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...

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...

It's Christmas Eve 1920 when nine-year-old Abby Kirby's family is ripped apart by a terrible tragedy. Leaving everything she's ever known, she takes her younger brother and runs away to the tough existence of the Border farming community. Years pass and Abby becomes a beautiful young woman and falls in love, but her past haunts her, casting dark shadows. Furthermore, in the very place she's taken refuge is someone who wishes her harm. With her heart...

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.

Lily and Sarah Brown's childhood is an unhappy one. Sarah escapes by marrying Ralph Turner, a Sunderland dock worker, but Lily doesn't trust Ralph - a dark volatile man with a hidden cruel streak. When he tries to seduce Lily on his wedding day, her worst fears are confirmed.

Orphan Connie Bell is just 12 when she enters Sunderland's workhouse. In time she becomes assistant housekeeper at the Grand Hotel and meets Dan Stewart. But there's a dark history between the families.

Hope's just a child when she's orphaned, and as she grows up her dream is always to have a family of her own. When she meets and falls in love with Daniel Fallow, son of a successful businessman, she's quick to accept his proposal of marriage. Tragedy is just around the corner and worse is to come when war is declared in 1939.

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.