A buried secret and a lifetime of guilt born in the dark heart of Nazi Germany England, 2001. Elizabeth has always suspected her mother habours a secret from her time as a young woman in Nazi Germany. But her mother, suffering from dementia, is lost to her now. When Elizabeth stumbles across a Nazi certificate amongst her parent's paperwork, it forces her to question the very foundations of her 1950s childhood and her first love; a childhood, she now realises, was built on lies. Elizabeth's quest to find the truth leads her to Germany where she's met with a wall of silence. She knows that beyond this wall, is the truth, a truth that exists deep within the dark and twisted soul of Hitler's Germany. Germany, 1944. 18-year-old Hannah, beautiful and naive, volunteers to work in a home for evacuated children. But Doctor Fick, a loyal Nazi, decrees that there's a better way for Hannah to serve the Fatherland. Drawn further into the doctor's distorted world, Hannah only realises what's expected of her when it's too late. Confronted with evil, Hannah makes an impossible choice, a choice that will reverberate down the generations... Historical fiction with heart and drama.

The Lost Daughter (The Love and War Series)

Literature & Fiction

Colley, R.P.G.

Literary

Rupert Colley

One violin. One curse. One hundred years. Germany, 1871. Hannah's husband, the violin maker, has produced the perfect violin. It will make their fortune. Hannah is told to look after the violin while her husband finds a buyer. She knows she's been entrusted with a great responsibility. But a powerful and disreputable businessman betrays her and she loses the violin. Her dreams of a happier life lie shattered. Distraught, Hannah predicts that all those who, for the following hundred years, play her husband's violin, will die an untimely death... And so begins the journey of the violin. From the First World War to the rise of Nazism, the Second World War and the Holocaust, through Germany's post-war guilt and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, the curse of the violin descends on all those who dare touch its strings. Who will survive the curse of the violin? Eight stories. Eight people scattered across the century, each cursed by a single violin and its everlasting Song of Sorrow. Song of Sorrow by R.P.G. Colley. Part of The Love and War Series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years: The Lost Daughter The White Venus The Woman on the Train The Black Maria My Brother the Enemy Anastasia Song of Sorrow 20th Century Historical fiction with heart and drama.

Song of Sorrow (The Love and War Series)

16 July 1942. Paris is under German occupation. Postman, Henri Moreau, is doing his early morning rounds when he sees a group of policemen arrest a group of civilians. To his horror, he realises they are Jews. Why are they rounding up the Jews, where are they taking them? Henri doesn't know, but his wife and daughter are Jews. He has to get home, he has to save them before it's too late, before they too get arrested. Part of The Love and War series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years.

The Darkness We Leave Behind (The Love and War Series)

This is how it happened... Berlin, 1933. 14-year-old Felix Stoltenberg is desperate to be friends with Klaus Beck to the point he defies his anti-Nazi father and joins the Hitler Youth. As the years pass and Hitler's grip on the nation tightens, Felix and Klaus' boyhood pranks take a sinister turn. When Felix is forced to choose between political faith and family, he knows what to do - whatever the price. 1942. Now, a young, idealistic man, still devoted to the Nazi cause, Felix's life and sense of identity fall apart when he falls in love with Stella, a Bohemian artist. Stella is beautiful, a woman of mystery and ideas, and she is Jewish.

The Mist Before Our Eyes (The Love and War Series)

