factory, even though Beatrice Shearing is a demanding employer. But when Rosie catches the eye of Ben Shearing, Beatrice is having none of it.

When Mr James Massey moves to the Parish of Hilby and becomes the new tenant of Wood Farm he is soon the centre of attention. Invited to events within the small Norfolk Village, Massey finds himself attending village concerts, high tea at the grange and even dinner at the vicarage. As the residents warm to him so too do the hearts of two women, Helen Smythe and Pollie Freeman.

When Eustacia Hope is jilted at the altar, her parents decide to save her reputation by sending her to stay with her godmother, Lady Agatha Rayner, a clergyman's widow. Eustacia's mother warns her to have nothing to do with Lady Agatha's brother, the notorious Lord Ashbourne, nor with his son, Lord Ilam.

Miss Dido Kent has developed a taste for mysteries and is finding the quiet holiday at her cousin Flora's home rather unchallenging to say the least. So when a neighbour dies suddenly, leaving her entire estate to her young nephew, Miss Dido can't help but be suspicious. When the local doctor pronounces an overdose as the cause of death and publicly accuses the nephew of killing his aunt, Flora prevails upon her cousin's mystery-solving capabilities to prove the nephew innocent. Miss Dido can hardly refuse....

When young John Vincent died, the outward respectability of the Cornwall household was undermined. Strangers pried, asked too many questions and pointed accusing fingers at Charlotte - herself eager to escape from the oppressive atmosphere of her father's home.

Lieutenant Douglas Lindsay is amongst just a handful of men picked up when his ship is torpedoed. Unable to free himself from the memories of that night, he becomes an interrogator with naval intelligence. He is convinced the Germans have broken British naval codes, but he's a lone voice, and his superiors begin to wonder if he can really be trusted. As the losses at sea mount, Lindsay becomes increasingly desperate.

Like most in London's 1920s East End, Joan Baldwin has her crosses to bear. Her greatest by far is her husband: a violent drinker and gambler. When he perishes, Joan is surprised by her sudden freedom. She finds a housekeeping job in Kent, and when her employer dies, leaving her 200 guineas, Joan is able to start her own dressmaking business. Then she meets Eric Roussel, a charismatic businessman, and it looks like happiness will finally be hers. But is he a little too slick to be trusted?

His name was Colin Lowrie. A tall, red-haired Scot; a man at 16, whose pride was the ancient clan pride of the Lowries. And when the clans were broken - massacred in a brutal revenge at Culloden Field - Colin Lowrie was forced to take flight on a journey half-way round the world.

Compared to living with her impoverished family, working as a maid is a huge improvement for Maggie. Her new life allows her to enter a completely different world, the world of the suffragettes - women in search of justice, equality and the right to vote. Then another new face enters her life. Maggie falls for young Fred Thorpe, but any joy she feels at their relationship is tempered by the knowledge that he is a police officer.

Rebellious society girl Arabella Raynsford is leading a double life as a music hall singer but to escape a possible scandal, she flees to Constantinople to join Florence Nightingale. Arabella’s ambitious mother wants her to marry wealthy Irish landowner Oswald Delaney but she has fallen in love with humble engineer Nat Sloane, a man her parents will never accept as a suitable husband.

It is 1827, and in the town of Redditch life is harsh for the poor. When a young serving woman is found drowned in the canal, her widowed mother believes her daughter has been murdered and appeals to the Parish Constable, Thomas Potts, for help. Physically weak and bookish by nature, Tom Potts is to many people an object of derision. But concealed behind his timid façade is intelligence, experience and a fierce passion for justice.

Living above her stepfather's fish and chip shop on Merseyside's Paradise Parade, Emily Barr is glad to escape to the relative peace of her job in Wythenshaw's jewellery factory. And when she is promoted to work for young Mr Giles, the son of the owner, she is the envy of all her workmates. What a catch he would be! Or so it seems.

In 1951 London thrills to the Festival of Britain, but not Evie Smith. Mistress to Ted Hopkins, marriage is still just a dream. Ted is resigned to caring for his bed-ridden wife, only ever briefly seeing Evie and their two girls. Then, just as Evie finds she is pregnant, Ted takes his wife abroad for new treatment. After five years with no word, Evie selflessly brings up her daughters. But she may yet find her chance of lasting happiness.

A new generation of the Pengarron family enters centre stage as Lady Kerensa and Sir Oliver depart for London. Kelynen, the youngest daughter, is left resentful and upset by her father's treatment of her. She had been looking forward to running the estate single handedly, but Sir Oliver has unexpectedly forbidden it. Instead, he's ordered her brother Luke to forget his play-writing career and return to Pengarron.

Ella has lived in the East End of London all her life and when her husband determines to move to Epsom to be near the racecourse he frequents and loves, Ella's refusal to join him breaks up their tempestuous marriage. Ella soon loses the will to keep smart, trim, and fit: until her mother steps in to pick up the pieces. It works: Ella gets a job as barmaid in the British Legion club and begins to take pride in her appearance again. When Dennis turns up for a drink one night, he is taken by surprise.

Althea, Cressida and Phoebe have been friends since their schooldays. Now a successful artist, Cressida has never married. Phoebe has a career as an actress, but she has always given priority to her married lover, and never achieved stardom. Only Althea ever married, swept off her feet by businessman Geoffrey Lewis. As is their custom every summer, the Lewises are preparing for their annual fête.

Tobias Campion, rector of Moreton St Jude, is delighted to welcome the widowed Lady Chase as his parishioner. Although charming and generous-spirited, she harbours a secret sorrow: her son, Hugo, is missing, presumed dead. Her late husband's nephew, Sir Marcus Bramhall, making a prolonged, unwelcome visit to Moreton Hall, speaks darkly of bringing a court case to declare him the heir.

When Shona MacInnes qualifies to train as a vet, she meets prejudice not only from her father and brother, but also from handsome Ross MacMaster, a fellow islander who is to become a vet himself. Shona is determined to succeed, doing so well that Ross offers her a job in his Edinburgh practice, where their fiery professional relationship develops into love. A wonderful future seems to beckon until, on a trip home, things go wrong. Ross returns to his lucrative practice, and Shona starts working for the local vet.

When Janey has to leave her home after her stepfather beats her up, she finds herself in a children's home. She soon settles in, and the friends she makes become her new family. But at 16, Janey has to leave the home and is found a job as a housemaid. She feels abandoned again and the job is awful. Her situation doesn't improve until she meets Christy, a blind woman, and is employed as her companion. When Janey meets Christy's son, Charles, she falls in love with him. But alas, Charles is married.

It is 1942, and the Second World War has been going on for three wearying years. Work is hard and hours long in the four Ulster mills in Northern Ireland where Alex Hamilton struggles to keep overworked machines going, just as his wife Emily tries to provide food and comfort not only for their own son and daughters, but for the many young American soldiers stationed nearby.