Love and War Series

Someone saves your life. Now you wish they hadn't. World War Two, summer, 1942, Nazi-occupied France. A nervous young resistance fighter sits on a train. The Gestapo demand his papers. An older woman, sitting opposite, intervenes. Paris, 1968. The young man is now the most successful music conductor in France. Yet, 26 years on, he still wonders why the woman on the train saved him that fateful day? He knows he owes her everything. Unexpectedly, he receives a letter from her, begging him to come to her aid. Honour-bound, he gladly offers to return the favour.  But the woman hides a dark and terrible secret, which, if exposed, threatens to destroy them both. Torn between those he loves and his sense of honour, his life rapidly spirals out of control.  Who exactly was The Woman on the Train? Historical fiction with heart and drama. Part of The Love and War Series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years.  

When you trust your enemy more than your family June 1940. A village in northern France awaits the arrival of a garrison of conquering Germans.  To their dismay, 16-year-old Pierre and his parents are forced to accommodate a German major. He is the enemy within their midst and, more pertinently, the unwanted lodger within their home.  The problem, however, is that the German is annoyingly pleasant. The major, with a son of his own, empathises with Pierre in a way his father has never been able to.  But when his father is arrested by the Gestapo, Pierre has to ask where his loyalties lie, and who are his friends and who, exactly, is the enemy.  Desperate to prove himself a man, Pierre is continually thwarted by those he trusts – his parents, the villagers and especially Claire, the girl he so desires.  Pierre's quest brings to the fore a traumatic event in the family's past, a tragedy never forgotten but never mentioned. Can Pierre confront his trauma, and prove himself a man in a country at war? Part of The Love and War Series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years. 20th Century Historical fiction with heart and drama.

A grieving mother. A young man with dreams. A secret policeman. Each prepared to die for freedom. Budapest, 1956. Eva, George and Zoltan. Three people trying to live within a system that demands total obedience. Eva, reeling from the tragedy of losing her baby, Anastasia, falls in love at a time when love is fraught with danger. George, a rising star of Hungarian football, is told to throw a game. Faced with an impossible dilemma, George has to decide – to risk everything to fulfill his dream or, for the sake of his future, obey the rules. Zoltan works for the secret police. A torn man trying to suppress the good within him, his job takes him further and further from the people he loves most. Their destinies collide as Hungary erupts into revolution. Secrets can no longer be hidden as love and loyalties are pushed to the limit in a terrifying climax. And at the heart of the novel, the unseen presence of baby Anastasia. Cold War historical fiction with heart and drama. Part of The Love and War Series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years.

Your nation is at war. But the real enemy is the brother at your side. Short, heart-wrenching historical fiction with a heart-stopping denouement.  1936 – Exiled by the Nazi regime for their father's beliefs, Peter's love for his brother is slowly eroded as Martin proves himself to be ruthless and manipulative. When Monika comes into their young lives, their mutual jealousies heighten and threaten to tear them apart.  1941 – A childhood accident saves Peter from active service. His brother, posted to the killing fields of the Eastern Front, isn't so lucky.  1945 – Berlin is torn apart by Allied bombs. Amid the carnage and death that descends over the city, Martin returns from Russia – battered and embittered. The twins' seething bitterness and their shared love for Monika finally explodes with devastating consequences.  My Brother the Enemy is a story of jealousy, sibling rivalry and betrayal, and a desperate bid for freedom, set against a backdrop of Nazi oppression and war.  Part of The Love and War Series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years. 20th Century historical fiction with heart and drama.

When your choice is between freedom and love Moscow, 1935. People live in constant fear – fear of each other, fear of being denounced, and fear of Stalin's secret police.  Maria has a devastating secret. She marries a Party activist, not out of love, but as a means of forming a new identity and escaping her past. Her existence is safe – but dull. Until the day she meets Dmitry. Dmitry is an artist, whose work allows him a standard of living above the average Muscovite. But Dmitry feels straitjacketed by what he's allowed to paint. He aspires to paint the female form. But when Maria offers to pose for him, he refuses – until he falls in love with her. Dmitry's artistic aspirations and Maria's yearning for a new life force them to risk everything in the name of love and freedom. But will it destroy them?  Historical fiction with heart and drama. Part of The Love and War Series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years.

