Other books that might interest you

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  A Merciful Sea

  Katie Daysh

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  An ocean divides them. Can their love survive the battles to come? 
  Arthur Courtney is a commander without a ship and without purpose. So when old friend Captain Henry Harrison offers him a place onboard HMS Lion, bound to join Nelson’s fleet in the Mediterranean, he is eager for the opportunity. 
   
  But onboard discipline has broken down; Harrison is not the captain he once was. Added to this, Courtney has agreed to a troubling deal in order to serve: marriage to Harrison’s sister-in-law, Tabitha Sandham. He fears he will have to choose between his career and his love for Hiram Nightingale. 
   
  In England, Nightingale’s life is shaken by the death of his father and by the re-appearance of the Lion, the ship that caused him such pain. When threatening notes are received at his and Courtney’s cottage on the Isle of Wight, he vows to find out the truth behind them. 
   
  But it appears there is more trouble on the island than simply the threatening messages. So while Courtney defends the sea, Nightingale must help protect England’s shores from calamity. 
   
  A stunning and romantic historical adventure of the sea from the author of Leeward, a Times Historical Novel of the Year 2023. 
   
  'A fitting end to a wonderful trilogy' Antonia Senior, The Times

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  Murder at the Pyramids

  Jim Eldridge

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  January 1901. Abigail and Daniel Wilson, often lauded as 'The Museum Detectives', are on their way to the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. Their explorations of the pyramid, including the Robbers' Tunnel, take a very sinister turn when they come upon the dead body of a man who has been brutally garrotted. Investigations by the local police reveal him to be Simeon McGruder, a wealthy American who is financing an excavation of the pyramids. When Daniel and Abigail return to Cairo they are asked by the American Embassy if they can take on the case, but they have a difficult path to tread as they try to keep different factions onside: the British and American authorities, the puppet Egyptian Government and officials, while at the same time facing lies and deviousness from McGruder's associates and friends.

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  Uncle's Tom Cabin

  Harriet Beecher Stowe

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  "Uncle Tom's Cabin," published in 1852, is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. The story follows the lives of several enslaved African Americans, primarily Uncle Tom, as they navigate the harsh realities of slavery in the United States. Stowe wrote the novel as a response to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and intended to portray the immorality of slavery. The book had a profound impact on American public opinion and is often credited with helping to galvanize the abolitionist movement.

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  Satan's Circus - An evil couple...

  Lady Eleanor Smith

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  Lady Eleanor Furneaux Smith was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside in England on the 7th August 1902 into a privileged family steeped in titles and politics. 
   
  Part of her education was at Miss Douglas's school at Queen's Gate.  Here she met and befriended several other young women that the British tabloid press would later call the ‘Bright Young Things’, a group of bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. 
   
  Smith's paternal great-grandmother, was said to have been a Gypsy, and this sparked an early and life-long interest with the Romani people, she even went so far as to learn to read and speak the language, which she called ‘musical and broken.’ 
   
  Her life was full of adventure and mishaps.  A mistaken encounter with a man she thought could help her into the film business turned out to threats of marriage and death from a man wanted for the murder of his father.  She was even arrested twice.  Once for listing her career as a journalist and another, in Rome, for walking around in a sleeveless dress. 
   
  Smith began her career writing society gossip columns for various newspapers but later received an offer to write for the newly-formed Great Carmo Circus, with which she travelled for several years and was the source material for many of her books. 
   
  Her first novel, ‘Red Wagon’, was published when she was 28 and it was an immediate bestseller.  A prolific writer several of her works were also adapted for films. 
   
  Smith also wrote ghost stories and others flavoured with evil.  Her support for the Conservative party may be forgiven but her attributed quote to be a ‘warm adherent of General Franco’ less so. 
   
  Lady Eleanor Furneaux Smith died on the 20th October 1945 in Westminster after a long illness. She was 43.

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  Moll Flanders

  Daniel Defoe

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  Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe is a remarkable classic of English literature that tells the extraordinary life story of a woman determined to survive and prosper in a harsh and unforgiving society. First published in 1722, the novel presents a vivid and often controversial portrait of ambition, survival, morality, and redemption in eighteenth-century England.
  
  The story follows the life of Moll Flanders, a woman born in prison and left to navigate a world that offers few opportunities for someone of her background. From a young age, Moll learns that survival often requires wit, adaptability, and bold decisions. Determined to escape poverty, she pursues security and status through a series of marriages, relationships, and calculated choices that shape the course of her life.
  
  As Moll moves through different stages of society—from servant to gentlewoman, from respectable wife to skilled thief—her life becomes a fascinating tale of resilience and reinvention. She experiences love, betrayal, wealth, poverty, and danger while continually striving to secure her independence in a world dominated by strict social expectations and limited options for women.
  
  Daniel Defoe crafts Moll as a complex and unforgettable character—clever, resourceful, flawed, and deeply human. Through her confessions and reflections, readers gain insight into the difficult moral choices she faces as she attempts to balance ambition with conscience. The narrative captures the excitement and uncertainty of a life lived on the edge of respectability, where fortune can change suddenly and survival depends on courage and cunning.
  
  Beyond its compelling story, Moll Flanders offers a powerful glimpse into the social realities of early modern England. The novel explores themes such as poverty, crime, social mobility, gender inequality, and the pursuit of redemption, making it both a gripping narrative and a thought-provoking commentary on society.
  
  Rich in detail and psychological depth, the novel is widely regarded as one of the earliest examples of the modern English novel. Defoe's realistic storytelling and vivid depiction of everyday life bring Moll's world to life, drawing readers into a dramatic journey filled with adventure, moral conflict, and unexpected transformation.
  
  Both daring and deeply reflective, Moll Flanders remains a timeless story about ambition, resilience, and the human capacity for change, continuing to captivate readers centuries after its first publication.

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  Doom Castle

  Neil Munro

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  Doom Castle is the story of young Count Victor's journey to Scotland after the Jacobite Rebellion, searching for a traitor to the Jacobite cause as well as a mysterious man under the name of "Drimdarroch", whom he swore revenge. After a perilious journey, Count Victor arrives at Doom Castle as a guest of the enigmatic Baron of Doom, his two strange servitors and his beautiful daughter... (Summary by Carolin)

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