Hazel Gaynor

Jennifer Robson

Jessica Brockmole

Lauren Willig

Beatriz Williams

Heather Webb

Marci Jefferson

Kate Kerrigan

Evangeline Holland

Top voices in historical fiction deliver an unforgettable collection of short stories set in the aftermath of World War I—featuring bestselling authors such as Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig and edited by Heather Webb. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month... November 11, 1918. After four long, dark years of fighting, the Great War ends at last, and the world is forever changed. For soldiers, loved ones, and survivors the years ahead stretch with new promise, even as their hearts are marked by all those who have been lost. As families come back together, lovers reunite, and strangers take solace in each other, everyone has a story to tell. In this moving anthology, nine authors share stories of love, strength, and renewal as hope takes root in a fall of poppies. Featuring: Jessica Brockmole Hazel Gaynor Evangeline Holland Marci Jefferson Kate Kerrigan Jennifer Robson Beatriz Williams Lauren Willig Heather Webb

Stories of Love and the Great War

Fall of Poppies

Lily Fitzpatrick loves vintage clothes, made all the more precious because they were once worn and cherished by another woman. Thousands follow her fashion blog and her daily Instagram feed. One day she stumbles upon an extraordinary story. Joy Fitzpatrick not only shares Lily's surname. She was a fashion legend, famed for her beauty and style in 1950s New York. For her 30th birthday, she is said to have commissioned a dress so beautiful that nothing in couture would ever be able to match it. She turned to a young Irish seamstress, called Honor Conlon, to create her sublime vision. THE DRESS interweaves the passionate and surprising stories of three women. Joy and Honor, whose destinies are linked not only by a piece of timeless fashion, but by the ruthless love of one man. And Lily, determined to find out if the legendary dress still exists, and if it does, to bring it back to glorious life.

The Dress

"In 1920s New York, a young Irish woman must choose between her new life and her husband back home in Ireland"--

A Novel

Ellis Island

Set, like Maeve Binchy's early bestsellers, in late 1950s Ireland and New York, this is the story of three women and the charismatic man with whom their lives are interwoven. Patrick Murphy has charm to burn and a singing voice to die for. Many people will recognise his talent. Many women will love him. Rose, the sweetheart he leaves behind in Ireland, can never forget him and will move heaven and earth to find him again, long after he has married another woman. Ava, the heiress with no self-confidence except on the dance floor, falls under his spell. And tough Sheila Klein, orphaned by the Holocaust and hungry for success as a music manager, she will be ruthless in her determination to unlock his extraordinary star quality. But in the end, Patrick Murphy's heart belongs to only one of them. Which one will it be?

It Was Only Ever You

From New York Times bestselling author Kate Kerrigan comes the compelling final installment in her sweeping immigrant trilogy begun in Ellis Island and City of Hope—a story of family, love, danger, and ambition in Hollywood during World War II. Irish immigrant Ellie Hogan has finally achieved the American Dream. But her comfortable bohemian life on Fire Island, New York, is shattered when her eldest adopted son, Leo, runs away, lured by the promise of fortune and fame in Hollywood. Determined to keep her family intact, Ellie follows him west, uprooting her youngest son and long-time friend Bridie. In Los Angeles, Ellie creates a fashionable new home among the city's celebrities, artists, and movie moguls. She is also drawn into intense new friendships with talented film composer Stan, a man far different from any she has ever met, and Suri, a beautiful Japanese woman and kindred spirit, who opens Ellie's eyes to the injustices of her adopted country. While Leo is dazzled by Hollywood's glitz, Ellie quickly sees that the golden glamour masks a world of vanity and greed. Though she tries to navigate the family around heartbreak and the dangers of their new home, she will not be able to protect them from a darker threat: war.

Land of Dreams

The heartrending and inspiring sequel to Ellis Island, Kate Kerrigan's City of Hope is an uplifting story of a woman truly ahead of her time When her beloved husband suddenly dies, young Ellie Hogan decides to leave Ireland and return to New York, where she worked in the 1920s. She hopes that the city will distract her from her anguish. But the Great Depression has rendered the city unrecognizable. Gone are the magic and ambiance that once captured Ellie's imagination. Plunging headfirst into a new life, Ellie pours her passion and energy into running a refuge for the homeless. Her calling provides the love, support, and friendship she needs in order to overcome her grief—until, one day, someone Ellie never thought she'd see again steps through her door. It seems that even the vast Atlantic Ocean isn't enough to keep the tragedies of the past from catching up with her.