The memories that haunt you can destroy you.   Time doesn't always heal. The Second World War finished 23 years before but for some, the memory of it never goes away.   Paris, 1968. Four friends meet once a week in a cafe in the Parisian suburbs. They drink coffee, smoke, play dominoes and talk about everything – except the one thing that binds them all – the war.   But a newspaper article about the arrest of a wartime collaborator opens old wounds. Together, they condemn the man for his actions – but are they any better? Did they behave any more honourably during France's nightmare years?   One by one, they recount their experiences while living under German occupation. It is time to confess their darkest moments, those moments that define a life.   'The Darkness We Leave Behind' is about difficult choices and living with the consequences.   Part of The Love and War series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years. Can be read in any order.

A compelling trilogy of historical fiction set in the 20th century. From 1930s Soviet Union to 1950s communist Hungary via 1940s Nazi Germany, a triple set of novels depicting love, life and survival living under war, fear and tyranny. The Black Maria   'The choice is simple: freedom or love. In Stalin's Russia, you can't have both.' Maria has a devastating secret. She marries a man loyal to Stalin, not out of love, but as a means of forming a new identity and escaping her past. Her existence is safe – but dull. Until the day she meets Dmitry. Dmitry is an artist, whose work allows him a standard of living way above the average Muscovite. But Dmitry feels straitjacketed by what he's allowed to paint. He aspires to paint the female form. When Maria offers to pose for him, he refuses, knowing how dangerous it would be – until he falls in love with her. Dmitry's artistic aspirations and Maria's yearning for a new life force them to risk everything in the name of love and freedom. But will it destroy them? My Brother the Enemy   'Fear on the streets. Death on every corner. But the real enemy is the brother at his side.' 1936 – Exiled by the Nazi regime for their father's beliefs, Peter's love for his brother is slowly eroded as Martin proves himself to be ruthless and manipulative. When Monika comes into their young lives, their mutual jealousies heighten and threaten to tear them apart. 1941 – A childhood accident saves Peter from active service. His brother, posted to the killing fields of the Eastern Front, isn't so lucky. 1945 – Berlin is torn apart by Allied bombs. Amid the carnage and death that descends over the city, Martin returns from Russia – battered and embittered. The twins' seething bitterness and their shared love for Monika finally explodes with devastating consequences. Anastasia   'Sometimes the simplest of choices can have the most devastating of consequences. Sometimes falling in love can be a curse. Sometimes being the hard man is the hardest job.' Budapest, 1956. Eva, George and Zoltan. Three people trying to live within a system that demands total obedience. Eva, reeling from the tragedy of losing her baby, Anastasia, falls in love at a time when love is fraught with danger. George, a rising star of Hungarian football, is told to throw a game. Faced with an impossible dilemma, George has to decide – to risk everything to fulfill his dream or, for the sake of his future, obey the rules. Zoltan works for the secret police. A torn man trying to suppress the good within him, his job takes him further and further from the people he loves most. Their destinies collide as Hungary erupts into revolution. Secrets can no longer be hidden as love and loyalties are pushed to the limit in a terrifying climax. And at the heart of the novel, the unseen presence of baby Anastasia. Historical fiction with heart and drama.

An ordinary boy, a murderous regime. This is how it happened…   Berlin, 1933. 14-year-old Felix Stoltenberg is desperate to be friends with Klaus Beck to the point he defies his anti-Nazi parents and joins the Hitler Youth. As the years pass and Hitler's grip on the nation tightens, Felix and Klaus' boyhood pranks take a sinister turn. But nothing prepares Felix and Klaus for the eruption of anti-Semitic violence. Felix can no longer stand aside and observe. He is forced to participate - whatever the price to his mother and father. 1942. Now, a young, idealistic man, still devoted to the Nazi cause, Felix's life and sense of identity fall apart when he falls in love with Stella, a Bohemian artist. Stella is beautiful, she is talented, she is a woman of mystery and ideas … and she is Jewish. Historical fiction with heart and drama. Part of The Love and War Series, ten novels set during the 20th century's darkest years. Can be read in any order.

