So Many Children


Anne Baker - 2002
    Doctors have told her mother that, after fourteen pregnancies, she is too frail to survive another, but they will do nothing more. Beth is determined to help, but, in 1920, birth control is a taboo subject, and her quest for knowledge is thwarted at every turn. Meanwhile Beth has fallen for Andrew Langford, a hospital lab technician, who she hopes will take her away from the tenements for good. But will Beth ever find the love and happiness that she deserves?

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...

Cockney Orphan


Carol Rivers - 2006
    The Isle of Dogs, heart of London's docklands, suffers the first terrible night of a nine-month Blitz. But for Connie Marsh, the discovery of an orphaned baby boy amongst the rubble brings a glimmer of hope to a time of darkness and suffering. She also finds herself falling in love with handsome Vic Campion, the man who helped her rescue the child they've named Lucky. But Connie's happiness is not to last. When his call-up papers arrive, Vic leaves for the navy - and Connie knows she might never see him again. And when a sinister figure emerges, claiming to be Lucky's grandfather, she is terrified of losing the child, too. Will she turn for comfort to Clint Hershey, the dashing GI who makes no secret of his admiration for her? Will she stay true to Vic, the man she really loves? Previously published with the title Connie of Kettle Street.

Storms Gather Between Us


Clare Flynn - 2019
    Since escaping his family’s notoriety in Australia Will Kidd has spent a decade sailing the seas, never looking back. Content to live the life of a wanderer, everything changes in a single moment when he comes face to face with a ghost from his past on a cloudy beach in Liverpool.The daughter of an abusive zealot, every step of Hannah Dawson's life has been laid out for her... until she meets Will by chance and is set on a new path. Their love is forbidden and forces on all sides divide them, but their bond is undeniable. Now, they will have to fight against all the odds to escape the chains of their histories and find their way back to one another. A compelling tale of family secrets and love against the odds, perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy and Gill Paul. Praise for Storms Gather Between Us 'Another great book by Clare Flynn’ Reader Review‘A really gripping and moving pre WWII story’ Reader Review‘I would recommend this book without hesitation’ Reader Review‘Very descriptive, immersive and well written. This book is guaranteed to make you turn each and every page.’ Reader Review‘I was totally gripped from the first page’ Reader Review

The Docklands Girls


June Tate - 2016
    Working as a supervisor on a production line for planes, Hildy believes she is doing her part to help with the war effort. But troubles at home, with her dependent and overly-protective mother, make it harder for her to findhappiness as she hides her relationship with an American GI.Meanwhile, Cora has lost both her parents in the Blitz and is still reeling from the devastating loss. Along with her friend, Belle, the two young women turn to the dark streets of Southampton to work on the game, wishing to raise enough money for a new beginning elsewhere and put their pasts behind them.For all three women, the war provides challenges and hardships that they will only emerge from by maintaining courage, strength and, above all, hope.

A Mother's Sacrifice: The most moving and page-turning saga you'll read this year


Jennie Felton - 2020
    

The Doorstep Child


Annie Murray - 2017
    . . Evie spent her early years left outside on the step. With a drunk for a father and a neglectful mother, all little Evie has ever craved is a safe home and a normal existence. Her young eyes had seen so much but this never tainted her spirit. If it wasn't for her best friend Gary, and friendly dog called Whisky - Evie might never have made it to the sixteenth birthday.At sixteen she meets Ken, a sweet brown-eyed boy, not much older than she is. Perhaps her fortunes have changed? But no sooner does she give over her heart, she is betrayed, not for the first time in her young life... Will Evie ever find the love and warmth she's always craved?

The Boy with No Boots


Sheila Jeffries - 2015
    His parents Annie and Levi are struggling to make ends meet, both suffering with illness and poverty. Freddie is an outsider at school, misunderstood and angry. They need their luck to change.Unbeknown to his parents, Freddie holds the key to their future. He has a gift, a gift he has told no one about. If he can learn how to ovecome his fears, he could use it to change all their lives for ever ... Searching to overcome hardship and prejudice, can Freddie find love and happiness or will mistrust ruin his life?For fans of nostalgic saga, this is a gripping saga from the bestselling author of Solomon's Tale.

