Item category 1: Historical Fiction

1264. Storm clouds are gathering as Simon de Montfort and the barons of the realm challenge the power of Henry III. The barons demand reform; the crown demands obedience. England is on the brink of civil war. Adam de Norton, a young squire devoted to the virtues of chivalry, longs only to be knig...

June 1946. As the residents of Winthrop Island prepare for the first summer season after the sacrifice of war, a glamorous new figure moves into the guest cottage at Summerly, the idyllic seaside estate of the wealthy Peabody family. To Emilia Winthrop, daughter of Summerly's year-round caretaker...

As Rome's legions abandon their forts, chaos grows on the fringes of Britannia. In the far west, the shattered forces of the House of Pendragon huddle together in order to protect the royal heir - their one beacon of hope. For Lucanus, their great war leader, is missing, presumed dead. And the pe...

Tomboyish Billie Bridgerton unexpectedly falls in love with longtime adversary and less-than-ideal match George Rokesby, whose arrogance and wicked sense of humor clash with Billie's proper sensibilities.

In 1887, Isabel Bilton is the eldest of three daughters of a middle-class military family, growing up in a small garrison town. By 1891 she is the Countess of Clancarty, dubbed "the peasant countess" by the press, and a member of the Irish aristocracy. Becoming Belle is the story of the four year...

Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the twentieth century, armed with her trusty parasol and an unyielding determination to make a difference. When she's not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell's Kitchen, Franc...

NSW, 1924. The once impoverished medical student Agnes Glock is now the fabulously wealthy Mrs Mulberry. Her estate in the mountains is magnificent, a haven for those too ravaged by the Great War to cope with the society that first condemned them to battle and which now shuns them. The War has, h...

Born into a world of wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all. A loving daughter to her father, a US senator, with her own ambitious career as a lawyer and a handsome fiancé waiting for her in Baltimore, she has lived a charmed life. But when Avery returns to Aiken to help her f...

The basis for the major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning, and directed by Sofia Coppola "[A] mad gothic tale. The reader is mesmerized with horror by what goes on in that forgotten school for young ladies." --Stephen King, in Danse Macabre W...

Ten years after the Mayflower pilgrims arrived on rocky, unfamiliar soil, Plymouth is not the land its residents had imagined. Seemingly established on a dream of religious freedom, in reality the town is led by fervent puritans who prohibit the residents from living, trading, and worshipping as ...

Molly McKenzie is only eleven years old when her abusive father beats her to within an inch of her life. Escaping from the hovel she calls home, Molly is found by kind fisherfolk, sick and near death. With them she experiences the love of a family for the first time and, even though life is hard,...

Munich 1930. Lilli Sternberg longs to be a ballet dancer. But outside the sanctuary of the theatre, her beloved city is in chaos and Munich is no longer a place for dreams. The Nazi party are gaining in popularity and the threats to those who deviate from the party line are increasing. Jewish fam...

"Benevolence" is told from the perspective of Darug woman, Muraging (Mary James), born around 1813. Mary's was one of the earliest Darug generations to experience the impact of British colonisation. At an early age Muraging is given over to the Parramatta Native School by her Darug father. From h...

England 1940: Paris has fallen to the Third Reich. Farmer John Cook and society heiress Lady Margaret are waiting for the day when German tanks roll across the green fields of their homes. Both are ready for the moment they will disappear into the woods and the fields to carry out their top-secre...

In 1942, in the Grand Mosque in Paris, 11-year-old Ruben is hiding from the Nazis. Already thousands of Jewish children have disappeared, and Ruben's parents are desperately trying to find his sister. Ruben must learn how to pass himself off as a Muslim, while he waits for the infamous Fox to hel...

The untamed outback of Western Australia, the Blake sisters are together again despite what seemed like unsurmountable odds.For Cassandra - reunited again with the man she loves - the Swan River Colony is a refuge that seems like a miracle after her ordeals. And two of her sisters have fallen in ...

For fans of Kate Morton and Beatriz Williams, a highly atmospheric and suspenseful historical novel, set in the 1890s about a Scottish heiress who unexpectedly encounters her childhood friend in North America, five years after he disappeared from her family's estate the night of a double murder. ...

Gundagai, 1852. The powerful Murrumbidgee River surges through town leaving death and destruction in its wake. It is a stark reminder that while the river can give life, it can just as easily take it away. Wagadhaany is one of the lucky ones. She survives. But is her life now better than the fate...

China, 1941. With Japan's declaration of war on the Allies, Elspeth Kent's future changes forever. When soldiers take control of the missionary school where she teaches, comfortable security is replaced by rationing, uncertainty and fear. Ten-year-old Nancy Plummer has always felt safe at Chefoo ...

Artist Elizabeth Gould spent her life capturing the sublime beauty of birds the world had never seen before, but her legacy was eclipsed by the fame of her husband, John Gould. Now, The Birdman's Wife at last gives voice to a passionate and adventurous spirit, who was so much more than the woman ...

Tuscany, November 1943. The village of Le Case is miles from any big city and remains rooted in an earlier century. Seen from Le Case, even the war looks different, mostly a matter of waiting, praying, and mourning. As a fierce winter threatens, an ominous order is issued by the local Fascist aut...

1919. The Great War is over and an armistice agreed but peace is not a given. England, riven by grief and loss, attacked by the Spanish Flu, with its younger generation of men killed, traumatised or wounded, is adjusting to a changed world. The slaughter of the Great War is over, but the Roaring ...

By fall of 1863, Union forces had taken control of Tidewater Virginia and established a toehold in eastern North Carolina, including along the Outer Banks. Thousands of freed slaves and runaways flooded the Union lines, but Confederate irregulars still roamed the region. In December, the newly fo...

This is the confession of Laurence Jago. Clerk. Gentleman. Reluctant spy. July 1794, and the streets of London are filled with rumours of revolution. Political radical Thomas Hardy is to go on trial for treason, the war against the French is not going in Britain's favour, and negotiations with th...

Sydney, 1871. Twenty-five-year-old widow Tatty Crowe is the owner of busy undertaking firm Crowe Funerals. Life and business are good until Tatty notices how many women are dying after unlawful abortions, and after a terrible tragedy strikes close to home, she vows to expose the culprit. And then...

AUSTRALIAN. A dazzling new series from bestselling historical fiction author Deborah Challinor, exploring the fascinating world of Victorian funeral customs and featuring Sydney's first female undertaker. Tatiana Caldwell's childhood in London is idyllic and filled with the love of doting parents...

Cornwall 1916. On the coastal path one evening, Verity witnesses something suspicious on the cliffs which causes her to fear the involvement of German spies. There's only one person she can turn to: Effie, wife of the local police constable, now fighting overseas. But Effie has a tragedy of her o...

HISTORICAL FICTION. England. 1642. War is coming. The rift between King and Parliament has widened and armies muster, ready to fight for their religious and political ideals. Nothing is so destructive as civil war, and for the Rivers family, the raising of the royal standard heralds a conflict th...

In the summer of 1940, siblings Jakob and Lizzie Novis find themselves at Bletchley Park, where Jakob works to crack Nazi codes while Lizzie investigates the mysterious disappearance of their mother, only to discover that the two mysteries are intertwined.