Seasons of War - Böcker

'The end of the old world' people said about the long hot summer of 1914. It was the last season of optimism, of certainty about the future as the sun set on the Edwardian age. That summer Aunt Tilly comes to stay with her brother the Rector and his four lively daughters in the sleepy Sussex village of Ashden. Aunt Tilly's visit sparks off a chain of events which threatens to split Ashden apart, in which Agnes Pilbeam, the Rectory palourmaid, and her sweetheart Jamie find themselves bewilderingly caught up.Then in August the lamps go out all over Europe and war bursts open the straitjacket of rural village life. The war will bring tragedy, change and love as private torments and struggles are subjected to the greater need. The challenge will prove too much for some and the making of others.

March 1915. Caroline Lilley's fiancé, Reggie, is away at the Front and Caroline gives up her job and returns home at this request. Frustrated in her desire to help the war effort, she throws herself into saving the harvest by organising the village women - and runs up against Reggie's mother, the formidable Lady Hunney. Caroline's sister Felicia departs to become and ambulance driver on the Western Front and Phoebe and George eagerly await their chance to leave the Village. The mood in Ashden changes as it becomes apparent that this is going to be a war unlike any other.

Christmas 1917, and as the Lilley family gathers at the Rectory in the Sussex village of Ashden, the mood is far from festive. But while the sisters face heartache and the new year brings fresh tragedy, the Rectory opens its doors to a new world, its inhabitants strengthened by the grief and happiness shared during the long years of war.

A dramatic, heart-warming a tale of life on the sea. Set in 1813, Second Summer of War is a sequel to Come Looking for Me.With the British traitor Captain Thomas Trevelyan incarcerated on a prison hulk in Portsmouth Harbour, Princess Emeline "Emily" Louisa sails back to England and is summarily dispatched to Hartwood Hall, home of the disagreeable Duke and Duchess of Belmont. There she endures weeks awaiting Trevelyan’s trial, unable to leave the estate or find useful occupation. Relations with her guardians, chilly at best, soon escalate into a battle of wills when they attempt to marry her off in order to secure favour with her uncle, the Prince Regent. Meanwhile, England’s naval war with the United States continues to rage on the Atlantic.When Fly Austen and his friend, Dr. Leander Braden, are given Admiralty Orders to testify at the trial, they return home with the hope of seeing Emily one last time. Their journey is anything but uneventful as they encounter devastating storms, menacing ships, and a spectre that proclaims their impending doom.

Things quickly go from bad to worse as Emily, Captain Fly Austen, and young Magpie each find themselves in treacherous waters.In late September 1813, Fly Austen is ordered back to the American coast, as England’s Royal Navy has suffered a series of humiliating defeats. Forced to return to sea with a skeleton crew, Fly persuades a reluctant Leander Braden to accompany him one last time. Emily, fearing she will be left behind in Portsmouth, disguises herself as a man and steals aboard Fly’s frigate. Meanwhile, young Magpie is captured by a press gang and hustled aboard a hostile ship, only to find himself in the dangerous company of the English traitor Thomas Trevelyan.A shipwreck, a mutiny, and a bloody encounter with American ships on the Atlantic inflict devastating consequences on all.

In Come Looking for Me, a mysterious young English woman named Emily risks a crossing of the Atlantic during the War of 1812 for the promise of a new adventure in Canada. But she never arrives. Captured by Captain Trevelyan, a man as cold-blooded as his frigate is menacing, Emily is held prisoner aboard the USS Serendipity. Seeking to save herself, she makes a desperate escape overboard in the midst of a raging sea battle and is rescued by the British crew of HMS Isabelle. Yet Emily has only exchanged one form of captivity for another, and remains in peril as England escalates its fight against the United States on the Atlantic. On board the Isabelle, Emily encounters a crew of fascinating seamen and strikes up unexpected friendships, but life on a man-of-war is full of deprivations and dangers to which she is unaccustomed. Amidst heartache and tragedy at sea, she struggles to find her place among the men until a turn of events reveals her true identity. And when Trevelyan’s ship once again looms on the horizon, Emily fears losing the only man she has ever loved and falling into the hands of the only man she has ever loathed. Come Looking for Me is a rich and compelling story of love and courage, friendship and treachery, triumph and loss. With humour and poignancy, author Cheryl Cooper captures all the colour, detail, and excitement of the great ships from the golden age of sail, while bringing to life those who fought upon them. She tells a story of the bravery of the men locked in the epic, brutal struggle that was the War of 1812, and the courage of a woman who, with extraordinary determination, labours to make her own way in life and in love.