Catrin Collier

Book Five of the Brothers and Lovers series by Catrin Collier.

Allenstein, East Prussia, 1939 - Charlotte von Datski's parents hold a ball to celebrate her 18th birthday & to announce her engagement. But Hitler is about to plunge the world into war - and East Prussia will be wiped from the face of the map.

December 1915. Following heavy casualties, General Townsend withdraws his exhausted troops to the town of Kut Al Amara, Iraq. His orders - to engage as many Turkish troops as possible in a siege situation. A relief force is hastily assembled, among them Charles Reid, Tom Mason, and Michael Downe, for each of whom the advance is personal.

As the soldiers return from war-torn Europe, men and women alike discover that nothing can ever be the same again in this unforgettable novel in the tradition of Catherine Cookson and Iris Gower.

In this novel two women, Alma Moore and Bethan Powell, are forced to confront society and their own emotions. Charlie Rashenko, a Russian refugee haunted by his past, is the only man prepared to help them.

Haydn returns to his native Pontypridd as the summer season's star. It's a dream come true, but it soon turns sour when he finds his family divided. Seeking consolation in the theatre's free-living society, he is drawn to Jane Jones, the usherette.