1501: the turbulence of Henry VIII's reign brings passion and pain to the Morlands as they achieve ever greater wealth and prestige.Paul, great-grandsom of Elanor Morland, has inherited the Morland estates, and his own Amyas is set to be his heir. But Paul fathers a beloved illigitimate son, and bitter jealousy causes a destructive rift between the two half-brothers which will lead to death. Paul's niece, Nanette, becomes a maid-in-waiting to Anne Bolyen, and at the court of Henry VIII she becomes embroiled in the King's bitter feud with Rome.Through birth and death, love and hatred, triumph and heartbreak, the Morlands continue proudly to claim their place amongst England's aristocracy.
"e;Brilliant, a definite page turner. They combine real historical events with fascinating fictional characters.The twenty-three volumes of the Morland Dynasty series has been completely repackaged in the most elegant style, using contemporaneous artwork for each period. This wonderful series opens with the back drop of the Wars of the Roses with the marriage between Eleanor Morland and a scion of the influential house of Beaufort. It is a union which establishes the powerful Morland dynasty and in the succeeding volumes of this rich tapestry of English life, we follow their fortunes through war and peace, political upheaval and social revolution, times of pestilence and periods of plenty, and through the vicissitudes which afflict every family - love and passion, envy and betrayal, birth and death, great fortune and miserable penury...The Morland Dynasty is entertainment of the most addictive kind.
1916. England is at war, and the Morland family is in the thick of it, with two men already in France and three more soon to go. Tragedy strikes Morland Place when Jessie's husband Ned is reported missing on the Western Front. His father launches a desperate bid to find him, but the family fear the worst. Jessie, in mourning and frustrated by her job as an auxiliary nurse, goes to London to work in a military hospital. There she is reunited with her old friend Oliver, posted to the capital under the RAMC. Also in London is Violet, whose affair with the brilliant artist Octavian Laidislaw is about to erupt in scandal . . .The Measure of Days paints a portrait of a family, and a nation, at war, at a pivotal point in history. With the onset of conscription, no one is left unaffected. Every man must hold himself in readiness; and every woman knows that when she says goodbye, it might be for the last time.
In 1915 the first euphoria of the war has worn off, but the nation is more determined than ever to win. When Ned is sent to the Front ahead of his battalion, Jessie, already involved in various charity works, feels the need to do more and becomes an auxiliary nurse. But life on the wards is harder than she expects. Meanwhile, Helen and Jack settle in a home of their own at last, and Helen takes on a surprise war role of her own. And for Violet in London, a chance meeting with talented young artist threatens to destroy her calm and ordered life. With stalemate on the Eastern Front, everything now hangs on the new September offensive on the Western Front, the Battle of Loos. Both Ned and Bertie will be leading their men over the top, leaving the rest of the family to pray for their safe return.
The forthcoming marriage of Venetia, eldest daughter of the Duke of Southport, and 'Beauty' Winchmore is the talk of London society, and a match which has the full support of Venetia's parents. But just weeks before the wedding Venetia cries off - unable to accept that her husband-to-be will forbid her to study medicine. And within weeks of her shameful behaviour her father is dead and she is ostracised from her family, left with a tiny allowance to carry on with the 'cause' and try to qualify as a doctor. Meanwhile at Morland Place George's new wife is whittling away at his fortune during the worst agricultural recession of the century. His sister, Henrietta, apparently safely married off to the Reverend Fortescue, has realised her marriage is a hollow pretence of conjugal bliss and falls heavily in love with a local squire - a passion which seems destined to be unfulfilled. Another wonderful piece of fictionalised history which brings period and place to three-dimensional and colourful life.