City of Hope

You can escape a place. But you can't escape yourself. Hanna flees the scene of a terrible crime in her native Sligo. If she can just vanish, re-invent herself under a new name, perhaps the police won't catch up with her. London seems the perfect place to disappear. Lara has always loved Matthew and imagined happy married life in Dublin. Then comes the bombshell – Matthew says he wants to join the priesthood. Humiliated and broken-hearted, Lara heads to the most godless place she can find, King's Road, Chelsea. Matthew's twin sister, Noreen, could not be more different from her brother. She does love fiance John, but she also craves sex, parties and fun. Swinging London has it all, but without John, Noreen is about to get way out of her depth. All three girls find themselves working for Bobby Chevron – one of London's most feared gangland bosses – and it's not long before their new lives start to unravel.

That Girl

Aileen Doherty is leaving the island of Illaunmor for the first time. She can't wait to leave the confines of her sheltered life to go on her first adventure, tattie picking for the summer in Scotland, with her father and two older brothers. What she hadn't bargained for was meeting the irresistible Jimmy Walsh, who falls for flame-haired Aileen the moment he sets eyes on her. Spending each day working together side by side, Aileen and Jimmy fall passionately in love, until their happiness is cruelly cut short by a tragic accident which will change their young lives forever. Back on Illaunmor, Aileen finds solace in reviving an abandoned garden, which has been left as lonely and bereft as she has. Gradually, through the magic of hope, Aileen brings the garden back to life - and herself with it. The Lost Garden is a mesmerizing story about loss, friendship and the power of true love.

The Lost Garden

A mother’s love, a woman’s ambition and a Hollywood romance in a time of war. Land of Dreams is the stunning third novel in the Ellis Island trilogy. Ellie’s idyllic and bohemian family lifestyle on Fire Island is shattered when her eldest son, Leo, runs away to Hollywood to seek his fame and fortune. Ellie is compelled to chase after him, uprooting her youngest son and long-time friend and confidante Bridie as she goes. Ellie fashions a new home amongst the celebrities, artists and movie moguls of the day to appease Leo’s star-studded dreams. As she carves out a new way of life, Ellie is drawn towards intense new friendships. Talented composer Stan is completely different to any other man she has previously encountered whilst kindred spirit Suri opens Ellie’s eyes to a whole new set of injustices. Ellie sees beyond the glitz of 1940s Hollywood, realising that the glamorous and exciting world is also a dangerous place overflowing with vanity and greed. It is up to Ellie to protect her precious family from the disappointments such surroundings can bring and also from the more menacing threats radiating from the war raging in Europe.

Rural Irish girl Ellie loves living in New York, working as a lady's maid for a wealthy socialite. She tries to persuade her husband, John, to join her but he is embroiled in his affairs in Ireland, and caught up in the civil war. Nevertheless, Ellie is extremely happy and fully embraces her sophisticated new life.

An uplifting, inspiring and heart-warming story of a woman truly ahead of her time. Of loves lost and found, of courage and determination. It is the 1930s and when her beloved husband, John, suddenly dies, young Ellie Hogan decides to leave Ireland and return to New York. She hopes that the city’s vibrancy will distract her from her grief. But the Depression has rendered the city unrecognisable – gone is the energy and party atmosphere that Ellie once fell in love with, ten years before. Ellie plunges headfirst into a new life pouring all her passion and energy into running a home and refuge for the homeless. In return they give her the kind of love, support and friendship she needs to try and overcome her grief. Until, one day, someone she thought she’d never see again steps through her door. It seems that even the Atlantic isn’t big enough to prevent the tragedies of the past catching up with her . . . The heart-rending but inspiring follow-up to TV Book Club bestseller ELLIS ISLAND.

