FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THE LAST PEARL AND DANCING AT THE VICTORY CAFE, this is a beautiful novel about family secrets, wartime betrayals and redemption. May 1941 and the island of Crete is invaded by paratroopers from the air. After a lengthy fight, thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers are forced to take to the hills or become escaping PoWs, sheltered by the Cretan villagers. Sixty years later, Lois West and her young son, Alex, invite feisty Great Aunt Pen to a special eighty-fifth birthday celebration on Crete, knowing she has not been back there since the war. Penelope George - formerly Giorgidiou - is reluctant to go but is persuaded by the fact it is the 60th anniversary of the Battle. It is time for her to return and make the journey she never thought she'd dare to. On the outward voyage from Athens, she relives her experiences in the city from her early years as a trainee nurse to those last dark days stranded on the island, the last female foreigner. When word spreads of her visit, and old Cretan friends and family come to greet her, Lois and Alex are caught up in her epic pilgrimage and the journey which leads her to a reunion with the friend she thought she had lost forever - and the truth behind a secret buried deep in the past... Praise for Leah Fleming 'I enjoyed it enormously.It's a moving and compelling story about a lifetime's journey in search of the truth' RACHEL HORE 'A born storyteller' KATE ATKINSON

An evocative novel of secrets, love and redemption under the Greek sun. Perfect for fans of Kate Furnivall and Julia Gregson. They have come to Santaniki for different reasons. Some with a dream of happiness. Some running from sadness and failure. But all of them have fallen in love with this most beautiful of Greek islands. When bossy retired bookseller, Ariadne Blunt, suggests that the English residents form a choir, she did not expect it would unleash quite so much drama. Secrets surface, old rivalries spring up, new friendships are formed and passions are rekindled. In this bittersweet tale of love and loss, people quite literally find their voices – showing that life can begin again when you let go of the past.

When Sir Tobias McQuorkindale, British Ambassador to Italy, dies, his young wife Henrietta, moves from Rome to Campania unaware that she is following in the footsteps of the powerful Empress Livia Drusilla in AD43. Villa del Monte, had been built over the site of Livia's own villa, hiding the incredible treasure of Bona Dea, Goddess of Fertility. Falling in love with Dan Gilbert, only increases the excitement of the story and when war breaks out and the German army loot their way through Italy, treasures have to be hidden but it becomes difficult when they discover their town, Dolce Ampelio, has been constructed over the fabulous site of the legendary city of Misenium. The town of Dolce Ampelio suffers from a lack of children under the age of five and Henrietta discovers a recipe from the Roman Empire, which produces one of the county's finest wines, its aphrodisiac qualities restore the towns fertility. A love story not to be missed and an adventure to be enjoyed by all.

From the French Riviera between the wars to a terrifying endgame in World War 2 Occupied France, a gripping story of doomed but triumphant love from the author of A Wedding in the Olive Garden. High above the Mediterranean, on the French Riviera, stands a beautiful pink stucco villa. Once a playground for the rich and glamorous, now – in the aftermath of World War 1 – it is a convalescent home for sick and wounded nurses. Here Scottish Flora Garvie is recovering from four traumatic years on the ambulance trains. And here she will meet again charismatic but troubled Kit Carlyle, a regimental chaplain who no longer believes in his calling and certainly doesn't believe himself worthy of Flora's love. Their dramatic rollercoaster of a story will take them through death, separation and war, until a terrifying game of cat and mouse in Occupied France seals their fate. Praise for Leah Fleming: 'A born storyteller' Kate Atkinson 'A moving and compelling story about a lifetime's journey in search of the truth' Rachel Hore 'Fascinating and unputdownable' Trisha Ashley 'A fabulous story of people, places and pearls from a master storyteller' Lancashire Post

A collection of folktales and stories from throughout Europe reveals that the generosity and kindness attributed to Saint Nicholas goes beyond delivering toys to children.

'I found the photograph album by chance when we were clearing out the old coach house. It must have been sitting on the garage shelf for years among all the other family rejects.' When a woman finds a lost photo album in a garage clearout, she is drawn to the images of her ancestors. But one image in particular stands out: a baby sitting in the lap of its mother, both draped from head to toe in a cotton lace curtain or something, completely enveloped and unrecognizable. Who are they and what has happened to them? In a story that moves between 2012 and 1850, the shocking secrets of one family are gradually revealed…