Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Barrington hates everything about living in Kenya and longs to return to the island of Penang in British colonial Malaya where she was born. Expulsion from her Nairobi convent school offers a welcome escape – the chance to stay with her parents’ friends, Mary and Reggie Hyde-Underwood on their Penang rubber estate.
But this is 1948 and communist insurgents are embarking on a reign of terror in what becomes the Malayan Emergency. Jasmine goes through testing experiences – confronting heartache, a shocking past secret and danger. Throughout it all, the one constant in her life is her passion for painting.
From the international best-selling and award-winning author of The Pearl of Penang, this is a dramatic coming of age story, set against the backdrop of a tropical paradise torn apart by civil war.
A vivid and moving story of sacrifice, hope and humanity. From the best-selling author of The Pearl of Penang.
After Penang is attacked by the Japanese at the end of 1941, Mary Helston believes Singapore will be a safe haven. But within weeks the supposedly invincible British stronghold is on the brink of collapse to the advancing enemy.
Mary and her mother are captured at sea as they try to escape and are interned on the islands of Sumatra. Imprisoned with them is Veronica Leighton, the one person on the planet Mary has reason to loathe with a passion.
As the motley band of women struggle to adapt to captivity, relationships and friendships are tested. When starvation, lack of medication and the spread of disease worsen, each woman must draw on every ounce of strength in their battle for survival.
Three strong women make their way in 1950s Canada
English hairdresser, Ethel, is alone after the deaths of her family and her wartime fiancé. Widow and single mother, Alice, bringing up two daughters, receives an unexpected inheritance that will transform her life. War bride, Joan, is mother to three small children with a fourth on the way and money in short supply. All are brought together in a rural Canadian town where they each try to build a future – often in spite of the men in their lives.
Each woman has a different idea of happiness. Will any or all of them achieve it?
'Clare Flynn has once again captured the essence of an era and its people and then told a captivating story that keeps you enthralled to the end. Her books always touch you to the heart.'
'Following the death of my wife, I am in need of support and companionship. I am prepared to make you an offer of marriage.'
Evie Fraser, paid companion to a crotchety spinster, seems destined for a lonely life. Then out of the blue, a marriage proposal arrives by post. She met the handsome Douglas Barrington just once – at his wedding – but never forgot him. Now widowed, plantation-owner Douglas offers her a new life on the lush, exotic island of Penang. How can Evie resist?
But what are Barrington’s motives in marrying Evie when he barely knows her, and why is he so hostile and moody?
Evie soon finds herself pitched against Douglas on the one hand and the shallow, often spiteful world of the expatriate British on the other. Has she made the biggest mistake of her life?
Flynn’s tenth novel explores love, marriage, the impact of war and the challenges of displacement – this time in a tropical paradise as the threat of the Japanese empire looms closer.
They faced up to the challenges of war-but can they deal with the troubles of peace?
Canadian, Jim Armstrong, married in haste during the second world war, after a one-night stand. When his wife and their small son join him in Canada it's four years since they've seen each other.
War bride, Joan discovers Jim has no intention of the family returning to England. She struggles to adapt to life on a remote farm in Ontario, far from her family and cold-shouldered by Jim's mother.
Jim, haunted by his wartime experiences in Italy, Iingering feelings for a former lover, and the demands of the farm, begins to doubt his love for Joan.
From the rolling farmland of Ontario to the ravaged landscapes of war-torn Italy, this sweeping love story is the sequel to The Chalky Sea.
Two troubled people in a turbulent world.
In July 1940, Gwen Collingwood drops her husband at the railway station, knowing she may never see him again. Two days later her humdrum world is torn apart when her sleepy English seaside town is subjected to the first of many heavy bombing attacks.
In Ontario, Canada, Jim Armstrong is uncertain whether to volunteer for the army. When he uncovers the secret his fiance has been keeping from him his decision is clear. A few weeks later he is on a ship bound for England.
Gwen is forced to confront the truth about her past and her own feelings for her husband. Jim battles with a bewildering and hostile world far removed from the cozy life of his Canadian farm. War brings horror and loss to each of them-can it also bring change and salvation?
A heartbreaking story of love and lossIn 1875, 18-year-old would-be poet, Jack Brennan, runs away from home to avoid being pushed into the priesthood. Life soon looks rosy for Jack when he lands the teaching job he's always dreamed of and meets the love of his life, Eliza Hewlett. But his world is shattered when Mary Ellen, his landlord's daughter, falsely accuses him of fathering the child she is expecting.Jack and Eliza decide to escape to America. As they are about to sail, Jack is arrested and dragged from the ship, leaving Eliza alone en route to New York with only a few shillings in her pocket. Once parted, each is forced to adjust to a future they had neither wanted nor expected."A story of love, loss and tragedy: a heartbreaking and moving tale" - Readers' Favorite
She crossed the world to marry a stranger When Elizabeth Morton's father asks her to travel to the other side of the world to marry a man she's never met, she is stunned. It's 1920 and a woman has rights. But her choices are removed when she is raped by her brother-in-law and thrown out of her own home by her sister.When Michael Winterbourne wakes with a hangover after his engagement celebrations, he is about to be the cause of a terrible tragedy that will destroy his family, turn his life upside down and catapult him into leaving England.Elizabeth, born into a prosperous family, and Michael, a miner, come from different worlds. They would never have met but the SS Historic, bound for Sydney, is a ship with only one class.Falling in love should have been the end to all their troubles. But fate and the mysterious Jack Kidd make sure it's only the beginning.
