Other books that might interest you

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  Flight of the Wild Swan

  Melissa Pritchard

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  A majestic novel of Florence Nightingale, whose courage, self-confidence, and resilience transformed nursing and the role of women in medicine 
   
   
   
  Sweeping yet intimate, Flight of the Wild Swan tells the story of Florence Nightingale, a brilliant, trailblazing woman whose humanity has been obscured beneath the iconic weight of legend. From adolescence, Nightingale was determined to fulfill her life's calling to serve the sick and suffering. Overcoming Victorian hierarchies, familial expectations, patriarchal resistance, and her own illness, she used her hard-won acclaim as a battlefield nurse to bring the profession out of its shadowy, disreputable status and elevate nursing to a skilled practice and compassionate art. 
   
   
   
  In lush, lyrical detail, Melissa Pritchard reveals Nightingale as a rebel who wouldn't relent—one whose extraordinary life offers a grand lesson in inspired will.

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  Distant Crown The: Book summary...

  Margot Langley

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  This content is an independent and unofficial summary created for informational and educational purposes only. It is not affiliated with, authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by the original author or publisher. All rights to the original work belong to its respective copyright holders. This summary is not intended to substitute the original book, but to offer a concise overview and interpretation of its main ideas.
   
  
  The Distant Crown is a sweeping tale of destiny, longing, and the quiet strength found in the most unexpected hearts. Far from the glittering halls of power, a young exile dreams of a throne that was never meant to be his—until a long-forgotten secret calls him back into a world of shifting alliances, hidden truths, and dangerous ambition. As the weight of legacy clashes with the pull of freedom, his journey becomes a test of character, sacrifice, and the true meaning of leadership. Lyrical, immersive, and rich in emotional depth, The Distant Crown blends royal intrigue with personal transformation in a story that lingers long after the final chapter. Perfect for listeners who crave thoughtful fantasy, noble struggles, and the hope that one voice can still change the fate of a kingdom.

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  Finding utopia

  Linda Weber

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  "Finding Utopia" is a love story inspired by remarkable true events. Both gritty and tender this thriller is woven with a dark thread of mystery. Maizelle Clarke, the town doctor's daughter, elopes with Will Jones, an auto mechanic, against her father's wishes. He disowns her and cuts her off from her siblings and the family she loves. Embraced by her husband's mother, she learns to be a wife and mother at the older woman's elbow.  
  The young couple create an idyllic life for themselves and their growing family until an unspeakable tragedy strikes, throwing the mother of three into a deep depression that threatens her marriage, her family, and all she holds dear. As she struggles to climb out of the darkness, another baby is born, giving her hope, a reason to live, and the resilience to repair her fractured relationships. As she takes her first tentative steps forward, a misguided love brings a night of terror to Utopia and a dark secret threatens the family and the community's very existence. 
  A story of deep love, enduring friendship, loss, and redemption, FINDING UTOPIA is a tender, gritty story that defines what it means to be human, as it carries readers to a surprising and emotional climax. 
  Described by readers as "gripping and powerful with unfettered emotion, this book blew my mind and broke my heart. The story of Will and Maizelle will be with me for a long, long, time."

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  The Kent Family Chronicles...

  John Jakes

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  The first three novels in a sweeping American epic from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author who “makes history come alive” (Nelson DeMille). This multigenerational saga follows the Kent family and their pursuit of a foothold and future in the expanding United States. From the family’s initial journey traveling to America’s shore to their voyage to the Western frontier, their fate is intertwined with the course of American history in these first three volumes of the series.  The Bastard: Denied his birthright as the illegitimate son of the Duke of Kentland, Philippe Charboneau seeks a new life in London, where he meets Benjamin Franklin and reads the works of patriot firebrand Sam Adams. Inspired by such brave new ideas, he travels to the American colonies at the brink of the Revolution. There he will choose his own name—Philip Kent—and finally decide his own fate.  The Rebels: Philip Kent fights as a Continental soldier at the Battle of Bunker Hill. In a bold move, he has taken up arms for the future of his new family. Spirited and unwavering in his dedication to his adopted homeland, Philip fights in the most violent battles in America’s early history. But far from the front lines, another battle rages that will sweep his wife, Anne, on her own perilous journey that may destroy all Philip has fought for.  The Seekers: Returning from fighting valiantly on the frontier, Abraham Kent—son of Philip and Anne—returns to Boston, only to realize that he cannot abide the confines of civilization. Determined not to live in his father’s shadow, he takes his young bride and settles on the American frontier. But the life of a pioneer comes at a high price, and the cost of Abraham’s restless ambitions may be more than he can bear.

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  Death in a Blackout

  Jessica Ellicott

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  1940. Britain is at war. Rector’s daughter Wilhelmina Harkness longs to do her duty for her country, but when her strict mother forbids her to enlist, their bitter argument has devasting consequences.  
   
  Unable to stay in the village she loves, Wilhelmina—reinventing herself as Billie—spends everything she has on a one-way ticket up north. Hull is a distant, dangerous city, but Billie is determined to leave her painful memories behind and start afresh, whatever the cost. 
   
  The last thing she expects on her first night in Hull, however, is to be caught in the city’s first air raid—or to stumble across the body of a young woman, suspiciously untouched by debris. 
   
  If the air raid didn’t kill the glamorous stranger, what did? Billie is determined to get justice, and her persistence earns her an invitation to the newly formed Women’s Police Constabulary. But as the case unfolds, putting her at odds with  
  both high-ranking members of the force as well as the victim’s powerful family, Billie begins to wonder if she can trust her new friends and colleagues … or if someone amongst them is working for the enemy.

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  Rabies - A tale of disease from...

  Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

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  Vicente Blasco Ibáñez was born in Valencia, Spain on 29th January 1867.  
   
  At university, he studied law and graduated in 1888 but never felt the urgency to practice - he was more interested in politics, journalism, literature and women.   
   
  Politically he was a militant Republican partisan and, in his youth, founded a newspaper, El Pueblo (The People). The newspaper was taken to court many times and he made many enemies. In one incident he was shot and almost killed. In 1896, Ibáñez was arrested and sentenced to a few months in prison. 
   
  Despite this colourful background he found time to write novels. His first published work was ‘La Araña Negra’ (The Black Spider) in 1892, a work that he later repudiated although at the time it was a useful vehicle for him to express his anti-clerical views. 
   
  In 1894, he published ‘Arroz y Tartana’ (Airs and Graces), about a late 19th Century widow in Valencia trying to keep up appearances in order to marry her daughters well.   
   
  Ibáñez’s next sequence of books studied rural life in the farmlands of Valencia and failed to gain much of an audience.   
   
  His writing now took on a new direction with its now familiar sensational and melodramatic themes in 1908 with ‘Sangre y Arena’ (Blood and Sand), which follows the career of Juan Gallardo from his poor beginnings as a child in Seville, to his rise to becoming a famous matador in Madrid 
   
  However, his greatest success was ‘Los Cuatro Jinetes del Apocalipsis (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) in 1916, which tells a tangled tale of the French and German sons-in-law of an Argentinian land-owner who find themselves fighting on opposite sides in the First World War.  It was a literary and commercial sensation and became the best-selling book of 1919.  It also propelled Rudolph Valentino to stardom in the 1921 film. 
   
  Ironically his fame in the English-speaking world has come not as a novelist but as the stories behind some of Hollywood’s greatest silent movies. 
   
  Vicente Blasco Ibáñez died in Menton, France on January 28th, 1928, the day before his 61st birthday.

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