Showing results for "Girls" in 20th Century

The slums of Poor House Lane are no place to bring up a child, and Kate O'Connor struggles to make ends meet when her beloved husband is killed, leaving her a single mother with a baby to support on the meagre handouts she gleans from charity. So when the childless Tysons, owners of Kendal's shoe factory, offer to adopt her son, Callum, and employ Kate as his nanny, she seizes the chance to ensure he has a better life. To be so close to her son, yet no longer be his mother, is bittersweet.

The brand-new prequel to the Cornish Girls series from bestselling historical saga author and Romantic Saga of the year nominee Betty Walker Meet the Cornish Girls before the war! War looms on the horizon. Their lives are about to change forever… Dagenham, 1939. Sheila Hopkins has always put...

1915. Patrolling is the last thing on the minds of Women's Police Service recruits Annie, Maggie and Poppy right now, because Annie and her fiancé Richard are about to get married. She's been waiting for this day her whole life, but when it finally comes it brings only heartache and Annie doesn't know if she can go on. The influx of soldiers to the capital means that the WPS's work is more important than ever, though, and Annie's country needs her. She and the girls are posted to the bustling heart of the city and she hopes the new job will distract her from her sorrow.

London, 2004. Frankie didn't always have it easy. Growing up motherless, she was raised by her grandmother, who loved her - and betrayed her. For years, the rift between them seemed irreparable. But when their paths suddenly cross again, Frankie is shocked to realise that her grandmother is slowly losing control of her memory. There is a darkness in her past that won't stay buried - secrets going back to wartime that may have a devastating effect on Frankie's own life.

Catherine wrestles with self-pity after a machine-shop accident. With her fiancé and brothers on the front lines in France, she must find a new way to fight on the home front. At her side are her steadfast GWR friends, among them Maggie, facing the loss of her father and family home, and Lily, desperate for news of her childhood sweetheart. All are determined to keep morale high and do their bit to win the war.

August, 1940. The war is raging in Europe, but on the home front conflict still seems far away. Dot, living with her mother-in-law and dreading the day that her thuggish husband comes home on leave, is fighting her own battle to contribute to the war effort. Peggy has found confidence as an Air Raid Precaution Warden, despite the jeers of the men she works with - but beneath her pluck she fears for her close-knit family, scattered by the war. And glamorous Vivian, the former debutante, is running away from her own heart and into danger as a volunteer ambulance driver.

Discover the brand-new heartwarming and dramatic novel in the Steel Girls series now! 'Emotional and authentic' KATE THOMPSON 'Saga fans are in for a treat!' VICKI BEEBY 'Hopeful, joyous and uplifting' MILLY JOHNSON 'Wartime drama at its best, and the steel girls are my absolute favourite'...

Struggling to keep their spirits up as the reality of war hits home and theatres are closed, friends Jessie Delaney and Frances O'Leary search for work to see them through until they can sing and dance again. Frances, once dreamed of becoming a dancer but soon found herself with a broken heart and a precious secret when her lover abandoned her. But with news that her lover is returning to England from a successful tour of America, how long will it be before the truth comes to light? Secrets aren't good for anyone and Frances isn't the only one hiding things from her friends.

When heart-broken Sarah Quinn is left to care for her father and siblings when her mother dies, it’s hard to watch their loving dad, Fred, drift into drink and despair. With money tight, Sarah is determined to keep the family together. But they receive a shock when Fred Quinn announces he is to marry Mavis Swindel, the landlady of a boarding house on the edge of the moors. Mavis seems to offer the answer to the family’s problems, and soon they are all moving into her shabby lodgings. It quickly becomes clear that their stepmother has plans for her new family.

Maggie and her new friends Annie, Irene and Sarah come from very different backgrounds, but they've got one thing in common: they've all signed up for the Women's Police Volunteers. They can't wait to show the men just what they're made of. But soon, Maggie realises she's in over her head. Hiding her involvement with the WPV from her tyrannous father is becoming ever more difficult, and when she bumps into an old acquaintance with a big chip on his shoulder, the dangers of her new life become all too clear....

