Janet MacLeod Trotter Boeken

She's gone in search of happy memories. But was her idyllic childhood in India an illusion? After the Second World War, Libby Robson leaves chilly England for India, and the childhood home where she left her heart--and her beloved father, James--fourteen years ago. At first Libby is intoxicated by India's vibrant beauty: the bustle of Calcutta, the lush tea gardens of Assam. But beneath the surface a rebellion is simmering: India is on the brink of Independence, and the days of British rule are numbered. As the owner of a tea plantation, James embodies the hated colonial regime, and Libby finds herself questioning her idealised memories--particularly when she meets the dashing freedom fighter Ghulam Khan. As Independence looms, life in India becomes precarious for Libby, James and even Ghulam. And when James reveals a shameful family secret, Libby is forced to question her past--and her future.

In the dying days of the Raj, Anglo-Indian schoolgirl Adela Robson dreams of a glamorous career on the stage. When she sneaks away from school in the back of handsome Sam Jackman's car, she knows a new life awaits--but it is not the one she imagined. In Simla, the summer seat of the Raj government, Adela throws herself into all the dazzling entertainments 1930s Indian society can offer a beautiful debutante. But just as her ambitions seem on the cusp of becoming reality, she meets a charming but spoilt prince, setting in motion a devastating chain of events. The outbreak of the Second World War finds Adela back in England--a country she cannot remember--without hope or love, and hiding a shameful secret. Only exceptional courage and endurance can pull her through these dark times and carry her back to the homeland of her heart.

To escape her possessive and drunken step-father, Kate is sent away from teaming Jarrow to work on the Ravensworth Estate. She is soon attracting the attention of charming, headstrong Alexander and dares to dream of a future with him. But when Kate discovers herself pregnant and alone she must return to face the wrath of her step-father.

In the dying days of the Raj, can paths divided by time and circumstance ever find each other again? In 1930s Northern India, childhood friends Stella and Andrew have grown up together in the orbit of the majestic Raj Hotel. Spirited Stella has always had a soft spot for boisterous Andrew, though she dreams of meeting a soulmate from outside the close-knit community. But life is turned on its head when one scandal shatters their friendship and another sees her abandoned by the man she thought she loved. As the Second World War looms, Andrew joins the army to fight for freedom. Meanwhile in India, Stella, reeling from her terrible betrayal, also throws herself into the war effort, volunteering for the Women's Auxiliary Corps, resigned to living a lonelier life than the one she dreamed of as a child. When Andrew returns to the East on the eve of battle with Japan, the two former friends are reunited, though bitter experience has changed them. Can they rekindle what they once had or will war demand of their friendship the ultimate sacrifice?

Cousins and best friends, Sophie and Tilly are looking for love and adventure Sophie, orphaned at six, has been brought up by a radical aunt. Tilly meanwhile has lived a sheltered life in Newcastle. Tilly surprises everyone with a whirlwind marriage to a confirmed bachelor and tea planter, James Robson, following him to India. Thinking herself in love with the charming, enigmatic forester Tam, the independent Sophie decides to follow him when he also goes to India. Set against the vivid backdrop of post WWI Britain and the changing world of India under the British Raj.

Raised in the slums of Edwardian Tyneside, spirited and out-spoken Maggie Beaton joins the ranks of the suffragettes but is soon a fugitive, spurned by family and friends. Only passionate trade unionist George Gordon stands by her but as the 1st World War looms, Maggie's endurance will be tested to the limit. A moving family drama.

Haunted by childhood poverty and eviction, Millie sees security with dashing Dan Nixon, who pursues his dream of playing professional football to escape the hardship and dangers of the mines and for a while it seems their dreams will come true. But when tragedy strikes and a terrible long-kept secret is exposed, Millie is tested to the limit.

Brought up on her parents' smallholding in Jarrow in the harsh years of the 1870s, Rose dreams of a world beyond the grime of the town, a world glimpsed at a fairytale wedding at Ravensworth as a child. Capturing the heart of steelworker William a better life is in reach. But tragedy strikes and Rose must save her young family from destitution.

1931: pretty Clara Magee is devastated by her father's suicide and forced to sell the family shop. She is in love with idealist Frank but pursued by businessman Vinnie Craven. Tempted by the glamorous life he is offering, Clara hasn't bargained for ruthless Vinnie's growing fascination for Mosley's Fascist Party. Yet the greatest shock is to come.

Rebellious Catherine (Kitty) McMullen, resentful of her new step-father and yearning to escape impoverished Jarrow, determines to educate herself.Soon streetwise Kitty is a ghost of the past and the well-spoken, well-read Catherine leaves the north-east to follow her dreams.But she encounters hardship and heartbreak on the road to self-discovery.