Rosie Goodwin
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Nuneaton, 1935. Kathy has grown up at Treetops home for children, where Sunday and Tom Branning have always cared for her as one of their own. She enjoys her life at Treetops Manor, surrounded by her beloved horses, and with a future as a nurse ahead of her, she could wish for nothing more. But when Tom dies suddenly in a riding accident, life at Treetops will never be the same again. Kathy is distraught, and Sunday, overwhelmed by grief, leaves the...
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Precious Stones volume 3
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Amber Ainsley works for the wealthy Greenwoods. But when Amber falls pregnant with Mr Barnaby Greenwood's illegitimate child, he casts her out, leaving her homeless and without an income. Amber flees to Whitby where she stays with her uncle until her child is born. Upon discovering this, Barnaby offers to find a family to raise Amber's daughter, to save her going to the workhouse. Broken-hearted but wanting the best for her child, Amber hands her...
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1885. Ruby Carter works hard in her parents' bakery. Whilst life isn't easy, she's happy enough - her gentle mother protects young Ruby from her cruel father and loves her unconditionally. So, when her mother falls ill, Ruby is heartbroken and when, from her deathbed, her mother reveals that Ruby was adopted the young girl is distraught. Stricken by grief and alone with the violent man she called her father, Ruby feels she has no choice but to flee....
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Zaffre
Pub. Date
2023
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Nottingham, 1875. With their father missing and their mother suddenly passing, Esme and Gabriel are forced to track down their estranged grandfather in Lincolnshire. Cold and unwelcoming, he is reluctant to take them in, but aware of his standing as the village vicar, he knows he must protect his reputation, and allow the children to stay with him. Esme's relief at finding refuge soon turns to despair when Gabriel is sent to boarding school, leaving...
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1896, Nuneaton. Left on the doorstep of Treetops Children's Home, young Kitty captures the heart of her guardian, Sunday Branning, who has never been blessed with a child of her own. Kitty brings sunshine and joy wherever she goes. But then she is summoned to live in London with her birth mother. At first London offers excitement and adventure. With her delicate beauty and the voice of an angel, Kitty could have a promising singing career, plus a...
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Pious young Grace Kettle escapes the world of her unsavoury and bullying father to train to be a nun. But when she meets the dashing and devout Father Luke her world is turned upside down. Her faith is tested and she is driven to make a scandalous and life-changing choice - one she may well spend the rest of her days seeking forgiveness for.
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2019
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18-year-old Flora Butler is going up in the world. She has the prized position of lady's maid to young Constance Ogilvie, and is able to provide for her beloved parents and four younger siblings. She has even fallen in love, and though she does not feel quite ready to marry the charming Jamie Branning, her future seems clear. But Flora's life is turned upside down when her mistress's father dies in a tragic accident. Connie is forced to move to New...
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Nuneaton, 1911. When Holly Farthing's overbearing grandfather tries to force her to marry a dowdy widower twice her age she finally says no. Refusing to support her any longer, Holly flees to London, bringing her best friend and maid, Ivy, with her. In the big smoke, Holly searches for the father she's never met and begins nurse training in the local hospital where she meets the dashing Doctor Parkin. Kind and compassionate, he is everything that...
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Pub. Date
2023
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Nuneaton, 1850. Growing up on a canal boat has meant life for young Saffie Doyle has been hard. Her mother, Olivia, was cast out by her family when she fell in love with Saffie's father, a lowly boatman named Reuben. But as the years passed, Reuben has become a bitter and cruel drunk, forced to work for local crook Seth Black. Saffie dreamed of becoming a teacher, despite her father's insistence that she had no need to read and write. Keen to nurture...
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Zaffre
Pub. Date
2020
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1850. When Opal Sharp finds herself and her younger siblings suddenly orphaned and destitute, she thinks things can get no worse. But soon three of them - including Opal - are struck down with the illness that took their father, and her brother Charlie is forced to make an impossible decision. Unable to afford a doctor, he knows the younger children will not survive. So, unbeknownst to Opal, Charlie takes their younger siblings to the workhouse. When...
