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...

The compelling new book from the author of The Girl in the Ragged Shawl and The Orphans of Halfpenny Street. Danny gets a terrible start in life and runs away from his drunken father when he thrashes him to within an inch of his life. But life on the streets is no better and he falls into the clutches of evil men, finding that being big and strong for his age is no protection from the people who want to do him harm. Help comes in the form of Constable...

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...

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...

The death of the family matriarch, Charlotte Atkinson, at Windfell Manor casts a long shadow over Charlotte's husband Archie and her two children, Isabelle and Danny. With big shoes to fill, Isabelle takes over the running of Atkinson's department store but her pride - and heart - is tested when her husband James brings scandal upon the family and the Atkinsons' reputation. Danny's wife Harriet is still struggling to deal with the death of their first...

It is 1940 in coastal Lincolnshire and Carolyn Holmes is keen to do what she can for the war effort. Raised on the family farm, she battles with her mother, Lilian, to further her education although nothing is too good for her brother, Tom. Phyllis Carter, a bitter widow from the Great War, lives close by with her son, Peter, who works on the farm. When Peter decides to volunteer, a distraught Phyllis blames Carolyn who leaves to join the ATS where...

You've closed the stable door after the horse has bolted, so what happens when it gallops back? Compton Magna sits high in the picturesque hills where the golden Cotswolds meet half-timbered Shakespeare country. At its heart is the stud farm owned by Captain Jocelyn Percy, as fierce as he is unforgiving. 25 years ago, his only child, ravishing Ronnie Ledwell, abandoned her husband and children for her lover. She's about to return, and sparks are set...

A chance meeting in Liverpool will change Megan Lloyd's life in ways she could never have imagined . . . August, 1942. 21-year-old Megan Lloyd is determined to do her bit for the war effort - and a chance encounter with an American army officer in Liverpool gives her an idea of how to do just that. Appalled at the plight of young women left pregnant and destitute following ill-fated love affairs with passing sailors or American GIs, Megan determines...

Living hand-to-mouth ever since her mother's tragic death, Amelia sells the last of her treasured possessions to avoid being cast out of her home onto London's streets. Her estranged grandfather unexpectedly offers her a job as manager of a small, struggling factory making mourning dresses, and Amelia dares to dream... Drawing sketches by candlelight, she longs to sew elegant gowns from fine silks and beautiful ribbons for the rich. As the cold winter...

1935. At 36, Bella Porter is dependent on her abusive cousin, acting as an unpaid servant. When a kind relative leaves her a house in the village of Backshaw Moss, Thomas tries to take it from her, but she defies him and grasps this chance of a new start in Lancashire. The house is on the edge of a slum and in a state of disrepair, let out as flats. As kind people help her find her feet, however, her confidence grows and when she meets struggling,...