England in 1912 still bears itself with Edwardian confidence, but strikes, protests and public violence reveal the fault lines as society evolves under the spur of new ideas and technology. Among the many branches of the Morland family, Jessie and Violet, childhood friends, learn to cope with the surprises of marriage and motherhood and their different strata of society. Jack, disappointed in love, loses himself in designing aircraft and training airmen for the newly formed flying corps. And Anne exhausted by the Suffragette struggle, seeks comfort in her friendship with an unconventional young woman. The Titanic tragedy shakes the confidence of a people used to conquering nature with engineering; and all the while, the troubled nations of Europe edge closer to a war no-one wants, but which seems inevitable.
August 1914: the whole country is thrilled by the declaration of war. The British Experditionary Force goes off toe France to defend gallant little Belgium, and thousands more young men rush to volunteer, hoping to see action before the war ends at Christmas. At home everyone competes to be doing the most for the war effort. The Morlands have their share of volunteers, and no-one can say they aren't at the very heart of things. But when Christmas comes the war is far from over, and nine in ten of the men who marched, singing, down the white road to Mons have fallen ...
When Charlotte Meldon's father dies, she believes herself to be destitute, but a lawyer's letter reveals that she is not only part of the great Morland family, but wealthy and a countess in her own right. She is expected to make a great marriage, and with her vivacious cousin Fanny by her side, she is launched into her first Season. But it is Fanny, the hardened flint, who loses her heart first, while Charlotte catches the eye of Oliver Fleetwood, the most eligible man in London.Then the Season ends in disillusion, and Charlotte rebels against a life of idle amusement. With calm courage she flouts convention and embarks on a new journey which will change her life in very unexpected ways.
Freed from her miserable marriage by widowhood, Henrietta is at last able to marry her beloved Jerome Compton, but his divorced state means that they have to make their home away from Yorkshire. Settling in London Henrietta finds she takes to urban life with great enjoyment, as does her daughter Lizzie. Soon their home is full of visitors from the best of the city's artistic and scientific circles, and she also makes contact with her cousin Lady Venetia - now a qualified doctor and married at long last to 'Beauty' Haselmere. Venetia's marriage has redeemed her reputation and they find themselves guests at Sandringham and Hatfield. Healthy children are born to both women and it seems as though the comfortable tenor of their lives will never be disturbed again, but clouds are gathering on the horizon and when the deluge comes one of them is forced out of society. Yet it proves more of a homecoming than an exile.Another absorbing piece of English history, deftly told with a rich and colourful background.
George Morland, newly master of Morland Place, embarks on a grand improvement and expansion of the estate. His sister Henrietta, eager to be both good and useful, marries the scholarly rector, Mr Fortescue. And in London, their cousin Lady Venetia Fleetwood, moved by the medical horrors of the Franco-Prussian war, sets out to become a doctor.But the agricultural slump threatens Morland Place with ruin; the medical world rejects Venetia with contempt; and Mr Fortescue proves to be not what he seems. The Morlands have to come to terms with hard reality, and find their happiness in other, unexpected places.
1558: Elizabeth I is on the throne, though still challenged by Mary, and her Protestant faith threatens the Catholic Morland family.The reign of Elizabeth I means that the Morlands must seek new spheres of influence to restore their fortunes. John, heir to Morland Place, rides north to wed the daughter of Black Will Percy, the Borders cattle lord, and learns that the way to win her heart is through blood and battle. His gentle sister, Lettice, has also travelled north to marry the ruthless Scottish baron, Lord Robert Hamilton, and in the treacherous court of Mary, Queen of Scots, she has to learn the bleak and bitter lessons of survival...
In the last years of the nineteenth century the Morlands' fortunes are changing for the better, as Henrietta and Jerome find a true home at Morland Place, and Teddy ploughs his profits into restoring it to its former glory. But the reverses and cruelties of the Boer War and the death of Queen Victoria shake the foundations of a confident nation. The accession of King Edward seems to mark the end of the old, familiar England. Old certainties are being questioned, everything is changing, and the young generation of Morlands faces a new world, full of wonders but full of dangers.