Historical fiction as its best… Three engrossing novels set in World War Two Nazi-occupied France.    The Sixth Man   What’s the Worst Thing You’ve Ever Done? Would you ADMIT it if your life depended on it?   Six Frenchmen are in a Nazi prison: a doctor, a postman, a policeman, a soldier, a teacher and a priest. Tomorrow, five of the six prisoners will be executed. They have until dawn to decide which one of them should be allowed to live.   “Rupert Colley’s striking and uncommon six stories in ‘The Sixth Man’ are so remarkable in their originality; you will be intrigued and spellbound by this engrossing novel. Colley is a master storyteller, and his character-driven tales will stay in your memory for a long, long time.”   ”A beautiful and touching story. The six men’s tales will leave the reader breathless and the ending will leave you with goose bumps.”   “A real page turner. I was reading at every opportunity. A fantastic tale with an unexpected twist at the end.”    The Woman on the Train Someone saves your life. How far will you go to repay the debt?   A woman on a train saves a nervous young Frenchmen from the clutches of the Gestapo. 26 years later, the young man is now the most successful conductor in France. It is then, at the height of his fame, he receives a letter from the woman on the train, begging him to come to her aid. Honour-bound, he gladly offers to return the favour.   But when he realises precisely what repaying his debt entails, he faces a dilemma that threatens to ruin his career. Torn between those he loves and his sense of honour, his life rapidly spirals out of control.   ”Why haven't I heard of this author before? This is a little jewel box of a book.”   “The central premise is intriguing, the writing is crisp, and the story unfolds at pace. Read it in an evening.”   “Short, sharp and wonderful. Couldn't put it down. Mysterious and wonderfully written!!”    The White Venus When the ties of loyalty are severed, whom do you trust?   World War Two. France falls to the invading Germans. To their dismay, 16-year-old Pierre and his parents are forced to accommodate a German major. He is the enemy within their midst; the invader of their country, and, more pertinently, the unwanted lodger within their home.   The problem, however, is that the German is annoyingly pleasant. The major, with a son of his own, empathises with Pierre in a way Pierre’s father has never been able to. Immediately the two of them find a bond, leaving Pierre confused and his understanding of good and bad, of black and white, shattered.   ”Colley draws his characters with fine lines, illustrating both the brutality and compassion shown by individuals on both sides of this war.”   “Told with great poignancy. Loved the characters and their involvement in the story.”   “This is a book with difference.”   Historical fiction with heart and drama.

The French Occupation Trilogy: The Sixth Man, The Woman on the Train and The White Venus

Colley, Rupert

Genre Fiction

Sometimes the simplest of choices can have the most devastating of consequences. Sometimes falling in love can be a curse. Sometimes being the hard man is the hardest job. Hungary, 1949. George, Eva and Zoltan. Three people trying to live by the rules within a system that demands total obedience. George, a rising star of Hungarian football, is told to throw a game. Faced with an impossible dilemma, George has to decide - to risk everything to fulfil his dream or, for the sake of his future, obey the rules. Eva, reeling from the tragedy of losing her baby, Anastasia, falls in love at a time when love is fraught with danger. Zoltan works for the secret police where having a heart is a sign of weakness. A torn man trying to suppress the good within him, his job takes him further and further from the things he values most. Seven years later, in 1956, their destinies collide as Hungary erupts into revolution. Secrets can no longer be hidden as loyalties are pushed to the limit. Set against the violent backdrop of suppression and revolution, Anastasia is a tale of people caught in the machinations of history, where the choices you make determine your fate. And at the heart of the novel, the unseen presence of Anastasia. "Characters come alive -- you get into their heads. They are empathetic or cruel and heartless, but always interesting. There is the dark side of human nature as well as its opposite." "Skilfully developed with a suspenseful plot which keeps the story moving." "The characters are very human, and the descriptions of these tragic events make for an excellent read." "Impactful. Heart-wrenching. An important read." Rupert Colley is the founder, editor and writer of the bestselling 'History In An Hour' series of ebooks and audio, published by HarperCollins. Historical fiction with heart and drama.

Anastasia (The Love and War Series)

The past is always with us; it’s just that sometimes we don’t see it. Summer 2004. Tom Searight can’t relate to his 14-year-old daughter, Charlotte, or his cantankerous old father, Robert. But his life really disintegrates when he discovers his wife of 15 years, Julie, is having an affair with Charlotte’s favourite teacher. A chance letter from France takes Tom on a journey to learn about the life of his great uncle, Guy Searight, a veteran of the First World War. But as Tom learns more about his family’s tragic past and his own father’s turbulent childhood, his future becomes increasingly uncertain. Can Tom learn from the lessons of the past to save his marriage and his family? “The handling of the situation, from seven different viewpoints, is extraordinary! Absolutely brilliant! I wonder at Colley’s talent with words!” “The links to family, the events and their consequences on individuals, the resultant effects on their behavior, and the impact on four generations was masterfully done.” “The characterizations are wonderful.” “This is a great book. It is strong, sensitive, well-written, and I love it! It spoke to me on many levels.” “Rupert Colley is such a clever writer who grabs the reader’s attention in the first couple of pages.” “Have just read ‘The Red Oak’, and hardly took a breath. I thoroughly enjoyed every page. You can tell a good author by the way the opening of the book grips you, wants to make you read on, and this story really does all that. Colley made the family so real, it was almost as if we were there with them. A wonderful book.” Historical fiction with heart and drama.

