Nothing Is Forever


June Tate - 2002
    With the love of her life gone for ever, she determines to devote herself to the street-children who live around the docks and to free them from their poverty and squalor. But through this sacrifice comes unexpected fulfilment, for not only does Flora find her work wonderfully rewarding, but she finds a new degree of happiness through her friendship with the handsome and dedicated Dr Richard Goodwin - a man who shares her compassion and desire to help. Comforted by their closeness, Flora pushes away the thought that if only Richard weren't married to the spoilt and selfish Lydia, he may have been the one to mend her broken heart... broken heart...

Stay as Sweet as You Are


Joan Jonker - 1999
    But¬† Lucy only knows cruelty from the woman who brought her into the world. Her father, Bob, is the one shining light in her life. He tries to protect her, but he is no match for the devious wife who gives him no peace of mind and has no love for his daughter. The walls of the house are thin and Ruby Mellor's angry attacks on Lucy can be heard by their neighbours. One day, Irene Pollard decides she must do something, and she takes the girl under her wing. And two doors up, Mrs Aggie and her seafaring son, Titch, enrich Lucy's life with their sense of fun. But¬†Lucy she still craves a mother's love...

In Distant Fields


Charlotte Bingham - 2007
    Partita has invited her friend, Kitty to stay at her ancestral home, Borders Castle. The grandeur of Partita’s family seat is in stark contrast to Kitty’s home in London where she and her mother, Violet, struggle to maintain appearances despite Kitty’s father gambling away the family money. Kitty is introduced to the aristocracy — a world she finds fascinatingly decorative and theatrical. She is enthralled by it, and desperately wants to be part of this way of life that is so far removed from the genteel poverty in which she and her mother are forced to exist.But war breaks out, not only irrevocably changing society, but also the lives of these two beautiful young women. The headstrong Partita and down-to-earth Kitty become nurses, caring selflessly for men who have been horrifically injured in the trenches.In Distant Fields is about the mothers and daughters, sisters and wives who are left holding things together on the home front and caring for their men. But, more importantly, it’s about the nature of female friendship.

Home for Christmas


Lizzie Lane - 2014
    Robert is the nephew of a Lord, and Lydia a mere doctor’s daughter – and a German doctor at that. While her parentage is no hindrance to their relationship in peacetime, when war is declared Robert’s family makes it clear they no longer approve of the match. With no means of contacting Robert on the Western Front, Lydia volunteers herself, joining the Red Cross. But her love affair with Robert has had more than one consequence…

Ellie Pride


Annie Groves - 2003
    A stirring tale charting the life of Ellie Pride, a beautiful Preston girl who, when her mother dies, must forge her own way in the world. Warned by her mother on her deathbed to forsake love and passion for stability and social status, Ellie must spurn the advances of handsome Gideon Walker, despite her deep attraction to him. With her father struggling to cope with two children, Ellie is exiled to live with her aunt and uncle in Hoylake. Her mother's dream is that this will give her the chance to escape her background forever. Ellie attempts to get on with her life - but Gideon is never far from her thoughts. Even once she is trapped in a loveless marriage, their paths are destined to cross again and again with far-reaching and devastating consequences.

Rising Summer


Mary Jane Staples - 1991
    They managed splendidly - and then came the war. Tim Parkes became Gunner Parkes and Aunt May spent most of her nights in the Walworth air raid shelters with Tim keeping an eye on her whenever he was able.When he got posted to Suffolk he wasn't too pleased - Suffolk was Country, not like London at all. But in fact there were a lot of things about Sheldham that reminded him of home - the Walworth evacuees for a start. Those of them that weren't creating havoc in the Suffolk village were creating havoc in Tim's life. Minnie Beavers - ex-Camberwell - was fifteen, pert, pretty, and wildly in love with Tim. She was determined to inveigle him into marriage the minute she was old enough. Tim was equally determined to escape and choose his own girl.By the time Tim had gone away to fight the war, and Minnie had joined the WAAF, a great many things had changed in both their lives.

Angels at War


Freda Lightfoot - 2010
    After a tumultuous past, the future is finally looking rosy for the Angel sisters. Livia is set to marry handsome Jack Flint to while her sisters are contentedly living at Todd Farm. Yet Livia still dreams of resurrecting the neglected drapery business which was left to her when her father died. Racked with guilt over the tragic death of her sister Maggie, she promises never to let anyone down again and to do something worthwhile with her life. But is she prepared to jeopardise the love she shares with Jack to achieve her wish? With the wealthy and determined Matthew Grayson standing in the way of her ambitions, Livia must stay true to her heart, or risk losing everything ...

