Polly Longden's china-doll looks belie a strong & fiery personality. When typhoid strikes her home city of Lincoln she needs every ounce of that strength in order to cope. With the death of her mother thirteen-year-old Polly has to give up her ambition of becoming a teacher to care for her family. When their father too falls victim to the typhoid his only hope is to go to hospital leaving Polly to cope alone. Thankfully she has the support of her neighbours: Bertha Halliday & her son Leo a young policeman. Through all the hardships that follow Polly is sustained by her dream of becoming Leo's wife. But her father's hot temper leads him to the wrong side of the law during the railway riots of 1911 forcing Leo to take drastic action that Polly will surely never be able to forgive & forget... ...

Lesley Pearse No.1 UK bestselling author of The Promise & Belle" is back with " Forgive Me" a compelling story of a daughter uncovering her mother's secret past. Cheltenham 1991 When Eva Patterson returns home from work one day a devastating scene awaits her. Her mother Flora lies dead in the bath. Beside her is a note saying only: ' Forgive Me'. Until then Eva always believed her family's life would be comfortable & secure
- but Flora's suicide changes everything. & when Eva discovers that in her will Flora left her an artist's studio in London she realises how little she knows about her mother's past. When Eva visits the now derelict studio she is shocked to find out that her mother was once a successful artist back in the 1960s. A chance encounter leads her to Phil who agrees to help her restore the studio as well as offering her the advice & friendship Eva so badly needs. In the studio attic she finds a collection of Flora's paintings & old diaries which Eva believes were purposely left for her to find. Searching for answers Eva encounters a psychic who mysteriously warns her to beware of a 'sleeping serpent' which she soon discovers refers to a shocking crime in Flora's past. Will discovering the truth destroy Eva's belief in everything she holds dear? & will Phil stand by Eva even when her journey leads her & those she loves into certain danger? From the author of international bestseller Stolen " Forgive Me" is an intense & gripping story of love & forgiveness. " Pearse will pull your heartstrings." (" Sun"). " Characters it is impossible not to care about." (" Daily Mail"). " An addictive tear-jerker with characters you'll adore laugh with & cry for." (" Bella"). " Full of love passion & heartbreak." (" Best"). " Glorious heartwarming." (" Woman & Home"). Lesley Pearse's novels have sold over five million copies worldwide. Her fifteen most recent books including " The Promise" " Belle" " Stolen" " Gypsy" " Faith" " Hope" "A Lesser Evil" " Secrets" " Remember Me" " Till We Meet Again" " Father Unknown" " Trust Me" " Never Look Back" " Charlie & Rosie" are huge bestsellers & available as Penguin paperbacks. Lesley lives near Bristol & has three daughters & two grandchildren."
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When a mermaid has her first kiss she bonds for life with the person she kisses. For Lily a mermaid princess living in secret on land this means she has ended up accidentally bonded to her obnoxious neighbour instead of to the boy of her dreams. So begins a tidal wave of relationship drama as Lily discovers that happily-ever-after never goes as smoothly as you plan it to. ...

For the sake of fun & friendship & a few days under a fiercer sun David & Jo Henniger accept the invitation to attend the annual bacchanal of old acquaintances at their home in the Moroccan desert. On the road darkness has descended directions are vague & the couple begin to argue. When two young fossil sellers suddenly appear from the side of the road hawking their wares David
- inebriated & irritable
- fails to stop the car as it collides with one of the young men. Meanwhile festivities at the house are in full flow. Under the watchful eyes of their Moroccan staff the extravagant hosts attend to the whims of their glittering insatiable guests as the party rages on into a new day. The stage is set for a weekend in which David & Jo must come to terms with their fateful act & its shattering consequences.

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When Lisa Martin & David Kirby were forced to part they never dreamed they might one day have a second chance. Many years later they meet again & it is clear that despite everything that's happened to them they are still the big love of each other's life. & nothing is going to keep them apart this time around. But then they are faced with a shocking truth. However David won't be defeated. In spite of knowing this is a battle they can't win he decides to fight anyway in the only way he knows how. When Lisa discovers what he intends she's so horrified. Yet through a chink in her fear she can see the logic of what he's suggesting. But can she bring herself to help him...? ...