The Red Oak (The Searight Saga)

Someone saves your life. How far will you go to repay the debt? A historical fiction novella. World War Two, summer, 1942, Nazi-occupied France. A nervous young man sits on a train; his simple mission - to deliver a message on behalf of the resistance. The Germans ask for his papers and his nerves give way. An older woman, sitting opposite, intervenes and rescues him from the clutches of the Gestapo. Paris, 1968. The young man is now the most successful music conductor in France; a household name throughout the land. Yet, he still wonders, 26 years on, why did the woman on the train intercede on his behalf? Without her, he knows his life would have turned out very differently. He owes her everything. Unexpectedly, in the midst of the '68 Parisian riots, he receives a letter from her, begging him to come to her aid. Honour-bound, he gladly offers to return the favour. When he realises precisely what repaying his debt entails, he faces a dilemma that threatens to ruin his career. Torn between those he loves and his sense of honour, his life rapidly spirals out of control. Who exactly was The Woman on the Train? A WW2 / Holocaust novel from the founder of History In An Hour. Historical fiction with drama and heart. A novel that follows in the footsteps of Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See, Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and Charles Belfoure's The Paris Architect. "Why haven't I heard of this man before? This is a little jewel box of historical fiction. The central premise is intriguing, the writing is crisp, and the story unfolds at pace." "Most intriguing, wonderful book. Everyone should read this." "Short, sharp and wonderful. Couldn't put it down." "What a ride... Colley takes you on more than a train ride with this story. Historical fiction with heart and drama.

The Woman on the Train

When love becomes your greatest enemy Moscow, 1935. Stalin is in power. People live in constant fear - fear of each other, fear of being denounced, and fear of Stalin's secret police, the NKVD. Ordinary citizens live behind a mask - a public face that enables them to toe the Party line and conceal their true feelings and personal thoughts. One such citizen is thirty-year-old Maria. She has a past - the sort that, if known, would cost her her freedom. So monstrous her crime, she is forced to live a lie. Maria marries Petrov, a Party activist, not out of love, but as a means of forming a new identity, to escape her past. Her existence is safe - but dull. Until the day she meets Dmitry. Dmitry is an artist, whose work allows him a standard of living above the average Muscovite. But Dmitry feels straitjacketed by what he's allowed to paint. Instead of the state approved rural idyll of his latest commission, he aspires to paint the female form. But when Maria offers to pose for him, he refuses - until he falls in love with her. Dmitry's artistic aspirations and Maria's yearning for a new life force them to risk everything in the name of love and freedom. The Black Maria is a novel about truth - the distortion of it, and the fear of it. And at the heart of the novel, is Maria's brutal past. When love comes unexpectedly, it threatens to expose the truth and destroy her. "I'm seriously in awe. It's a remarkable piece of historical fiction. It's dark, gritty, and really quite disturbing. And heartbreaking at the same time. A brilliant achievement!" "A disquieting, well-told tale in which the author delves deeply and effectively into the minds of his characters. Is it entertaining? Yes. You'll be glad you read this novel." "Hard-hitting, dark and, at times, unpalatable. It is also honest." "I don't recall being quite as thoroughly chilled by Solzhenitsyn's works as I was with Rupert Colley's The Black Maria." "Wonderfully written, this is a novel that lives long in the memory. Highly recommended." "An absorbing if confronting read, and stayed with me long after I'd finished it." Rupert Colley is the founder, editor and writer of the highly successful History In An Hour series of ebooks and audio, published by HarperCollins. Historical fiction with heart and drama.

The Black Maria

My Brother the Enemy

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Books by Rupert Colley