Ireland Historical Fiction

It's the dawn of the 1930s, and the three privileged Guinness sisters, Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh, settle into becoming wives and mothers: Aileen in Luttrellstown Castle outside Dublin, Maureen in Clandeboye in Northern Ireland, and Oonagh in Rutland Place in London. But while Britain becomes increasingly politically polarised, Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh discover conflict within their own marriages.

Through the centuries, the good folk in Ireland have grown pleasant traditions and habits to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child during Christmas. However, Christmas in Ireland does not just celebrate one or two special days; Christmas lasts 12 days, and perhaps even a little bit longer. An Irish Christmas and the Storyteller, set in 1894, introduces one of the many country villages in Ireland and the eager villagers' preparations to get ready days and weeks ahead.

It is time to leave, for another America: Chicago is wild and new, and newest of all is the music. Furious, wild, happy music played by a man with a trumpet and bleeding lips called Louis Armstrong. His music is everywhere, coming from every open door, every phonograph. But Armstrong is a prisoner of his colour; there are places a black man cannot go, things he cannot do. Armstrong needs a man, a white man, and the man he chooses is Henry Smart.

In Philadelphia during 1962, the crime family was at its peak. They had their own premiere hitman, Salvatore DeSantos, and it seemed as if the world was their oyster. With young Vinnie Collasimo in tow, Sal lands in Los Angeles and a meeting with the three most powerful Dons in America. Also at the meeting are members of the CIA and FBI. Something is in the wind, and when his next target is placed in his lap, Sal knows his world will never be the same. Not just his world, but the entire world!

For almost 50 years, Katie has kept a box of secrets. It dates from her time working as a nurse in a west of Ireland mother and baby home, and contains a notebook with details of the babies and young women she met there. It also holds many of the babies' identity bracelets. Following the death of her husband, Katie makes a decision she has long kept at bay. She posts a message on an internet forum, knowing that the information she possesses could help reunite adopted people with their birth mothers.