Heedless. Stubborn. Disgraced.Small town Illinois, 1870: "My stepfather was not particularly fond of me to begin with, and now that he'd found out about the baby, he was foaming at the mouth."Desperate to avoid marriage, Nell Lillington refuses to divulge the name of her child's father and accepts her stepfather's decision that the baby be born at a Poor Farm and discreetly adopted.Until an unused padded cell is opened and two small...

Do you ever really know your family?In the 1880s a sixth daughter learns not to ask for much, even if she’s the daughter of an earl. Even if she married the richest man in her corner of Sussex. Even if she’s now a widow with a splendid Georgian mansion.Lady Helena Whitcombe is still trying to adjust to widowhood and reconcile her family loyalties with her desires when her artist sister Odelia makes a startling suggestion. Why not make her mark on the house ...

Does love conquer all? Nell’s not so sure.Adjusting to wedlock isn’t easy for a woman whose initial aversion to the married state took her to the Poor Farm. When a tragedy out of the blue prompts her to repay past debts, her charitable instincts threaten to wreck her happy new life. What does she really want—and what does she really need?Attraction to an old friend shakes Tess’s world. Can she change his indifference to love?Martin struggles with demons fro...

Love or independence? Few choices remain for Nell and her new family on the Kansas frontier…Kansas, 1872. Unwed mother Nell Lillington hopes to support her daughter Sarah and friend Tess by working as a seamstress in an isolated seminary. When her only ally among the seminary's leaders dies, she must choose between returning to her old life in Chicago and remaining in charge of her destiny.As her talent as a dressmaker begins to win her commissions, Nell attracts the attent...

For unwed mother Nell Lillington, 1876 Chicago—and her new wealth—offer the promise of longed-for independence. She dreams of a place in society for her daughter Sarah and contentment for her friend Tess. Yet how can she settle in a town where she’s far too likely to run into Martin Rutherford and his glittering, faithless wife, Lucetta? Can she resist her love for Martin for Sarah’s sake?Martin was doubtless joking when he told Nell that if she got herself mixed up with a murderer...

The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. ‘I wonder which one of us will be next?’When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distin...

The perfect read for Christmas, from bestselling author Nadine Dorries.1950s Liverpool.Christmas is the most harrowing time of year for the nurses of St Angelus Hospital.A brilliant nurse secretly battling a fatal illness over Christmas... A starving baby boy abandoned in the freezing cold... A cruel, controlling mother, determined to block her daughter's nursing career at all costs...In the run up to Christm...

An unputdownable drama from the bestselling author of The Girl With No Name.Wynsdown, 1949. In the small Somerset village of Wynsdown, Charlotte Shepherd is happily married and now feels settled in her adopted home after arriving from Germany on the Kindertransport as a child during the war.Meanwhile, the squire's fighter pilot son, Felix, has returned to the village with a fiancée in tow. Daphne is beautif...

A heartbreaking novel from the bestselling author of The Four Streets.Noleen Delaney is one of an army of night cleaners at St Angelus Hospital. Son Finn has done something unheard-of and passed his Eleven Plus exam. How on earth will they pay for his books, his grammar school uniform and shoes?Bronia Ryan has battled depression since her husband died and now one of her sons is in prison. Her youngest, Lorcan, wants no part of a life of crime, but h...

The Murderess is a heart-stopping story of family, love, passion and betrayal set against the backdrop of war-ravaged Britain. Perfect for fans of Lesley Pearse and Dilly Court.1931: Fifteen-year-old Kate witnesses her mother Millicent push a stranger from a station platform into the path of an oncoming train. There was no warning, seemingly no reason, and absolutely no remorse.1940: Exactly nine years later, Kate returns to the station and notices...

Tears and tribulations, laughs and heartbreak, from an exciting new talent. Perfect for the fans of Jo Cox and Lyn Andrews.Cara Flowers' mother disappeared when she was too young to realise, and when her grandmother dies she leaves not only an enormous fortune, but also a huge responsibility – she wants Cara to find their estranged family.Her quest leads her to the doors of the looming Bilston workhouse where children are t...

As heart-warming as it is heartbreaking, this novel is unputdownable' Sunday Express.It is 1953 and five very different girls are arriving at the nurses' home in Lovely Lane, Liverpool, to start their training at St Angelus Hospital.Dana has escaped from her family farm on the west coast of Ireland. Victoria is running away from a debt-ridden aristocratic background. Beth is an army...