HISTORICAL STORIES of EXILE
A collection of short stories by thirteen award-winning authors:
Annie Whitehead, J.G. Harlond, Helen Hollick, Anna Belfrage, Elizabeth Chadwick, Loretta Livingstone, Elizabeth St.John, Alison Morton, Charlene Newcomb, Marian L Thorpe, Amy Maroney, Cathie Dunn, Cryssa Bazos. With an introduction by Deborah Swift.
Exile: a risky defiance, a perilous journey, a family’s tragic choice – or an individual’s final gamble to live. Exile: voluntary or enforced, a falling-out between friends, a lost first love, a prejudiced betrayal – or the only way to survive persecution?
In this historical fiction anthology thirteen authors (they are not superstitious!) have written exclusive short stories on the theme of exile. Some are based on true history, others are speculative fiction. All mine the depths of human emotions – fear, hope, love, and the fortitude to survive.
VICTORY IN EXILE DAY
by J.G. Harlond
It’s V.E.Day – Victory in Europe and the end of World War II with Germany. But does this mean a different end for two particular ladies?
AN ENGLISH COUNTRY TOWN
7-40 P.M. ON THE 7th MAY, 1945
‘In accordance with arrangements between three great powers, tomorrow, Tuesday, will be treated as Victory in Europe Day . . .’
A tea towel in one hand, a saucepan in the other, Eva paused and stared at the kitchen wireless set. She smiled, then laughed out loud and danced a polka around the big table with the saucepan. Then she stopped and took a deep breath. This would change things on her own domestic front…
read the full story in HISTORICAL STORIES of EXILE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The idea behind Victory In Exile originated with what happened to a good friend’s mother and grandmother during the Second World War. The family, Roman Catholic academics, lost their home and livelihood in Warsaw and were forced into exile. The women walked from Warsaw to the Black Sea coast, then found their way via Turkey and Spain to London. The espionage aspect is based on bits of what one might call British secret history.
Characters mentioned in the story and other stranger-than-fiction real events can be found in my WWII historical crime series Bob Robbins Home Front Mysteries –
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08BP128T8 Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BP128T8 Amazon USA
Lesser-known and often surprising bits of European history also feature in The Chosen Man Trilogy about a 17th century rogue named Ludo da Portovenere who acts as a secret agent for the Vatican and various European monarchs.
ABOUT J.G. HARLOND
Secret agents, skulduggery, and crime that crosses continents.
British author of historical crime fiction, J.G. (Jane) Harlond writes award-winning, page-turning novels set in the mid-17th and mid-20th centuries. Each story weaves fictional characters into real events. She describes her WWII Bob Robbins Home Front Mysteries as ‘cosy crime with a sinister twist’. Prior to becoming a full-time author, Jane taught English and World Literature in international colleges. She also wrote school text books for many years using her married name.
Jane is married to a retired Spanish naval officer and they have a large, grown-up family living in various parts of Europe and the USA. After travelling widely (she has lived in or visited most of the places that feature in her novels) they are now settled near Málaga in Spain.
J.G. Harlond is a member of the British Crime Writers Association and the Dorothy Dunnett Society.
“A gripping wartime mystery with an intricate web of characters and secrets, steeped in historical detail” (Readers’ Favorite reviewer)
Website: https://www.jgharlond.com/
Buy Jane’s books on Amazon:
(Also available from other online stores or order from any bookshop.)
A Bob Robbins Home Front Mystery – Book One.
On a stormy night in March 1941, Maisie Rose Hawkins leaves her drunk husband, Stan, out in the rain–and he disappears. Detective Sergeant Bob Robbins and young PC Laurie Oliver are called out to investigate and discover that Stan’s small fishing boat is gone, the rope sawn through. As Bob searches for answers, it becomes apparent that in this small Cornish village where everyone knows everything about everybody, nobody quite knows the truth.
Beneath the surface of village life, a fierce battle is being waged against wartime deprivations. Shopkeepers quietly evade rationing restrictions. Food inspector Archibald Bantry, charged with enforcing those restrictions, dies in a suspicious car crash. Various leads connect a sea cave full of smuggled black-market goods to the missing Stan Hawkins. And what seems like the work of local malcontents becomes more complex and dangerous when Bob stumbles on the truth in a disused copper mine, where a much deadlier affair is underway.
