The great house of Cavendon Hall has a new generation of children playing in its halls and gardens. After the ravages of the Great War and the Great Depression, the future looks assured for the first time in a decade. But over Europe the storm clouds of war are gathering. And it must be the estate's younger generation who step forward to play their part and fight for their country, young men and women from both above and below stairs. Tracing the...

The gripping, epic new historical family saga from the author of A Woman of Substance. From Victorian London to the vibrant port cities of England and France, from gracious stately homes in Gloucestershire to the decadence of Paris, Master of his Fate launches an unforgettable new historical series.London 1884: Queen Victoria is Empress of India and Britain is at its peak of worldwide power. James Falconer works as a barrow boy in a flourishing London...

It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiance and her brother and regarded by society as a 'surplus woman' unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out alone. A new life awaits her in Winchester. Yes, it is one of draughty boarding-houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues; but it is also a life gleaming with...

When Eve left her home town of Portsmouth, she'd never intended to return. Poor housing, poor wages and poor opportunities forced her to make a clean break. A veteran of the Spanish Civil War, Eve's individuality made her an ideal candidate for the Special Operations Executive and a new role as a spy.

1935. At 36, Bella Porter is dependent on her abusive cousin, acting as his unpaid servant. When a kind relative leaves her a house in the village of Backshaw Moss, Thomas tries to take it from her, but she defies him and grasps this chance of a new start in Lancashire. The house is on the edge of a slum and in a state of disrepair. As kind people help her find her feet, however, her confidence grows and when she meets struggling, widowed father-of-three...

This is the story of the men and women of a truly remarkable generation. Born into a world still reeling from the earth-shattering events of the Great War, they grew up during the appalling economic depression of the 1930s, witnessed the globe tear itself apart again during the Second World War, and emerged from post-war austerity determined to create a new society for their children. It is the story of people who raised their families during the...