Set in a spectacular circus in the pleasure gardens of Victorian London, this is an addictive novel about power, fame, and a love that is threatened by a terrible secret. 1866. In a coastal village in southern England, Nell lives set apart by her community because of the birthmarks that speckle her skin. But when … More Review: Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty plain, a seer shows two children their fates. For a family’s eighth-born son, there’s greatness. For the second daughter, nothing. In 1345, China lies restless under harsh Mongol rule. And when a bandit raid wipes out their home, the two children must somehow survive. Zhu Chongba despairs and … More Review: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Orkney, 1940. Five hundred Italian prisoners-of-war arrive to fortify these remote and windswept islands. Resentful islanders are fearful of the enemy in their midst, but not orphaned twin sisters Dorothy and Constance. Already outcasts, they volunteer to nurse all prisoners who are injured or fall sick. Soon Dorothy befriends Cesare, an artist swept up by … More Review: The Metal Heart by Caroline Lea
London, 1782. Desperate for her politician husband to return home from France, Caroline ‘Caro’ Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The Bow Street constables are swift to act, until they discover that the deceased woman was a … More Review: Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Two women, bound by a child, a nd a secret that will change everything . . . London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London’s Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, Bess is astonished to be … More Review: The Foundling by Stacey Halls
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