Southern Historical Sagas

Elizabeth Gaskell's compassionate, richly dramatic novel features one of the most original and fully-rounded female characters in Victorian fiction, Margaret Hale. It shows how, forced to move from the country to an industrial northern town, she develops a passionate sense of social justice, and a turbulent relationship with mill-owner John Thornton. North and South depicts a young woman discovering herself, in a nuanced portrayal of what divides people, and what brings them together.

Grace Abernathy helped wounded soldiers during the American Civil War. Now that it’s over, she has to find a way to move on. Her parents think having her stay with her cousins in Myrtle Grove, South Carolina, can help her do just that. She isn’t looking for love after what she went through, but when she spends time with a returning soldier she knew from a long time ago, she wonders if he might spark a rekindling in her heart. Wyatt Hammond was conscripted to serve in the Confedrate military. Though he only served for a few months before the war ended, the horrors he saw during that time...

Jane Gable thinks 1947 will be like every other year in Morgan Hill, Tennessee, but it turns out to be the year everything changes. Jane first lays eyes on young Milo Turner the day that her abusive, alcoholic father is buried in the Morgan Hill cemetery. The Turners are the first Black family ever to move into the area, and while their presence challenges the comfort of many in the small, tight-knit community, Jane and her brother, John, have found new friends.

A fight for love and freedom in a harsh land...will the stakes prove too high? From the emerald hills of Ireland to a wild colonial land comes an epic story of love, brotherhood and the fight for liberty. 1851: After the death of her father, young Eve Richards is destitute. Her struggle to survive sees her deported in chains to the colony of New South Wales, penniless and alone. But here in this strange new world fortune smiles on the spirited, clever Eve in the shape of a respectable job offer that will lead to a quiet, secure life.

Constantly moving, from South Africa to the Persian Gulf, to Rhodesia, to England, and ultimately to suburban New Jersey, the Laments are a quirky and lovable family who live by the motto "anywhere but here." The main character, Will Lament, whom the Laments take home from the hospital as a result of a bizarre mix-up, grows up feeling that he doesn't belong.

From the deserts of Egypt to the rolling hills of South Australia, The Limestone Road is the extraordinary story of one man's courageous journey home.

It's 1851: After the death of her father, young Eve Richards is destitute. Her struggle to survive sees her deported in chains to the colony of New South Wales, penniless and alone. But here in this strange new world, fortune smiles on the spirited, clever Eve in the shape of a respectable job offer that will lead to a quiet, secure life. Then the fiery and charismatic Irishman Kieran Clancy crosses her path....

The South Wales village of Hen Carw Parc is a haven of rural peace. But times are changing and, although Nelly Luke and the older villagers stick resolutely to tradition, the younger ones have caught tantalising glimpses of a world beyond their quiet valley. For Fay Cartwright the lure of a career strains her marriage to home-loving Johnny, while Amy, the happy-go-lucky shopkeeper, is saddened when her son is given Army leave but fails to return to his family home. And there are other, more serious intrusions, not least a spate of robberies.

As America recovers from the Second World War, two families’ journeys begin. James Vincent, born in 1942 to an Irish American family, escapes his parents’ turbulent marriage and attends law school in New York, where he moves up the social ladder as a prosperous and bright attorney. Meanwhile, Agnes Miller, a beautiful black woman on a date with a handsome suitor, is pulled over by the police on a rural road in Georgia. The terrible moments that follow make her question her future and pivot her into a hasty marriage and new life in the Bronx.

Her family was to be her legacy, until an angry mob murdered her only son.