11) Our fair Lily
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Pub. Date
2024
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Nuneaton, 1875. Lily Moon, the local miner's daughter, spends her days as a parlour maid for Lord and Lady Bellingham at Oakley Manor, on the outskirts of Nuneaton. She's always been happy with her lot in life, and never expected more. But one day, everything changes when she temporarily becomes lady's maid to the Bellingham's daughter, Arabella, who is pregnant with the illegitimate child of her lover, and about to be unhappily married off to a man...
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Pub. Date
2022
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Warwickshire, 1875. Emerald Pritchard has lived a privileged life with her parents and her younger sister Abigail in the stately Astley House on the outskirts of Nuneaton. But all that suddenly changes when her father disappears, leaving the family in debt. They are forced to throw themselves on the mercy of Emerald's uncle, who begrudgingly allows them a small cottage within the grounds of his farm. Desperate to find work, Emerald is forced to travel...
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Growing up in extreme poverty in London, Pearl thinks life can get no worse. But when her parents discover there's yet another baby on the way, they have to tighten the belt even further. Pearl's mother decides to send her and her younger sister Eliza to the workhouse, where they are forced into a new life of hardship and struggle. Pearl's hopes are raised when the workhouse offers the sisters a new life in Canada, and they board an orphan ship transporting...
14) Dilly's Hope
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Dilly's story volume 3
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Hardworking widow Dilly Carey has struggled out of poverty to make a successful life for herself. Surrounded by her children and grandchildren, Dilly should be content, but she is still troubled by the one secret she must never share. Olivia, the daughter Dilly gave away at birth, cannot find out the real truth about her parentage. It's time for Dilly to make her peace with the choice that she was forced to make. As Dilly finds the strength and courage...
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Ginny is devastated by the death of her mother, her two little brothers and her sister. On top of that her father is imprisoned for murder, leaving Ginny and little brother Charlie without a home. With nowhere else to turn, she remembers her father's last words - that she can ask the housekeeper of Lamp Hill Hall for help. Soon, Ginny is employed as a laundry maid. However, her beauty and grace mean that she catches the eye of the house's mistress,...
16) Mothering Sunday
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Sunday Small was abandoned on the workhouse steps at birth. The regime is cruel. If it were not for the kindly Miss Beau who comes in every week to teach the inmate children their letters, and her dear little friend Daisy, Sunday's life would barely be worth living. And as Sunday grows into a comely girl, she begins to attract the unwelcome attention of the workhouse master... When the time comes for Sunday to strike out alone, she's driven on by...
17) The mill girl
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Life is tough on the cobbled courtyards of Bermuda Village, boys are destined for the pit and girls for the mill. Despite this, clever, feisty Maryann is happy there until her mother dies. Maryann is left coping with everything, exhausted and lonely. But then Maryann is offered a lifeline; a position as nanny to the daughter of the mill owner, Wesley Marshall. Though the house is filled with secrets and heartaches, there is kindness too, and to Maryann's...
18) A mother's shame
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On the outskirts of Nuneaton in Ansley Common stands Hatters Hall, a dark forbidding place, once a home for the mentally insane. Hatters Hall stands empty now. Some of its windows are boarded up; others stare like empty eyes onto the tangled overgrown gardens. The grounds surrounding the Hall one rang with the cries of the poor demented souls that were committed there. Now there is only silence, although the locals, who shun the place, swear that...
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Warwickshire, 1865. Nessie Carson will do anything to keep her family together after her mother is killed, her father abandons them and they are evicted from their cosy little Nuneaton home. She and her brothers and sisters take on jobs as live-in assistants to a local undertaker. She is soon entwined in fortunes of her employer, Andre, who is forced to live a lie, and the local doctor - someone she's attracted to but can never have. But even in the...
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Dilly's story volume 1
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When Dilly's husband is left unable to work, she has to make an unthinkable decision. With four children already at home, they cannot afford to feed their new-born. The Farthing family, who live at the big house, know how it feels to lose a child. They are going through their own form of horror having just lost their own daughter to measles. Despite their grief, they decide to offer Dilly a lifeline: they'll adopt the child and employ Dilly as their...