A Whisper To The Living


Ruth Hamilton - 1989
    When the doctor finally got through the nine-foot drifts of snow, mother and daughter were in a pretty bad way, but both the new-born Annie and her exhausted mother - a spinner in the cotton mill - were fighters, tough and determined not to let the world knock them down.They needed to be tough, for when Annie's father was killed in the war, Nancy married again. And Eddie Higson - once he'd courted and won Nancy Byrne - turned into a nightmare of a man, terrorizing the young girl with one secret evil after another.She had two friends who helped her through these bad years. Martin Cullen, rough, uneducated, loyal, who knew he wasn't good enough for her, and David Pritchard, the doctor who had supported her through the worst times and who had bad problems of his own.Together they watched her grow into a beautiful young woman, desperately fighting the legacy of her childhood.

The Mother and Baby Home


Sheila Newberry - 2020
    

A Daughter's Gift


Maggie Hope - 2012
    A daughter’s courage... When Elizabeth and her four sibling are orphaned, she and her brother are sent to a children’s home; their younger sisters into foster care.Life in the home is hard, but she is determined to look after her brother and make a better life for them both. Working as a nurse gives her a purpose but she risks everything by falling for wounded officer Jack Benson. Far above her in wealth and station, Elizabeth cannot marry him and she risks losing her nursing place if there is any hint of impropriety about her conduct.Then Elizabeth learns that her sister, Jenny, has been adopted by an abusive farmer. Torn between her hopeless love for Jack and her sister, must Elizabeth make an extreme sacrifice to reunite her family?

Pack Up Your Troubles


Anne Bennett - 2000
    Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Annie Groves.Maeve Brannigan is only eighteen when she leaves her rural home in County Donegal and moves to Birmingham, where she falls in love with handsome Brendan Hogan. But married life isn’t as idyllic as she’d imagined, and when Maeve falls pregnant with their first child, she soon realises that Brendan isn’t the man she thought he was.Saddled with a violent husband and with two young’uns needing her protection, Maeve bears her life as best she can. After a particularly vicious attack, she is forced to flee back to Ireland – but her presence is greeted with open hostility by the close-knit catholic community that she was once so eager to escape. Driven away to face her abusive husband, Maeve’s future looks bleak. Will she find the strength to break free and make the prospect of a better life a reality rather than a distant dream?

One of Us Buried


Johanna Craven - 2021
    She is put to work at the female factory of Parramatta; a place where the women’s only hope of food and lodgings is to offer their bodies to the settlement’s men. Nell is given shelter by Lieutenant Blackwell, a brooding soldier to whom she is inexplicably drawn. Despite warnings from the other women, Blackwell’s motives seem decent, and beneath the roof of a military officer, Nell sees a chance to become more than just a convict woman sent to the factory to be forgotten. But tensions are high in New South Wales, with the young colony teetering on the edge of a convict rebellion. And as Nell treads a dangerous line between obedience and power, she learns the role of a factory lass is to remain silent – or face a walk to the gallows.

A Scattering Of Daisies


Susan Sallis - 1984
    Will Rising had dragged himself from humble beginnings to his own small tailoring business in Gloucester - and on the way he'd fallen violently in love with Florence, refined, delicate, and wanting something better for her children. March was the eldest girl, the least loved, the plain, unattractive one who, as the family grew, became more and more the household drudge. But March, a strange, intelligent, unhappy child, had inherited some of her mother's dreams. March Rising was determined to break out of the round of poverty and hard work, to find wealth, and love, and happiness.

Villa Normandie


Kevin Doherty
    The Normandy coastal village of Caillons is under German occupation, its villagers struggling to survive. With her husband forced into compulsory service for the German Reich, Jeanne Dupré, mother of two adolescent daughters, risks everything to lead the local Resistance cell.Life becomes even more dangerous with the arrival of British agent Daniel Benedict. He needs Jeanne's help to complete his mission, vital to Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings. But Jeanne is suspicious that they are not fighting for the same outcome. Their joint foe is Jürgen Graf, a Nazi oberleutnant set on wiping out the local Resistance. Aware that a spy is at large, Graf is on a ruthless mission to hunt Benedict down. With the help of a network of Catholic priests, Benedict penetrates the heart of the Nazis’ defences against Allied invasion, the Atlantic Wall. As the lives of Jeanne and Benedict become increasingly intertwined can they stay true to themselves? Will they have to sacrifice all in their fight for freedom..? ‘Villa Normandie’ is a moving historical novel, presenting an accurate picture of life under Nazi occupation. It is thoroughly detailed, meticulously researched and vividly authentic - depicting the turbulent world of the French resistance and the struggle of the French people for freedom.