CHARLOTTE BINGHAM

Twistleton is a village untouched by time, taking its rhythms from the countryside around. Daisy, Jean, Freddie and their friends Aurelia and Laura are devoted to the place, so that when war breaks out Twistleton becomes the embodiment of everything for which they are fighting. For the previous generation the new conflict causes private despair, increased when Twistleton is requisitioned by the Army. Turfed out of their houses, the villagers take refuge at the Hall. It is here that evacuees from the East End, butler and countryman weld together to fight common enemies, whether drunken troops in the village, the bombs from the air, or rationing and the bitter weather. They all know only victory will do. With death haunting their every moment, love is their one all-too-fleeting consolation and also their final triumph.About Author: Charlotte Bingham comes from a literary family her father sold a story to H.G. Wells when he was only seventeen and Charlotte wrote her autobiography, Coronet among the Weeds, at the age of nineteen. Since then she has written comedy and drama series, films and plays for both England and America with her husband, the actor and playwright Terence Brady. Her most recent novels include The White Marriage, Goodnight Sweetheart,The Enchanted and The Land of Summer. Another heart-warming novel from the Queen of Romance.

"The Land of Summer" is the brilliant new novel from Transworld''s very own Queen of Romance. Spanning two generations this is a love story about overcoming the odds and escaping the past. Letitia and Fitz have no idea that their histories are intertwined as they meet and fall in love.

A wonderfully romantic and nostalgic novel set in the 1950s about the destruction of innocence. Sunny's mundane country life is changed over night when handsome, stylish Gray's Bentley breaks down outside her parents' cottage in Rushington. It seems that he may have fallen in love with her. Although Sunny herself remains unconvinced, her best friend Arietta believes that Sunny is soon to be set on the road to wealth and happiness. Shortly after meeting Gray for the second time at a local ball, Sunny is invited out by his close friend, the beautiful socialite, Leandra Fortescue, who tells her over lunch that Gray wants to marry her if she will accept certain conditions. Sunny does accept, even as Arietta is leaving Rushington to work in London. Sunny soon joins Arietta at her cheerfully chaotic lodgings. It is here that she realizes that she can find the sort of contentment that has eluded sophisticates such as Gray and Leandra. Here too she meets Hart and, despite being engaged to Gray, falls in love with him, just as Arietta has fallen for his friend, jazz-playing painter, Sam. By chance Arietta comes into a secret about Gray, but is afraid to tell Sunny, and yet not to tell her might ruin her future.

A romantic wartime novel encompassing both love and tragedy. As Walter Berrisford paints beautiful Katherine Garland, she asks him to put a ladybird on her finger without his knowing why. He is appalled when he discovers that Katherine is a Nazi. The outbreak of war means that her sister Caro and her friend Robyn join the FANYs, while former maids, Betty and Trixie, work in a factory. War brings frantic romance to all, including their flatmate Edwina O'Brien, but it is Betty, transferred to decode at the Park that alone discovers the truth about the Ladybird.

It is the summer of 1939, and like the rest of Europe, the residents of the little idyllic Sussex fishing port of Bexham are preparing for war. Beautiful but shy Judy Melton, daughter of a naval war hero, her determinedly feckless friend, the social butterfly Meggie Gore-Stewart, seemingly demure Mathilda Eastcott, and Corrie Hogarth, the tomboy daughter of the owner of the local boatyard, are all in their very individual ways determined to play an active part in the defence of their country. Knitting socks and bomb-dodging is not what they have in mind for themselves while their husbands and brothers, fathers and lovers are away fighting. But attitudes to women's roles in a warring world are difficult to change, and at first all four find it impossible to settle for the traditional kind of work that their families envisage. However, it is not just the young women of Bexham who are determined to find new roles for themselves - so are their mothers. In this manner the little Sussex village, facing as it does the coastline of Nazi-invaded France, finds its closely sewn social fabric gradually unstitch, inch by little inch.Under the tree on the green the women of Bexham meet to look back on a landscape that has changed irrevocably, and which they have in their own ways helped to alter. None of them are the same, and yet, with the men returning from war, they are expected to slip back into their simple roles of mother, daughter, grandmother. This, more than anything perhaps, is their greatest sacrifice. Having been freed by war, they have now to relinquish that very independence that gave them the liberty for which they once fought. Only the chestnut tree planted by Corrie at the edge of the village flourishes in the accepted manner, finally becoming the uniting symbol of all that has passed forever.

