Rita Bradshaw

It's winter, and in the throes of a fierce blizzard Elsie Redfern and her husband discover an unknown girl in their hay barn, about to give birth. After the young mother dies, Elsie takes the infant in and raises her as her own daughter, her precious storm child. Gina grows into a beautiful little girl, yet her safe haven turns out to be anything but. Torn away from her home and family, the child finds herself in a nightmare from which there's no...

Molly McKenzie is only eleven years old when her abusive father beats her to within an inch of her life. Escaping from the hovel she calls home, Molly is found by kind fisherfolk, sick and near death. With them she experiences the love of a family for the first time and, even though life is hard, she is content. Time passes and Molly's looking ahead to a future with the boy she loves, but then a terrible tragedy rips her life apart. Once again she's...

It's 1922 and the Depression is just beginning to rear its head in Britain, but Ruby Morgan is about to marry her childhood sweetheart and nothing can mar her happiness. Or so she thinks. An unimaginable betrayal by those she loves causes her to flee her home and family one snowy night. Crushed and heartbroken, Ruby vows that despite the odds stacked against her she will not only survive, but one day will show the ones she left behind that she's succeeded...

Bonnie Lindsay is born into a travelling fair community in the north-east in 1918, and when her mother dies just months later Bonnie's beloved father becomes everything to her. Then, at the tender age of ten years old, disaster strikes. Heartbroken, Bonnie's left at the mercy of her embittered grandmother and her lecherous step-grandfather. Five years later, the events of one terrible night cause Bonnie to flee to London, where she starts to earn...

As an only child, 15-year-old Angeline Stewart is heartbroken when her beloved parents are killed in a coaching accident and she is given into the care of her uncle. Naive and innocent, Angeline is easy prey for the handsome and ruthless Oswald Golding who is looking for a rich heiress to solve the money troubles his womanizing has caused. On her wedding night, Angeline enters a nightmare from which there is no awakening. Oswald proves to be more...

Born into the worst of families in Sunderland's filthy, crime-ridden East End, Pearl Croft's childhood is miserable. Shortly after her violent, drunken father is killed in a fight, Pearl's elder brothers are sent to prison leaving her, still a child herself, to care for her baby brothers.

It's 1926 & the Depression is claiming its victims. Hannah & her mother Miriam, have lived with Hannah's uncle & aunt since her father died. When she is forced to flee her house & the unwanted attention of her uncle, it is the grave, taciturn Jake, her friend Naomi's older brother, who shines through as Hannah's protector.

Daisy Appleby is born in a storm, and 15 years later another storm alters her fate. Her father and brothers are lost at sea, and the same night Daisy saves William, a wealthy local heir, and falls in love. Separated by their families, many years of turmoil pass before she finds happiness.