1945. Finally, peace has been declared. Cathie hardly dares believe that Alex, the fiancé she has not seen for nearly two years, is coming home. And, finally, life can begin again for Cathie and the orphaned baby in her care.But the Alex who returns is not the kind, loving man Cathie remembers. He’s cold, selfish, sometimes even frightening. So Cathie has a choice: stand by him, and try to contain his violent temper? Or hold her tiny baby close…and run from the man...

Bargains galore and life in the rawFolk are just emerging from the shadow of WWII and money is still tight. So the vibrant market of Champion Street is a source of many a tempting bargain as well as all the local gossip.Dena loves her Saturday job at Belle Garside's market caf, and her ready smile makes her a universal favourite. She is soon in thrall to Belle's two good-looking and dangerous sons. But fate has other plans in store when h...

How far will a mother go to protect her child?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 hand-outs 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 ch...

Sunday Times bestselling author Freda Lightfoot is back with a heartwarming story of life after the war.She must keep her family together…The war is over and Evie Talbert eagerly awaits the return of her three children from their evacuated homes. But her carefree daughters and son are barely recognisable – their education has been disrupted, the siblings split up, and the effect on them has been life-changing. Her son has developed serious behaviou...

San Francisco, 1904. Georgia Briscoe is unwillingly betrothed to businessman Drew Kemp when she falls for handsome British sailor Ellis Cowper. Drew has the charm to dazzle everyone around him, but once the couple are married, it transpires that Drew's charm is only skin-deep - he is a greedy gambling addict with a penchant for other women.London, 1948. When Chrissie Kemp travels to the Lake District to visit her grandmother Georgia, she is not prepared for the shocking revelation ...

Brenda Stuart returns to her late husband’s home devastated by his loss only to find herself accused of bestowing favours upon the Germans.Life has been difficult for her over the war, having been held in an internment camp in France simply because of her nationality. Thankful that her son at least was safe in the care of his grandmother, she now finds that she has lost him too, and her life is in turmoil.Prue, her beloved sister-in-law, is also a war widow...

Where there's a rulebook, there's a rebelRuby McBride has always been on the wrong side of authority. The grand opening of the Manchester Ship Canal is set to be a day of unfettered festivity for Ruby and her younger sister and brother. Even Queen Victoria will be in attendance.But the glories of the ceremony fade into insignificance when their dying mother delivers them to the imposing oak doors of Ignatius House. Abandoned in the not-so...

As the Great War looms, will the women of Kendal rise to meet the challenge?After giving birth to her daughter, Kate O'Connor finds herself back in Poor House Lane with some momentous decisions to make.Faced with the opportunity to move out of the slums, she invests her unexpected fortune in a new shoe factory to challenge Eliot Tyson's monopoly over the workforce, regardless of whether or not he is the father of her children.But ...

She will keep her head held high, no matter whatPolly Pride's life is falling apart. Her husband has lost his job, there's no money coming in, and she has two young mouths to feed.With the prospect of poverty looming over her, and her husband wallowing in apathy, Polly takes control. She sells everything they own and buys a rickety old handcart. Polly piles it high with second-hand rugs and spends hours hawking her wares around Manchester's cobbled street...

When tragedy strikes, she must find a new pathLily Thorpe is spirited, ambitious and desperate to escape the poverty of her Lake District home, and marry her secret sweetheart Dick Rawlins. But tragedy strikes and Dick is killed in a boating accident caused by the wealthy and arrogant Clermont-Read family. Lily is forced to reassess her future, and she embarks on a quest for revenge and marries Bertie Clermont-Read.The young couple are re...

Where there's community, there's courageJess Delaney has always longed for independence. But when the Blitz reaches Manchester, she is locked in the cellar by her feckless mother, Lizzie. As bombs rain down from a sky turned blood red with flame, Jess waits for Lizzie to return.But fortunes are fickle, and soon Jess finds herself packed off to live with her tyrant Uncle Bernie, a bullying black marketeer. Though he treats...

Where there's muck, there's mettleDolly Tomkins has always known what it is to live hand to mouth. In the mean streets of a Salford struggling under the mantle of the Great Depression, the only one making a decent living is the talleyman.Though Nifty Jack has a money bag where his heart should be, Dolly's mam is in hock up to her ears and in dire need of assistance. But when Jack offers to wipe the slate clean, Dolly just can't bring hers...