The Clifton Chronicles – serie

Ambitious and addictive, Only Time Will Tell is the first novel in Jeffrey Archer’s The Clifton Chronicles, beginning the epic tale of Harry Clifton, a working-class boy from the docks of Bristol.It is 1920, and against the backdrop of a world ravaged by conflict, Harry’s story begins with the words ‘I was told that my father was killed in the war’. Harry’s existence is defined by the death of his father and he seems destined to a life on the docks until a remarkable gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys school and entry into a world he could never have envisaged.Over the course of twenty years, as the Second World War and the fight against Hitler draws nearer, Harry will learn the awful truth about his father’s death and of his own connections to a powerful shipping family, the Barringtons. And in doing so, he will change his destiny forever . . .Richly imagined and populated with remarkable characters, The Clifton Chronicles will take you on a powerful journey, bringing to life one hundred years of family history in a story neither you, nor Harry, could ever have dreamt of.Continue the bestselling series with The Sins of the Father and Best Kept Secret.

Be Careful What You Wish For, the fourth instalment in Jeffrey Archer’s The Clifton Chronicles, opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to hospital to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been involved in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend Bruno?When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, the egregious Major Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham.Back in London, Harry and Emma’s adopted daughter Jessica wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with a fellow student who asks her to marry him. Both families are delighted until Jessica’s future mother-in-law has a visit from an old friend, who drops her particular brand of poison into the wedding chalice.Then, without warning, Cedric Hardcastle, a bluff Yorkshireman who no one has come across before, takes his place on the board of Barrington’s. This causes an upheaval that none of them could have anticipated, and will change the lives of every member of the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle’s first decision is who to support to become the next chairman of the board: Emma Clifton or Major Alex Fisher? And with that decision, the story takes yet another twist that will keep you on the edge of your seat.Continue the bestselling series with Mightier than the Sword and Cometh the Hour.

'If there were a Nobel Prize for storytelling, Archer would win' – The Daily TelegraphEngrossing and memorable, The Sins of the Father is the second novel in international bestseller Jeffrey Archer’s celebrated the Clifton Chronicles. It takes us to New York in 1939 where our hero Harry Clifton is in desperate need of help.Only days before Britain declares war on Germany, Harry joins the Merchant Navy, unable to face long-held family secrets and the fact he will never be able to marry his true love Emma Barrington. But when his ship is sunk mid-Atlantic, Harry takes the opportunity to assume the identity of one of his deceased rescuers and begin a new life.Landing in America, he quickly discovers he has made a mistake and without any way to prove his true identity, Harry is now chained to a past that could be far worse than the one he had hoped to escape . . .Brimming with intrigue, Jeffrey Archer takes readers into a world they will never want to leave as the Clifton Chronicles continues its powerful journey with family loyalties stretched to their limits and fates decided.Continue the bestselling series with Best Kept Secret and Be Careful What You Wish For.Praise for Jeffrey Archer'Probably the greatest storyteller of our age' – Mail on Sunday'Archer has a gift for plot that can only be described as genius' – The Daily Telegraph'Stylish, witty and constantly entertaining' – The Times

Fast-paced and intriguing, Mightier than the Sword is the fifth novel in international bestseller Jeffrey Archer’s the Clifton Chronicles. It moves towards the end of the 1960s as the Cliftons and the Barringtons come up against sworn enemies and new foes.Following the explosion of an IRA bomb on board the Barrington’s flagship MV Buckingham, Emma Clifton must deal with the repercussions on her family’s shipping business. Meanwhile her old adversary, Lady Virginia Fenwick, plots her downfall.Bestselling novelist Harry, Emma’s husband, is on a mission to free a fellow author imprisoned in Siberia, even if it costs him everything.Giles, his brother-in-law, a minister of the Crown, faces his own problems when a diplomatic disaster risks his bid for higher office.With its devastating twists and turns, Archer’s spellbinding the Clifton Chronicles continues to enthral readers and proves once again why Archer’s reign at the top of the charts is without parallel.Continue the bestselling series with Cometh the Hour and This Was a Man.

Thrilling and absorbing, Cometh the Hour is the sixth novel in international bestseller Jeffrey Archer’s the Clifton Chronicles and sees the Clifton and Barrington families navigate the 1970s in an epic tale of tragedy and hope.There are devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, her brother Giles Barrington and their arch enemy Lady Virginia when a suicide note is read out in court.Having fallen in love, Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics to try and rescue the woman he loves from behind the Iron Curtain.Lady Virginia faces bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to a rich, hapless American. Harry and Emma’s son, Sebastian Clifton, now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank, falls in love with the wrong girl even as his rivals plot to overthrow him. Meanwhile, his father remains determined to free a fellow author from a gulag in Siberia, following the international success of the book they wrote together, the acclaimed Uncle Joe.But then something astonishing happens that none of them could have anticipated . . .The penultimate book in the Clifton Chronicles once again showcases Jeffrey Archer’s extraordinary storytelling abilities and confirms his reputation for breathtaking twists.Continue the bestselling series with This Was a Man.

Suspenseful and mesmerizing, This Was a Man is the seventh and final novel in international bestseller Jeffrey Archer’s the Clifton Chronicles – an epic and poignant conclusion. Harry Clifton is set to write his magnum opus, and as he reflects on his days, the lives of his family continue to unfold, unravel and intertwine in ways no one could have imagined.Harry’s wife Emma completes her ten years as Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary when she receives a surprise call from Margaret Thatcher.In Whitehall, Giles Barrington discovers the truth about his wife, but is she a pawn in a larger game? Sebastian Clifton finds himself in a new role after an unexpected resignation and his talented daughter, Jessica, goes to art school but gets into trouble. Can her aunt help?Lady Virginia is about to flee the country to avoid her creditors when the death of a duchess gives her another opportunity to clear her debts and finally trump the two families.The epic saga that has charted the lives, loves and adventures of the Clifton and Barrington families reaches its stunning conclusion in this, the final heart-stopping volume from the master storyteller, Jeffrey Archer.

From the internationally bestselling author of Kane and Abel and A Prisoner of Birth comes Only Time Will Tell, the first in an ambitious new series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph.