When her beloved father dies, Juliet and her mother, the difficult but vulnerable Agnes, are left to fend for themselves. When Agnes lands a job as a seamstress for a titled family, things appear to be looking up. But just as the pair begin to find their feet, Juliet finds herself defenceless and alone.Without her mother to protect her, Juliet becomes the victim of a traumatic incident and is left to face an impossible dilemma. She flees to Manchester seeking support from her estranged family but comes up against her formidable grandmother, who is determined to bend Juliet to her will. It will take all Juliet’s ingenuity to escape the clutches of her ruthless grandmother and make her own way in life.

    Erica and Simon Dunmore have been happily married for fifteen years. The only thing that casts a shadow over Rica's happiness is her failure to have a baby and Simon realises he would do anything to provide her with the child she so desperately craves. Then unexpectedly he brings home a beautiful baby boy whose mother has given him up for adoption and Rica cannot believe her luck - they can be a proper family at last. Little does she realise the horror that lies ahead when her husband and son go missing...

    She's sent to an orphanage in Blackpool, but the master has an eye for a pretty young lass. Grace won't be his victim, so she runs, destitute, into the night. In Blackpool, she finds a home with the kindly Sheila and Peggy - and meets a lovely airman. But it's 1938, and war is on the horizon. Will Grace ever find the happiness and home she deserves?

    Kitty Clegg has always accepted the hard work of her job as a kitchen maid at the manor farm. But now, at sixteen, she seizes the chance to go up in the world and become a lady's maid. Handsome Jack Thorndyke has held Kitty's adoring gaze more than once. As he prepares his gleaming threshing engine for its winter work, he finally asks her to be his chosen Harvest Nell when the last of the golden Lincolnshire corn is cut. Carried away by her excitement, Kitty fails to heed the warnings whispered into her ear that Jack is far from the marrying kind. Worse still, his playful charm has attracted another - a young girl far above his station. Will Kitty's dreams be scattered like Chaff upon the wind? Or can she hold on to a very special kind of love: a love which will bring both heartache and joy to the manor in the turbulent decades to come?

    Perfect for fans of Lily Baxter, Ellie Dean and Katie Flynn.Bryony and Hannah are sisters, but they couldn't be more different, and war has brought even more of a rift between them. Bryony is happiest where her family and loved ones are - at Combe Lodge, the family home - and these uncertain times have brought them all closer together. But Hannah is young and headstrong. No one will stop her from doing what she wants - and this time she's decided to flee to Jersey.Even though Hannah has left, at Combe Lodge, everyone else is pitching in with the war effort. The family home fills with evacuees and Bryony is doing her bit, flying planes at the nearby Combe Lodge Airlines. But despite all that is going on with war, Bryony knows that above everything she needs to reach out to Hannah. Only she will be able to keep her flighty younger sister's feet on the ground. But is Bryony too late to help her? Will Hannah ever come home?

    The residents of Ruby Street in London's East End are celebrating the new Queen's coronation. It's a day of joy of laughter, a new beginning for a nation still in the grip of rationing, still suffering the aftermath of the Blitz. But for Rose Weaver, the day ends in tragedy when her husband Eddie is arrested on suspicion of theft. It's only the first of several shocks as Rose discovers some unpleasant facts about the man she married eight years before, the man she thought she knew so well.Struggling to provide for herself and her two daughters, Rose realises that she'll need the help of family, friends and the good neighbours of Ruby Street if she's to have any chance of pulling through.And when a handsome salesman knocks at her door, it's hard to resist temptation . . .

    Twins Lester and Lillia Holdsworth are destined for the stage. Lester is a brilliant pianist; Lillia a magnificent singer. But their cruel father has other ideas for their future. Lester is sent to a military academy, while Lillia must marry Lord Dalton – a self-righteous, pompous friend of her father’s looking for a young wife to give him an heir.Yet their plans to defy their father’s wishes are put on hold when war breaks out in 1914. Suddenly Lester is flying planes for the Royal Flying Corps and Lillia is using her skills as a nurse to help those wounded at home, and then abroad. For both twins, the fighting brings hardships and difficult choices. They wait in hope, like the rest of Europe, for the war to end and the music to start again.

    That's what the locals are saying about Llandegwen, deep in the Welsh valleys. The village choir, once a source of pride for the small mining community, has been forced to disband; the elderly choirmaster heartbroken by the empty seats belonging to those who'll never return from the battlefields. The arrival of a young war widow from the East End with her little boy sets tongues wagging, not least when rumours abound that she's looking to revive the choir. Can the community set aside their grief and lift their voices, and the village's hopes, once more?

    

    With her husband, Tom, away fighting in the Second World War, she has only her unreliable sister to help her and she has almost given up hope. She is completely devastated when Tom is reported missing, presumed dead. As the months pass and she struggles to come to terms with her loss, Flora is swept off her feet by a handsome American soldier. But he cannot offer the stability that Flora and her family desperately need. And when another terrible tragedy strikes the family, Flora must decide what is really important…

    However, Lucy’s sweet, spirited charm slowly wins over her new family, and as she overcomes the trauma of her childhood, she grows up inspired to become a doctor, just like her father.But studying medicine in London takes Lucy far from her home in Hull and the people she loves, and she has to battle to be accepted in a man’s world.With the dark clouds of the First World War gathering on the horizon, an even greater challenge approaches. Can a woman find her place on the front line of battle? Will Lucy be able to follow her dreams – and find love – in a world shattered by war? Val Wood's wonderful historical sagas are perfect for readers of Dilly Court, Maggie Hope and Rosie Goodwin.

    A machinist at Rubins clothing factory in the East End, she dreams of a more glamorous life. When she meets Tony Hanford, the young and handsome proprietor of a small jeweller's shop in Bond Street, Geraldine is propelled into a new world – but it comes at a heavy price...

    Keep the family together, that's what her old mum always said. Put up and shut up. And that's what everyone else did around there. Essex, 1959. Flo earns her money as a scrubber, cleaning the cruise ships and dreaming of a day when she might sail away from her life in the Dwellings, the squalid tenements of Tilbury docks. Then the Blundell family are evicted from their home.Fred, Flo's husband, finds work at Monday's, a utopian factory town. Suddenly, it seems like everything is on the up for Flo Blundell and her children. Even Jeanie, Flo's sulking teenage daughter, seems to be thawing a little in her shiny new surroundings. But when Flo's abusive husband Fred starts drinking again, he jeopardises the family's chance to escape poverty for good.Flo is faced with a terrible decision. Must she fight to keep her family together? Or could she strive for the life of her dreams - the kind of life she could have when her ship comes in?

    Perfect for the fans of Jo Cox and Rosie Goodwin. The boom years immediately after the Great War bring nothing but happiness for wealthy industrialist Wigmore Stratfield-Whyte and his wife Clarissa – until tragedy robs them of their greatest treasure. Many years later, an horrific fatal accident brings young Meg Chandler, a spirited farmer's daughter, into their lives. Meg wants nothing to do with them, but Clarissa is drawn irresistibly towards the bereaved girl and will move heaven and earth to help her. Will Meg allow Clarissa into her own shattered life, and can the two share a future happiness together? And will Meg's new acquaintances bring her the contentment she craves – or seek to destroy her? Set in the Kent countryside in the years leading up to the Second World War, this compelling saga tingles with drama, tension and an overwhelming sense of love.

    1943, when hundreds of US Marines arrive at a quiet Cornish town, two lives will never be the same again.Trapped in a small town resistant to change, Bette can’t resist handsome GI, Chad. But when reality draws in, Bette realises that their love was based on empty promises… Meanwhile Bette’s sister Sarah, is tormented by her possessive husband, but even his jealous attempts to keep her out of temptation can't prevent Sarah falling for officer Charlie. Caught in the very worst of times with the turmoil and upheaval of war all around them, can these sisters find a brighter future for tomorrow? A compelling family drama for fans for Maureen Lee and Katie Flynn. Praise for Freda Lightfoot ’Freda's book was a joy to read for her characters were so believable and richly drawn I really cared what happened to them and interspersed with the story was the arrival of the Americans, who caused such a furore in that small Cornish town as D Day approaches, And when World War 2 grinds to a halt, people's lives are changed for ever. It was a real page turner with a very satisfying end.’ - Anne Bennettt