Showing results by narrator "Antonia Whillans" in All Categories

Croatia, 1941. When the Nazis invade Yugoslavia, nurse Ilona's world is torn apart. Her Serbian husband Jovan has joined the resistance, her best friend Misa has vanished, and children are disappearing from their homes. Working alongside the brave Diana Budisavljević, Ilona risks everything to rescue thousands of children from concentration camps, but she cannot save the two who matter most to her friend's shattered heart.

Vanessa March's husband, Lewis, is meant to be on a business trip in Stockholm - so why does he briefly appear in newsreel footage of a fire at a circus in Vienna, with his arm around another woman? Vanessa flies to Austria to find her husband, inadvertently becoming involved in a mystery that spans three countries...and the famous dancing stallions of the Spanish Riding School. The moonlight flooded the meadow, blanching all colours to its own ghostly silver. The pines were very black.

It hides a family secret that could change the course of the war. Italy, 1930s. Tina lives in the crumbling castle of Montesecco with only her strict father and their maid, Allegra, for company. She’s never been allowed to ask questions about her mother, who died in childbirth. But the day Tina discovers a hidden, crumbling door, everything changes. Inside is an overgrown garden. Ivy and roses adorn the stone walls. Fresh water springs from a fountain and the scent of wild herbs fills the air. How did she never know this beautiful place existed?

A tiger escapes from the local zoo, padding through the ruined streets and onwards, to a ridge above the Balkan village of Galina. His nocturnal visits hold the villagers in a terrified thrall - but for one boy, the tiger is a thing of magic. Natalia is the granddaughter of that boy. Now a doctor, she is visiting orphanages in the war-torn Balkans when she receives word of her beloved grandfather's death, far from their home, in circumstances shrouded in mystery.

As Aurelia grasps her husband Max’s sleeve so as not to be separated in the crowd of torch-bearing people, a shiver slides down her spine. She sees wild-faced people all around her, their hands waving leaflets full of hateful slogans, and knows deep in her heart that she and her husband are no longer safe in the city they’ve always called home.

Berlin, 1939. Tears pouring down her cheeks, Rosa pushes through the crowds and thrusts the basket containing her darling newborn twins at the woman closing the door to the carriage. All she can say is please take them. Then she runs, praying the train will reach England safely…

The recently rediscovered short story 'The Lost One', perfect for fans of Daphne du Maurier, Santa Montefiore and Anya Seton. First published in Woman's Journal in 1960, and set against the backdrop of unfenced country and dark winding valleys at night, the aptly named 'The Lost One' features The Wind off the Small Isles heroine Perdita West, who brings her characteristic pluck and courage to this classic Mary Stewart tale of suspense and intrigue....

A house with history. That's how the estate agent described the old toll house on the edge of the town. For Kelda, it's the perfect rural home for her young son Dylan after a difficult few years. But when Kelda finds a death mask concealed behind one of the walls, everything changes. Inexplicable things happen in the house, Kelda cannot shake the feeling of being watched and Dylan is plagued by nightmares, convinced he can see figures in his room. As Dylan's behaviour becomes increasingly challenging, Kelda seeks answers in the house's mysterious past. But she's running out of time.

Asha lives in the foothills of the Himalayas. She misses her papa who works in the city. When he suddenly stops sending his wages, a ruthless moneylender ransacks their home. Asha makes a pact with her best friend, Jeevan, to find her father. But the journey is dangerous: they must cross the world's highest mountains and face hunger, tiredness - even snow leopards. Yet Asha has the unshakeable sense that the spirit bird of her grandmother - her nanijee - will be watching over her.

Walking to work at the orphanage she was raised in, Halina tries to ignore the imposing gates of Auschwitz nearby. She has one dream: to survive the war and find out who her parents were. But one morning, a Nazi officer with icy eyes blocks her way. He needs a new nanny, and he gives Halina a choice: serve in his home, or be sent to the camp....

Berlin, 1950. When Hanni Winter shows her new husband the heartbreaking photos she captured during the war, his reaction is unexpected. His face white, Freddy can’t take his eyes off the photo of a young girl around four years old.

As a fussy baby, Anne was prescribed laudanum to quiet her and has been given the opium-heavy syrup ever since on account of her continuing ill health. While her mother is outraged when Darcy chooses not to marry Anne, as has been long planned, Anne can barely raise her head to acknowledge the fact. But little by little, she comes to see that what she has always been told is an affliction of nature might in fact be one of nurture - and one, therefore, that she can beat.

It’s been years since Hanni fled her terrible past, but seeing Reiner Foss now brings back harrowing memories of the man they called "The Showman" and of the concentration camp he commanded. The last time she tried to expose him, Hanni almost died; can she dare to try again? Or should she seize the chance she sees in Tony’s sparkling eyes to leave the horrors of the war behind?

1945. The tiny bundle in her arms barely stirs as she hurries out into the dark street. Remembering Villa Teresa, a thousand miles away in sun-soaked Italy, Betty thinks of the letter she had to write to stop the bombing and save Gianni. Instead, it cost her everything, and she will never see her beloved again. Letting her little baby go will tear her apart, but she knows it is the only way to keep her child safe.

Berlin, 1938. When Hanni’s beloved sister suddenly vanishes in the middle of the night, Hanni knows her high-ranking Nazi father, Reiner, is not telling her the whole truth, and may hold the key to her disappearance.

Austria, 1942: In Mauthausen concentration camp, two prisoners dare to fall in love. When a baby is born–a miracle baby born behind the gates of hell–they vow to escape. Inspired by true events, this powerful World War II novel tells the incredible and inspirational tale of two ordinary people who risk everything to achieve the impossible.

Amsterdam, 1616. Jana Beil has learned that life rarely provides moments of joy. Having run away from a violent father, her days are spent searching for work in an effort to stay out of the city brothels, where desperate women trade their bodies for a mouthful of bread. But when Jana is hired as a servant for the wealthy and kind Master Reynst and his beautiful daughter Sontje, Jana’s future begins to look brighter.

In a different world, Evie Milton would have accepted her fate, married an aristocrat and become the doyenne of one of England’s finest estates, just like her mother. In a different world, Rose Wiley would have married her fiancé, David, established a modest homestead and brought up a brood of babies, just like her mother. But this isn’t a different world, and these women are not their mothers. Rose dreams of a life filled with more than family and duty to her husband—a life of purpose—and Evie dreams of a life far away from her rarefied existence.

Berlin, 1942. "All I know is we will survive this together," he says before kissing the tears away from my cheeks. But I know if the Nazis discover what we’ve done, how we’ve conspired against them, we will die together. Deaf since the age of five, Mina has had to fight for everything she has, including her place at an Austrian university to study physics. She has never felt accepted—until she meets fellow student Siggy, and her heart stops at the kindness in his bright blue eyes.

In the quiet Dutch countryside, 15-year-old Sofie returns home from school to find two armed men in her home. One is holding his rifle to her father’s temple, and the other is ransacking her mother’s purse. Though the Nazis find no proof that the family is Jewish, Sofie knows they have to leave. Although they find safety in a neighbor’s attic, they cannot stay there forever. But a resistance has grown; the town has built a village in the woods to hide Jewish people, and the Nazis can't find it. When Sofie’s mother finds out that they have one space left, Sofie is told to go.