Her Rightful Inheritance


Benita Brown - 2002
    Now eighteen, Lorna Cunningham is eagerly awaiting the day when she can leave the Newcastle house in which she's known only heartache. The Arabian ancestry of the father she has never known has meant that she has been nothing more than an unwelcome guest in her grandmother's home, forced to take second place to her spoilt cousin, Rose, who has wanted for neither love nor material comforts.Lorna takes comfort from her growing friendship with bookseller Edwin Randall, who shares her love of reading and inspires her with his passion to improve the terrible conditions of the Newcastle slums. But their relationship is overshadowed by Lorna's infatuation with the handsome and charismatic Maurice Haldane - the man Rose is determined she herself will marry and who has the power to change all their lives for ever...

Liverpool Lou


Lyn Andrews - 1991
    Babsey makes sure that her family doesn't mix with the rougher people in the neighbourhood - she considers herself a cut above the local community. When her niece Louisa needs a home - her mother is dead, and her father at sea - Babsey does her duty and brings the girl into the household.But Louisa doesn't quite fit in with Babsey's plans. Although life under Aunt Babsey's roof is comfortable, Louisa is acutely aware of the desperate poverty around her. And, as she grows up into a thoughtful young woman, the harsh realities of love and betrayal, war and death, make her determined to find her own way. Louisa will eventually be made famous throughout her city - known for ever as Liverpool Lou. And she might just find love along the way...

A Fashionable Address


Pamela Evans - 1993
    Cyril Potter is a secret gambler whose debts have become so crippling that he can see no way out, and he commits suicide. Left to clear the debts, his family are forced to sell everything the own. As daughter Kate labours in a hat-making factory to support the family, she catches the eye of the wealthy factory owner. But tragedy strikes the family once more when unmarried Kate is left pregnant...

Poor Little Rich Girl


Katie Flynn - 2002
    Hester Lowe agrees to act as governess to spoilt, self-willed, little Lonnie Hetherington-Smith when they leave India to live with Lonnie's elderly aunt in Shaw Street, Liverpool. Hester speedily realises that her new employer dislikes her niece and means to make life uncomfortable for both of them. Things improve a little when they meet the poor, but happy, Bailey family who live in a court off Heyworth Street. Hester likes Dick Bailey very much, but her employer does not permit 'followers', whilst Lonnie and young Ben Bailey are deadly enemies. Then, the regime in Shaw Street changes and Hester is forced to leave the comforts of a middle-class household to make her own way in what is, to her, a strange country... Poor Little Rich Girl is sure to please the huge and growing fanbase of one of the most popular saga authors in the country, with more than two million books sold nationwide.

The Black Knight's Tune: Ruby's Story


Naomi Finley - 2019
    She abides in turmoil longing to know where she came from. This unrest has caused her to be plagued by dreams and visions of a man she calls the Black Knight and a woman with haunting green eyes. Ruby's only recollection of her past is the name Mag, until she receives a letter from friend Willow Hendricks in the South describing a slave girl that passed through her family’s plantation over twenty years ago. Does Ruby dare hope this slave child might be her? Meanwhile her job as a journalist at the Manhattan Observer––a penny newspaper––has Ruby fighting feelings for boss and friend Kipling Reed. She struggles with the impossibility of a relationship between a woman of color and a white man. But her skin color isn’t the only hindrance standing in the way of this romance. The unavailable Willow Hendricks has won the eye of Kipling. Torn by her feelings of a love that can never be, will Ruby be able to put the questions of her past to rest?

A Child Of Her Time


Maggie Bennett - 2004
    With so many young men lost in the Great War, including her own brothers, her life is empty and her future without hope. Until, desperate to break out of her mundane existence, she decides to take up the position of nursery maid in the London home of acclaimed playwright Harold Berridge.Befriended by the actress Maud Ling and thrown into the glamorous but fickle world of cinema, Phyllis falls passionately in love with Maud’s young brother Teddy. But Teddy’s heart lies elsewhere, and when tragedy strikes the Berridge household a heartbroken Phyllis is forced to leave.Six months later, Phyllis has started to rebuild her life but her world is turned upside down once more when is invited to a party at Maud Ling’s film studios. For there she falls under the spell of the charming but devious American actor, Denver Towers, with disastrous consequences. . .

Wings of the Morning


Beryl Matthews - 2003
    Her brothers join up, her sweetheart Paul becomes a fighter pilot, and Annie, desperate to help, finds herself in the WAAF, where her intelligence and warmth singles her out for a role more daring than she can ever have known. All the time, the Battle of Britain is raging in the skies above her. The country has never needed its young people more, but will Annie and her loved ones survive its darkest hour?

The Long Journey Home


Cecily Blench - 2021