Here's the thing about me: I can see the future in flashes like memories. But my past is a blank. I remember what I'll wear tomorrow & an argument that won't happen until this afternoon. But I don't know what I ate for dinner last night. I get by with the help of notes my mom & my best friend Jamie & the system works.. . Until now. Everything's falling apart. Jamie's going of the rails. My mom is lying to me. & I can't see the boy I adore in my future. But today I love him. & I never want to forget how much.. . Forgotten is the story of a girl for whom yesterday is lost today is an adventure & tomorrow is a memory. An unforgettable read. ...

Happy with her husb&-to-be & beloved son Isabel Dalhousie has feelings about parenthood that grow more tender daily. So when Jane a visiting academic adopted & sent to Australia as a baby asks for help in tracing her Scottish origins she cannot refuse. However habitually upright Isabel finds herself beset by temptation
- for instance to be suspicious of Professor Lettuce's latest subterfuge & of her niece Cat's weakness for the wrong man. & when the search for Jane's parents turns troubling she can hardly prevent herself from interfering too forcefully in family secrets. As she steers a course between love & laissez-faire our philosopher heroine succeeds in resisting all temptations but those which must be answered & teases a solution from every problem.
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The vast crescent of British-ruled territories from India down to Singapore appeared in the early stages of the Second World War a massive asset in the war with Germany providing huge quantities of soldiers & raw materials & key part of an impregnable global network denied to the Nazis. Within a few weeks in 1941-2 a Japanese invasion had destroyed all this almost effortlessly taking the impregnable fortress' of Singapore with its 80 000 strong garrison & sweeping through South & Southeast Asia to the frontier of India itself. This revolutionary absolutely gripping book brings to life the entire experience of South & Southeast Asia in this extraordinary period telling the story from an Indian Burmese Chinese or Malay perspective as much as from that of the British or Japanese. Effectively it is the story of the birth of modern South & Southeast Asia & the hopes & fears of the dozens of forgotten armies' marching through the jungle battlefields so many dying for causes swept away by the reality that emerged in 1945. Even as the British successfully fought back in the bloodiest battles in South & Southeast Asia's history there was no going back to colonial rule. ...

The Forgotten Army consists of the letters photos & sketches of a soldier fighting the Japanese in Burma that were sent home to the authors parents in Lancashire. Call-up documents medical certificate service pay book discharge papers letter index family tree news cuttings leaflets & 440 letters spanning military service in the army at home India Burma & Malaya. Copies of sketches illustrations photographs & paintings have been placed with original letters where reference is made. Sketches of the attack on Myitson & copies of illustrations printed in the magazine Soldier are the only drawings of wartime actions that have survived. Original portraits in watercolour pictorial scenes & photographs have been exhibited at various venues a larger number have never been on show. In additions to the letters sent to his family many more were written to his brother Harry serving with the Royal Corps of Signals. Strict censorship regulations on leaving England prohibited the disclosure of troop ships military activities locations & place names or information that may be of value to an enemy. Hostile encounters with Japanese forces during the Burma campaign were not allowed to be repeated until the closing days of the war. The last of the authors experiences as a soldier serving in uniform is related to letters to his wife. This is a continuous account of military service during World War 2 from the very first day in the army to the last. ...

In Forgotten Battles of the Zulu War Dr Adrian Greaves uses his exceptional knowledge of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War to look beyond the well-known disaster at Isandlwana & the iconic action at Rorkes Drift to other fiercely fought battles. In so doing he covers little recorded engagements & battles such as Nyezane which was fought on the same day as the slaughter of Imperial troops at Isandlwana but has hitherto been eclipsed by it: likewise the battles at Hlobane & Gingindhlovu. The death of the Prince Imperial which caused shock waves round Europe & had serious repercussions for those involved is examined in detail. Close scrutiny of the defeat of the Zulu Army at Ulundi reveals new & shocking details about the battle which proved to be the culmination of the war. There is more than a hint of ominous events to come in the slaughter of Colonel Austruthers Redcoat column by Boers as they marched from Ulundi to Pretoria. This was the opening salvo of the First Boer War. This fresh angle on a dramatic period of our Imperial history from such an authority on an ever popular war will fascinate both experts & laymen alike. ...