Three novels, three unforgettable experiences…   The Lost Daughter   A buried secret and a lifetime of guilt born in the dark heart of Nazi Germany   England, 2001. Elizabeth has always suspected her mother harbours a secret from her time as a young woman in Nazi Germany. But her mother, suffering from dementia, is lost to her now. When Elizabeth stumbles across a Nazi certificate amongst her parent's paperwork, it forces her to question the very foundations of her 1950s childhood and her first love; a childhood, she now realises, was built on lies. Elizabeth's quest to find the truth leads her to Germany where she's met with a wall of silence. She knows that beyond this wall, is the truth, a truth that exists deep within the dark and twisted soul of Hitler's Germany. Germany, 1944. 18-year-old Hannah, beautiful and naive, volunteers to work in a home for evacuated children. But Doctor Heinkel, a loyal Nazi, decrees that there's a better way for Hannah to serve the Fatherland. Drawn further into the doctor's distorted world, Hannah only realises what's expected of her when it's too late. Confronted with evil, Hannah is faced with an impossible choice… Song of Sorrow   What if a violin could tell the story of its owners across a century?   One violin. One curse. One hundred years.   Germany 1871. A violin of pure perfection. Crafted with love by its creator and set to make him and his family a fortune. His wife, Katharina, is duped by a powerful businessman and their dreams of a better life lie shattered.   Distraught, Katharina wishes her husband had never created his masterpiece and in anger places a curse on the instrument. For the following 100 years, anyone who plays her husband's violin will die an untimely death.   And so begins the poignant journey of the violin through the century.   Eight linked stories set against the brutality of the 20th Century. From the trenches of the First World War to the evil of Nazism; the Second World War and the horror of the Holocaust, through to the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall.   Fortunes rise and fall in a terrible refrain… Unrequited love, friends betrayed, terrible secrets exposed, families torn apart. Can the soaring purity of the music the violin produces save them?   Who will survive the curse of the violin? Eight people scattered across the century, each cursed by a single violin and its everlasting Song of Sorrow. The Mist Before Our Eyes   An ordinary boy, a murderous regime. This is how it happened…   Berlin, 1933. 14-year-old Felix Stoltenberg is desperate to be friends with Klaus Beck to the point he defies his anti-Nazi parents and joins the Hitler Youth. As the years pass and Hitler's grip on the nation tightens, Felix and Klaus' boyhood pranks take a sinister turn.   But nothing prepares Felix and Klaus for the eruption of anti-Semitic violence. Felix can no longer stand aside and observe. He is forced to participate - whatever the price to his mother and father.   1942. Now, a young, idealistic man, still devoted to the Nazi cause, Felix's life and sense of identity fall apart when he falls in love with Stella, a Bohemian artist. Stella is beautiful, she is talented, she is a woman of mystery and ideas … and she is Jewish.  

Three novels, three unforgettable experiences…   The White Venus   When you trust your enemy more than your family   June 1940. A village in northern France awaits the arrival of a garrison of conquering Germans.   To their dismay, 16-year-old Pierre and his parents are forced to accommodate a German major. He is the enemy within their midst and, more pertinently, the unwanted lodger within their home. The problem, however, is that the German is annoyingly pleasant. The major, with a son of his own, empathises with Pierre in a way his father has never been able to.   But when his father is arrested by the Gestapo, Pierre has to ask where his loyalties lie, and who are his friends and who, exactly, is the enemy.   Desperate to prove himself a man, Pierre is continually thwarted by those he trusts – his parents, the villagers and especially Claire, the girl he so desires. Pierre's quest brings to the fore a traumatic event in the family's past, a tragedy never forgotten but never mentioned.   Can Pierre confront his trauma, and prove himself a man in a country at war?   The Woman on the Train   "She once saved my life. She now wants to destroy it."   Summer 1942, Nazi-occupied France. A young and frightened resistance fighter sits on a train. Opposite him, a middle-aged woman. During the course of the next hour, this woman will save the young man's life.   Paris, 1968, that young man is now France's most famous music conductor, adored and feted wherever he goes. And he's fallen in love. He is happy.   But he never forgets the woman on the train. So when, unexpectedly, he receives a desperate letter from her, begging him to come to her aid, he gladly offers to return the favour.   But the woman hides a dark and terrible secret, which, if exposed, threatens to destroy them both.   Torn between the woman he loves and the woman who saved his life, France watches as his life and reputation are placed on the line. Why did the Woman on the Train help him all those years ago, and who, exactly, is she?   The Darkness We Leave Behind   The memories that haunt you can destroy you.   Time doesn't always heal. The Second World War finished 23 years before but for some, the memory of it never goes away.   Paris, 1968. Four friends meet once a week in a cafe in the Parisian suburbs. They drink coffee, smoke, play dominoes and talk about everything – except the one thing that binds them all – the war.   But a newspaper article about the arrest of a wartime collaborator opens old wounds. Together, they condemn the man for his actions – but are they any better? Did they behave any more honourably during France's nightmare years?   One by one, they recount their experiences while living under German occupation. It is time to confess their darkest moments, those moments that define a life.   'The Darkness We Leave Behind' is about difficult choices and living with the consequences.   Historical Fiction with Heart and Drama.