Benedict Morland's comfortable life is overset when an old enemy's dying wish leaves him guardian of an orphaned boy. No-one, including his wife Sibella, can understand why Benedict accepts Lennox Mynott into his household and, amid growing hostility at Morland Place, he takes the boy to America, to join his daughter Mary at Twelvetrees Plantation. Here, Benedict, as well as Lennox, fall in love with the Southern way of life, just at the moment when bitter civil war is about to destroy it forever.
Edwardian England is a country at the peak of its power; a kingdom of peace, prosperity and progress. As Jessie and Violet enjoy their coming-out in the glittering Season of 1908, their thoughts are of pleasure, dancing and falling in love.For the Morlands things seem set fair: new business ventures expand their influence and wealth; there are weddings, babies in the nursery, careers for the boys now reaching manhood. It is an exciting age, with new technologies - motor cars, telephones, radio, aeroplanes - extending man's control over the natural world.But under the appearance of permanence, a different reality is stirring. Socialism, the suffrage movement, the constitutional crisis, all call forth ever more dissent and anger. Increasingly violent protests and strikes disturb the peace; war with Germany looms ever closer. With the King's death, it begins to seem that the safe Edwardian world was only a dream, from which the wakening will be hard indeed.
The fourth in the Ashmore Castle historical family drama series, set at the turn of the twentieth century, by the author of the acclaimed Morland Dynasty novels.
The third novel in the Ashmore Castle series, perfect for fans of DOWNTON ABBEY, from the author of the hugely successful MORLAND DYNASTY novelsBehind the doors of the magnificent Ashmore Castle, secrets are waiting to be uncovered . . .England, 1903.Giles, the Earl of Stainton, has fled from his stifling duties to resume his research in Egypt, leaving behind his wife Kitty, and his infant son. Kitty, still reeling from Giles' sudden departure, struggles to keep spirits high in the castle and establish herself as the true mistress of the house, an impossible task given how many secrets the inhabitants are hiding from her...The Earl's younger sisters, Rachel and Alice, are both pursuing forbidden romances, and his brother Richard begins a new business venture, spurred on by his clandestine lover. And below stairs, a shocking crime sends distrust rippling through the staff, more so when one of their own is accused.Kitty must draw on her strength to keep the castle from crumbling around her, but with her marriage to Giles left uncertain, and a surprise of her own to conceal, can she ever take her rightful place as true head of her household?The third novel in the Ashmore Castle historical family drama series, filled with heartbreak, romance and intriguing secrets waiting to be uncovered. The perfect read for fans of Downton Abbey, Bridgerton and rich period dramas.
Why was a local philanthropist murdered? The late Mr Lionel Bygood, well-known locally for giving help and advice, has been bashed in the head with a bronze statue. With all signs pointing to the victim knowing his killer, Bill Slider and his team find themselves embroiled in an investigation that provides scant evidence, but all too many suspects.
England, 1903. Giles, the Earl of Stainton, has fled from his stifling duties to resume his research in Egypt, leaving behind his wife Kitty, and his infant son. Kitty, still reeling from Giles' sudden departure, struggles to keep spirits high in the castle and establish herself as the true mistress of the house, an impossible task given how many secrets the inhabitants are hiding from her... The Earl's younger sisters, Rachel and Alice, are both pursuing forbidden romances, and his brother Richard begins a new business venture, spurred on by his clandestine lover. And below stairs, a shocking crime sends distrust rippling through the staff, more so when one of their own is accused. Kitty must draw on her strength to keep the castle from crumbling around her, but with her marriage to Giles left uncertain, and a surprise of her own to conceal, can she ever take her rightful place as true head of her household?
Erik Lingoss is found dead in his west London flat. His heartlessly dumped girlfriend, blood on her clothes and hands, is the prime suspect - she had means, opportunity, and motive. But is the case as clear-cut as it seems? The deeper Slider and his team dig, the clearer it becomes there's far more to this case than meets the eye.
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