It is late autumn, 1962, and darkness is falling, but not just over the idyllic fishing port of Bexham. The threat of atomic warfare is so real that people are taking their children to work, or staying home with their families as they face what they think might be the end of the world. For some, the threat is all the more bewildering as they struggle to understand the new generation of the Sixties, a generation for whom they made so many wartime sacrifices, for whom they had such high hopes. No sooner has the threat of nuclear war seemed to have passed than Judy, Mathilda and Rusty are facing a new, personal crisis brought about by their teenage children. Much as Waldo Astley would like to remain on the sidelines, he finds it impossible, and this too brings about bitter opposition from those caught up in the near-tragedy. Still grieving for his lost wife, he tries his best to help his three friends, only to find himself falling in love with one of them. Meanwhile, the younger generation have their own problems, all of which involve their families.That all the generations find themselves once more united in a battle, this time to save the village they love, is both an irony and finally, a saving grace. Once more an enemy has to be defeated, once more they must arm themselves, but this time for a war of a very different kind.

Focuses on the lives and fortunes of four young women at the outbreak of the Second World War. Marjorie, left at a boarding school by her emigrating mother; plain Poppy, pushed into marriage with a mean-spirited aristocrat; Kate, despised by her father, but determined to prove herself; and man-mad Lily, who turns out to be the bravest of them all.

Exciting and dramatic but tender and heartfelt; this is a novel that you will return to again and again. From the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author Charlotte Bingham, for fans of Louise Douglas and Dinah Jeffries.A novel rich in dramatic surprises... will have you frantically turning the pages. - DAILY MAIL One of Britains most bankable novelists. - THE DAILY EXPRESSI laughed and cried at this tale, could visualise the characters, scenery and the story - ***** Reader ReviewGreat book, grabs you on the first page - ***** Reader Review********************************************************************A WARTIME BETRAYAL STRAIGHT TO THE HEARTAs Walter Berrisford paints beautiful Katherine Garland, she asks him to put a ladybird on her finger without his knowing why. He is appalled when he discovers that Katherine is a Nazi.The outbreak of war means that everyone must contribute to the war effort: her sister Caro and her friend Robyn join the FANYs, while former maids, Betty and Trixie, work in a factory.War brings frantic romance to all, including their flatmate Edwina OBrien, but it is Betty, transferred to decode at Bletchley Park who discovers the truth about the Ladybird...

A family finds peace through the unexpected struggle to aid a stranger in this captivating and moving saga. From the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author Charlotte Bingham, for fans of Louise Douglas and Dinah Jefferies.An uplifting and inspiring book, emotional yet optimistic, which leaves the reader feeling optimistic and empowered - THE GOOD BOOK GUIDEI was surprised by this book. Im not a romantic... but this did leave a little warm glow in my heart by the end.- ***** Reader ReviewA very enjoyable read, I loved the ending - ***** Reader Review*********************************************************************************HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO HELP A STRANGER?Florence Fontaine has not recovered from a family tragedy when she discovers astrangely dressed young man asleep in her guest cottage at the Old Rectory.Against her better judgement she offers him breakfast, only to find herself caught up in his drama. Florences young and beautiful daughter, Amadea, is immediately suspicious of Edmund, as he appears to be called, fearing that he might be a fraud.Despite her reservations, Florence enlists friends and neighbours to help restore Edmunds memory. As the mystery unfolds, it becomes apparent that Edmunds history is entwined with that of nearby Harlington Hall, but that his real identity is something quite other.Florence and Amadea become united in their quest and are finally able to put the tragedies of the past behind them, repair their once disjointed lives, and embrace a new and happy future...

Exciting and dramatic but tender and heartfelt; this is a novel that you will return to again and again. From the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author Charlotte Bingham, for fans of Louise Douglas and Dinah Jeffries.An engaging, romantic and nostalgic read -- DAILY MAILCompulsive reading... Binghams prose is lively and vivid, making this a real page turner -- GOOD BOOK GUIDE"These are characters you will really care about" -- ***** Reader review"Very enjoyable and hard to put down" -- ***** Reader review"Incredibly well written and engrossing" -- ***** Reader review**************************************************************************TWO PATHS, ONE DESTINATION...When Alexandra Stamford goes to stay with her cousins at Knighton Hall she is very much the poor relation. Shortly after her return home, her father re-marries. No longer wanted, Alexandra is forced to become a maid-of-all-work for a Mrs Smithers who lives in a grand Regency house in the seaside town of Deanford.It is here that handsome, funny Bob Atkins meets and falls in love with Alexandra...Meanwhile Tom OBrien, erstwhile stable lad at Knighton Hall, meets and falls for the beautiful Lady Florazel Compton who introduces him to the sophistications of 1950s London.As Bob is conscripted for National Service, Alexandra plans her future, and in doing so discovers family secrets that have a devastating impact. Tragedy strikes, and it is only when Tom returns from New York to search out his old friend Bob Atkins fiancee that Alexandras life appears about to be truly transformed.But the past seems destined to wreck the happiness of the present, as the glamorous Lady Florazel Compton is determined to re-capture her former love, destroying the magic hour of Toms and Alexandras meeting.