It’s 1970s London and Glaswegian Colin Grant is finally free. After four years at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, he needs to make up for lost time. But when his firm’s next robbery goes badly wrong, he knows it’s time to move on – fast. In Africa Colin finds a new way of life and new friends. But, as he soon discovers, it’s a land of unbelievable and almost irresistible riches. And all he has to do is wo... More >

It took three tortured days in 1876 for Charles Bravo to die from the poison that burned its way through his body. The subsequent investigation revealed many people with a grudge against the young barrister. The dramatic inquest was covered in sensational detail by the press, but no one was convicted of his murder. Over a century later James Ruddick draws on new evidence to solve one of the most ... More >

It is 1953 in Canvey Island and Len and Auntie Vi are dancing, while Uncle George sits and watches, his mind still fighting a war that has been over for nearly a decade. Back at home Len's wife Lily and their small son Martin are fighting for their lives in a raging black torrent. In the years that follow the flood, Len turns to Vi for comfort. As Martin grows older he feels estranged from them bo... More >

As the three Henderson brothers – Jack, Douglas and Angus – head toward their childhood home in East Fortune for their annual summer gathering, they steel themselves against sibling rivalry, parental expectation and the vulnerability that comes with being with those who know you best. A subtle look at lives at the crossroads; about life and love, chance and hope – and how families survive.... More >

1910 and Corley Roper, an eminent children’s author, mourns the death of his young daughter. Estranged from his wife, and wracked by grief, he happens one night upon Mary Wilson, a woman mourning the stillbirth of her son. Roper decides that it is only through engaging with the real world, and the mystery of Mary Wilson’s dispossessed heritage, that he may find purpose. Part ghost story and part l... More >

Germany 1927: the English filmmaker Henry Whitaker is on a desperate pilgrimage to the dying Weimar Republic. The present day: Henry's daughter Miranda is on a quest to understand what happened to her mother, a refugee Henry met and married in Germany at the end of the war. Did Henry – as his daughter has always supposed – drive his wife to her death? Or do Miranda's half-repressed childhood memor... More >

A casual remark on the telephone leads Eleanor Hamilton to an appalling and deeply disturbing discovery: John, her husband of 20 years, has been leading a life of duplicity and betrayal. Shock, jealousy and anger drive Eleanor to extraordinary limits in her desire for revenge. But then fate intervenes in the shape of a terrible accident...... More >

W hen Tom Fellows proclaims that a Venn diagram is a far better way of illustrating modern family ties than a traditional family tree, his young daughter Andrea has no idea that he is referring to their own situation. It is only when she loses both parents in a shocking car accident that she takes an interest in her own genealogy and begins to realise that her perfect upbringing was not all it se... More >

William hates Christmas – he'd rather spend it alone with his cat in his ghastly old mansion. Hilary, his niece-in-law, intends to ignore Christmas. With her son Daniel away, she finally has her chance – but widows aren't allowed to spend Christmas alone. Frances, the nanny, is desperate for a break from spoilt Tobias, but is forced to look after him at his grandfather's spooky old house. Haseley ... More >

July 1625, Barbary pirates sail into a quiet Cornish bay and kidnap 60 men, women and children, to be sold into slavery in Morocco. Amongst them is Catherine, a talented young embroiderer. But Cat is anything but the compliant slave her captors were expecting ... In an exclusive restaurant, Julia Lovat is given an antique book of Jacobean embroidery that delights her, but when she settles down to ... More >

Anne Farquharson is a young Highlander – tempestuous, bold, determined to be her own woman. Yet her clan – like its neighbours and rivals – is under threat.The Highlands suffer at the domineering hand of English King George, while there are rumours that Bonnie Prince Charlie is seeking to raise an army in a bid for the throne ...When Anne agrees to marry a clan chief, she and her supporters are dr... More >

The Girl Guides is one of the world’s most extraordinary movements: millions of women have been members. But what have the Guides actually achieved? They dug bomb shelters, grew vegetables and helped millions of evacuated children adjust to new lives. Many were prisoners of war and survived concentration camps. Told by the Guides themselves this book is packed with rich social history and fond, fu... More >

In 1938, the archaeologist Alexander Keiller – a millionaire playboy with a passion for ritual magic – plans to reconstruct the 5000-year-old stone circle at Avebury. As war looms, Frannie Robinson and her boyfriend Davey are among those who fall under his spell, with fatal results. Seventy years later, Frannie’s granddaughter decides to move back to Avebury on a quest to discover the truth about ... More >

In 1913 an orphan girl is delivered to The Hall of Eternal Splendour, seemingly destined to live out her life as a prostitute in its smoky backrooms. Yet one day hope appears in the unlikely form of a customs inspector, a modest man who will take Pan Yuliang as his concubine and introduce her to a glamorous new life in 1920s’ Shanghai: a life of love and of art. But, as Pan begins to realise her t... More >

All Sally, a successful actress, wants on returning home to Goatstown from a long European tour is to see her husband Charlie again. So when he says he's leaving her, she makes him go at once. Perhaps, she wonders later, she is too hard to live with. As a child growing up in Dublin, she never had friends, thanks to her lonely, secretive unmarried mother who kept her at home with her. On stage she ... More >