Anna Jacobs

Lara Perryman has spent her whole life travelling for her busy corporate job, so it's a relief when she takes early retirement and settles in a leisure village in Wiltshire. She quickly makes friends with the other residents and finds herself entangled in the ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies of her new community.

At the end of Hawthorn Close there is a charming park which boasts two magnificent magnolia trees, and an assortment of houses and units. Several new occupants are moving into the neighbourhood and will live in units fronting the park, built and managed by a charity for people needing a home for a while. Amongst them are Brett, 18, an orphan just out of the foster child system; Carla, who is escaping an abusive ex-partner; and Matthew Woodley, a widower...

In the peaceful Wiltshire valley of Essington St Mary, architect Corin Drayton stumbles upon a ghastly new building development that is set to destroy the tranquil atmosphere and Edwardian features of this quiet neighbourhood. He is horrified. Only recently had Corin inherited, and spent his life savings, on renovating a home for himself and his newly pregnant wife, Lucia, in Larch Tree Lane. From the cottages and farms to the local shop, pub and...

In a quiet Wiltshire village, Larch Tree Lane winds slowly up a gentle hill. Among the residents is Maggie Hatherall, full of life despite her advancing years, who worries what she is going to do with her 200 year old home. Lucia Grey has escaped a bad marriage but her ex is reluctant to let her start a new life free of him. And for architect Angus Drayton, an unexpected inheritance is the start of a complicated family wrangle but it does lead to...

Molly Peel feels trapped by her family: her ex-husband Craig cannot seem to abandon his controlling ways despite abandoning her for a younger woman, her lazy son Brian has long been taking advantage of her generosity, and her selfish daughter Rachel is embarrassed by her. When she is blamed for ruining Rachel?s wedding in circumstances beyond her control, Molly decides enough is enough and makes a clean break to Wiltshire to begin a new life. However,...

During World War One, Greyladies - an ancient manor house in rural Wiltshire - is requisitioned for a hospital. Its mistress Harriet, her husband Joseph, and their sons are allowed to stay in the rear part of the house; but when tragedy strikes Joseph's brothers, his future at Greyladies is at risk... When her German employers are interned because of the war, Phoebe Sinclair loses her job; and even worse, her brutish step-cousin Frank tries to force...

Wiltshire, 1901: Young Kathleen Keller is being forced by her cruel father into marriage with a man she despises. In an act of desperation, she runs away in a bid for a safer life, although one she might not otherwise have chosen. But when tragedy strikes, Kathleen is left vulnerable, and one man threatens the fragile peace she has made for herself... Meanwhile, Nathan Perry works for his father's accountancy firm but yearns for something more satisfying....

In the aftermath of World War Two, there's a desperate shortage of housing and goods across the nation. Mayne Esher's only hope of preserving his family's war-damaged stately home of Esherwood is to turn it into flats. When he opens it up to his Army friends who will be starting a building business with him, it soon becomes clear that the house isn't the only thing that needs fixing... Victor is fighting his late wife's mother for custody of his daughter...

After a stray bomb scored a direct hit on his childhood home in Hertfordshire, the only thing that has kept Francis Brady going while he works salvaging what he can from the rubble is the thought that soon he'll be joining war-time friends Mayne, Daniel and Victor as electrician in their new building firm in Lancashire. But Mayne isn't answering any of his letters, Francis' wife is having a change of heart about moving up north - and her parents seem...

Lancashire, 1932. Widower Harry Makepeace lives in Manchester with his sickly daughter Cathie, scrimping and saving to get by. But after she suffers a violent asthma attack, the doctors say she must move to the fresh air of the countryside. When Harry chances upon a patch of land for sale in Ellindale, and an advert for a disused railway carriage that can be made into a home, he snaps both up quickly. Harry swiftly becomes part of the community in...