“A standout novel….A rare combination of historical enlightenment and sheer enjoyment.” —Peter Quinn, author of The Man Who Never Returned Already a hit in the United Kingdom, Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan is both a poignant love story and a lyrical, evocative depiction of the immigrant experience in early 20th century America. Set in the 1920s, Kerrigan’s novel tells of a young Irish woman who must choose between her new life in New York City and her husband back home in Ireland, brilliantly capturing these two vastly different worlds in the process. Readers of historical fiction, as well as fans of the novels of Frank Delany and other Irish themed works, will adore their time spent on Ellis Island.

Set in rural Ireland and hedonistic New York in the 1930s, City of Hope is a beautiful meditation on loves lost and found, during the Great Depression. When her beloved husband dies, Ellie decides to go back to New York, hoping that the city's vibrancy will distract from her grief. But in just five years, New York has become unrecognisable. Gone is the energy and party atmosphere that Ellie once fell in love with.

City of Hope: Ellis Island Book 2

Rural Irish girl Ellie loves living in New York, working as a lady’s maid for a wealthy socialite. She tries to persuade her husband, John, to join her but he is embroiled in his affairs in Ireland, and caught up in the civil war. Nevertheless Ellie is extremely happy and fully embraces her sophisticated new life. When her father dies she must return home, but she intends to sort her affairs quickly and then return to her beloved America. But once home her sense of duty kicks in and she decides, painfully, that she must stay to look after her mother and resume her marriage. Ellie is suddenly thrown into the simple, rural life she believed she had grown out of...

When Ava manages to seduce the gorgeous Irish singer, Patrick, after a gig in New York, she can't quite believe her luck. Can it really be true that he loves and wants to marry her? She knows that his first great love, Rose, broke his heart by marrying someone else. When they move back to Ireland and Ava sees Rose, jealousy begins to grip her. Worse is to come, when she intercepts a letter from Rose to Patrick and her anger starts to spiral.

It was Only Ever You

A moving portrait of love and marriage, told through the eyes of two women.

A moving novel of love and marriage

The Perfect Marriage

WINNER OF RNA HISTORICAL ROMANCE NOVEL OF THE YEAR. This is the story of three women and one charismatic man. A glamorous historical romance, perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy. It is 1950s New York, the time of dance halls, swing bands and the beginning of rock and roll. In The Emerald, Ava Brogan dances the night away, knowing that she will never be pretty like the other Irish girls there, wishing her mother wouldn't keep plotting to find her a husband. Here, too, Sheila Klein, Holocaust orphan, dreams of finding a star and making her name in the music industry. Tough and cynical, she has never let her heart be broken by any man. Enter Patrick Murphy, with a sublime voice, a hit song in his back pocket and charisma to burn. Ava and Sheila's worlds are about to be turned upside down. They do not know that Patrick's first great love from Ireland is on her way to New York – determined to find and get her man at all costs. Beautiful Rose is used to getting what she wants in life and that's not about to change any time soon. What people are saying about ONLY EVER YOU: 'Kate Kerrigan has exactly captured the emotion and consuming passion of first love. Truly lovely' 'I absolutely loved this book, it is pure romance' 'This was my first introduction to Kate Kerrigan, but before I even picked up the book I knew I'd been missing out!' 'A classic love story with a musical twist' *Originally published as It Was Only Ever You.

A glamorous historical romance

Only Ever You

"They say there is no such thing as a perfect marriage, but of course there is. A perfect marriage is where two people live together for most of their lives until death separates them. What there is no such thing as is an easy marriage. And when it comes to love, people have somehow come around to equating love with ease". New York food writer Tressa returns from honeymoon worried that she has married her impossibly handsome new husband Dan out of late-thirties panic instead of love. In 1930's Ireland, her grandmother, Bernadine, is married off to the local schoolteacher after her family are unable to raise a dowry for her to marry her true love, Michael. During the first year of her marriage, Tressa distracts herself from her stay-or-go dilemma by working on her grandmother's recipes, searching for solace and answers through their preparation. Through the stories of these two women RECIPES FOR A PERFECT MARRIAGE challenges the modern ideal of romantic love as a given and ponders whether true love can really be learned. 'This story is written with so much heart, its beat is palpable in every word on every page' Cecelia Ahern, author of P.S., I LOVE YOU

Kate Kerrigan

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