London, October 1940. As German bombers increase their nightly raids on the capital, the Blitz Girls must be braver than ever to protect innocent lives and keep the fight against Hitler alive. As each night becomes more dangerous for the Blitz Girls, will they have the strength to help each other through and keep the light alive in the darkness?

When Alice is forced away from her spy training in London under tragic circumstances, she is distraught. That is, until she’s asked to join a local branch of codebreakers that might just be finding the key to winning the war. Young Imogen feels impotent to help her beloved Bude as war rages on. When she suspects the attractive new Vicar of betraying their country, she gets to work to uncover his deceit. Meanwhile, American entertainer to the troops Pearl pours her heart into supporting the troops to stop their moral from waning, but is jilted by her young soldier love.

Cornwall 1943. When eighteen-year-old Alice receives a mysterious work summons for a special unit in Bude, she's terrified but excited. Forbidden from telling a soul, she launches into training for the most important job she’s ever had. Meanwhile, Penny – a land girl from the farm – also heads to Bude to work at the dairy. Dreaming of finding love, Penny longs for the confidence to speak to a charming local fisherman. Young widow Florence runs the boarding house where Alice and Penny are staying. Between caring for a small child and her tearaway younger sister, she is utterly run off her feet.

April 1942. Enemy gunfire on Penzance beach brings the Cornish Girls rushing to the rescue. But even as the war rages around them, the biggest challenge facing each woman turns out to be one of the heart. Can the Cornish Girls help one another to open themselves up to love?

Rowie's pro-war, her sister Jo's a protester. And they're both in Vietnam. The compelling new novel from the bestselling author of From the Ashes In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam war, nurse Rowie Leonard is serving a 12-month tour of duty. She supports the war and is committed to caring for...

1916. Poppy is being transferred to an enormous new munitions complex in Gretna, on the Scottish border. Even though it means moving far away from her best friends, Maggie and Annie, she is excited for the challenge. As a member of the Women's Police Service, it's her job to maintain law and order so that the factory workers can safely carry out their vital war work. She soon makes friends and even starts to open herself up to the possibility of love. But then she sees something in the dead of night, and suddenly the dangers of the war are no longer far away on distant shores.

World War Two has arrived for the girls of the Rowntrees factory, and with rationing crippling the country, chocolate production has been driven to a bare minimum. It's all change for the Freeman sisters when the Rowntrees factory is turned over to making munitions. Molly is put on the fuse and detonator line, soon becoming skilled at her work despite the dangers. Rose copes with husband Ned’s absence with the RAF by relishing her position on the Board. And Annie joins the Land Army, billeted to a pig farm in Lancashire.

It’s 1916 and, as war rages in Europe, Gráinne leaves her job in a department store to join Countess Markiewicz’s revolutionary efforts. It is a decision which will change her life forever. A rebellion is brewing, and as Dublin’s streets become a battleground, Gráinne soon discovers the personal cost of fighting for what you believe in. Decades on, student Nicky is recovering from a break-up when a research project leads her to her great-grandmother’s experiences in revolutionary Ireland.

1941: A world away from idyllic childhood summers spent in Devon, Cassie Marsh steps through the sandbagged entrance to the War Room, determined to do her part for the war effort. The clatter of typewriters, the urgency of whispered conversations, the weight of secrets – nothing in her quiet upbringing has prepared her for this. Here, women like her are expected to work tirelessly, remain composed, even as their homes – and lives – are devastated by the Blitz. But Cassie's heart is already divided between love and duty.

As their dreams of the war ending look like they might finally come true, the girls of London's Foyles bookshop allow themselves to look forward to a brighter future. But their hopes may be shattered when news of a terrible flu that is gripping the world reaches London, and the girls realise they are not out of danger yet. Meanwhile, they have their own challenges to face when Alice discovers her father has been living a double life; Victoria's beloved husband Ted struggles to adjust to life after the trenches; and the secret Molly has been keeping finally comes to light.