After an early career as a radio producer, Lydia Syson turned from the spoken to the written word, developing an enduring obsession with history. Her work, often loosely inspired by family history, explores distant places and historical events with passion and sophistication. Syson's writing offers readers engaging and thoughtful narratives that delve into the past. She crafts compelling stories that resonate with a deep understanding of historical contexts.
A family of settlers from New Zealand are the sole inhabitants of a remote volcanic island. For two years they have struggled with the harsh reality of trying to make this unforgiving place a paradise they can call their own.
Paris, 1871. Four young people will rewrite their destinies. Paris is in revolt. After months of siege at the hands of the Prussians, a wind of change is blowing through the city, bringing with it murmurs of a new revolution. Alone and poverty-stricken, sixteen-year-old Zephyrine is quickly lured in by the ideals of the city's radical new government, and she finds herself swept away by its promises of freedom, hope, equality and rights for women. But she is about to fall in love for a second time, following a fateful encounter with a young violinist. Anatole's passion for his music is soon swiftly matched only by his passion for this fierce and magnificent girl. He comes to believe in Zephyrine's new politics - but his friends are not so sure. Opera-singer Marie and photographer Jules have desires of their own, and the harsh reality of life under the Commune is not quite as enticing for them as it seems to be for Anatole and Zephyrine. And when the violent reality of revolution comes crashing down at all their feet, can they face the danger together - or will they be forced to choose where their hearts really lie?
An epic romance set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil WarSpain, 1936. And George - familiar George from home - is not far behind, in pursuit of Felix ... As Spain fights for its freedom against tyranny, Felix battles a conflict of the heart.
Sixteen-year-old Peggy has been putting on a brave face since the fall of France, but now the enemy is overhead, and the rules are changing all the time. Staying on the right side of the law proves harder than she expects when a plane crash-lands in the Marsh: it's Peggy who finds its pathetic, broken pilot; and a young Polish man, Henryk.