The Storms of War

3 primary works

The Storms of War

by Kate Williams

Published 3 July 2014

The first novel in esteemed TV historian Kate Williams's groundbreaking new series which opens in 1914. For fans of ATONEMENT, BIRDSONG and DOWNTON ABBEY.

In the idyllic early summer of 1914, life is good for the de Witt family. Rudolf and Verena are planning the wedding of their daughter...

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The first novel in esteemed TV historian Kate Williams's groundbreaking new series which opens in 1914. For fans of ATONEMENT, BIRDSONG and DOWNTON ABBEY.

In the idyllic early summer of 1914, life is good for the de Witt family. Rudolf and Verena are planning the wedding of their daughter Emmeline, while their eldest son, Arthur, is studying in Paris and Michael is just back from his first term at Cambridge. Celia, the youngest of the de Witt children, is on the brink of adulthood, and secretly dreams of escaping her carefully mapped-out future and exploring the world.

But the onslaught of war changes everything and soon the de Witts find themselves sidelined and in danger of losing everything they hold dear. As Celia struggles to make sense of the changing world around her, she lies about her age to join the war effort and finds herself embroiled in a complex plot that puts not only herself but those she loves in danger.

With gripping detail and brilliant empathy, Kate Williams tells the story of Celia and her family as they are shunned by a society that previously embraced them, torn apart by sorrow, and buffeted and changed by the storms of war.

The Edge of the Fall

by Kate Williams

Published 19 November 2015

In the aftermath of the Great War, the de Witt family are struggling to piece together the shattered fragments of their lives.

Rudolf and his wife Verena, still reeling from the loss of their second son, don't know how to function in the post-war world. Stoneythorpe Hall has become...

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In the aftermath of the Great War, the de Witt family are struggling to piece together the shattered fragments of their lives.

Rudolf and his wife Verena, still reeling from the loss of their second son, don't know how to function in the post-war world. Stoneythorpe Hall has become an empty shell with no servants to ensure its upkeep.

Celia, the de Witt's youngest daughter, is still desperate to spread her wings and see more of the world. To escape Stoneythorpe and the painful secrets that lie there, she moves to London and embraces life and love in the Roaring Twenties.

Into the Darkness

by Kate Williams

Published 7 August 2018

In the glittering city of 1920s New York, Celia is hunting for her son Michael, who was taken from her at birth. In her desperation to find him, thwarted at every turn, she looks to the valiant girls of an underground flapper army and a runaway boy for help....Read more

In the glittering city of 1920s New York, Celia is hunting for her son Michael, who was taken from her at birth. In her desperation to find him, thwarted at every turn, she looks to the valiant girls of an underground flapper army and a runaway boy for help. Then the Great Depression erupts and everything seems lost. But the Depression brings Michael to her, and although Celia has lost her brother and her business, she has her child. They return to England, and Celia finds her family poor and in desperate need. But Celia's attempt to save her family -- and to keep everybody's secrets -- is so all consuming that she doesn't see what's going on around her. It seems to Celia that she has lost everything. But the world around her is watching, and hope is on the horizon. But there are big decisions to make -- and Celia will have to risk everything to save her family. -- adapted from book jacket.