Dear Reader, You are invited to rediscover the joy of sending thoughtful, handmade post with author and memory-keeper Martina Calvi.Whether you're new to snail mail or already love writing letters, collecting beautiful stationery and creating meaningful keepsakes, The Art of Snail Mail is your inspiring guide to slowing down, getting creative and connecting with the people you care about through the art of handwritten correspondence.

Tales of Hardship, Love and Happiness in Tate & Lyle’s East End Factories. The Sugar Girls went straight to No.10 in the Sunday Times Bestseller List, spending five weeks in the top ten.On an autumn day in 1944, Ethel Alleyne walked the short distance from her house to Tate & Lyle’s refinery on the shining curve of the Thames. Looking up at the giant gates, Ethel felt like she had been preparing for this moment all her life. She smoothed down her frizzy hair, scraped a bit of dirt ...

This is Gwendolyn’s story, one of four true stories from the book GI Brides.They sat down together and Ben pulled her close. ‘Lyn,’ he whispered. ‘You know I’m head over heels in love with you. I’ll never love anyone else as long as I live.’ It was the most romantic thing Lyn had ever heard – and coming from Ben she knew that it was true.Gwendolyn’s hometown of Southampton is taken over by the Americans of the ‘friendly invasion’ as they prepare for D-Day. She falls in love...

This is Joan’s story, one of four stories from The Sugar Girls.During the Blitz and the years of rationing, the Sugar Girls kept Britain sweet. The work was back-breakingly hard, but the Tate & Lyle factory was more than just a workplace – it was a community, a calling, a place of love and support and an uproarious, tribal part of East London.‘Joan had joined Tate & Lyle expressly for the social life, and she was determined to make the most of it. She could see that her old friend ...

During the Blitz, the Sugar Girls kept Britain sweet. The work was back-breakingly hard, but the Tate & Lyle factory was more than just a workplace – it was a community, a calling, a place of love and support and an uproarious, tribal part of East London. This is Ethel’s story, one of four stories from The Sugar Girls.‘On an autumn day in 1944, Ethel Alleyne walked the short distance from her house to Tate & Lyle’s refinery on the shining curve of the Thames. Looking up at the gian...

The Sunday Times bestsellerFrom the bestselling authors of The Sugar Girls, G.I. Brides weaves together the real-life stories of four women who crossed the ocean for love.The ‘friendly invasion’ of Britain by over a million American G.I.s caused a sensation amongst a generation of young women deprived of male company during the Second World War. With their exotic accents, smart uniforms and aura of Hollywood glamour, the G.I.s soon had the local girls queuing up for a date,...

This is Gladys’s story, one of four stories from The Sugar Girls. During the Blitz and the years of rationing, the Sugar Girls kept Britain sweet. The work was back-breakingly hard, but the Tate & Lyle factory was more than just a workplace – it was a community, a calling, a place of love and support and an uproarious, tribal part of East London.‘Gladys changed into her new uniform. The dungarees hung loosely on her boyish frame, the crotch resting somewhere down by her knees and t...

Turn the little things you can't bear to throw away into beautiful handmade keepsakes with 15 inspiring scrapbooking, collage and paper craft projects from memory-keeper and author Martina Calvi.Perfect for scrapbookers, journal lovers, collage artists, memory collectors and anyone who treasures life's little moments, this book shows you how to transform photographs, tickets, letters, postcards and everyday mementoes into meaningful works of art. W...

The number one rule of junk journaling? There are no rules.Author and memory-keeper Martina Calvi invites you to embrace a year of playful, mindful creativity with 52 inspiring junk journaling prompts. Whether you're discovering junk journaling for the first time or already treasure a growing collection of paper scraps, stickers and ephemera, you'll learn to preserve memories, tell your story and transform everyday treasures into p...

Published to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day'[The] stories are every bit as dramatic as those from the front lines and Barrett and Calvi have done an incredible job. Their poignant, page-turning book, filled with tears and joy, reminds us innocents always suffer' Daily Express'The 80th anniversary of VE Day takes place on Thursday 8 May and inspirational new book Blitz Kids captures the stories of some o...

From the bestselling authors of The Sugar Girls and GI Brides, this is Jessie’s story, one of three true accounts from the book The Girls Who Went to War.“Since Jessie’s surname was Ward, she was one of the last to hear what role she had been assigned to. Mary and Olive had already been told they were going to an ack-ack training camp in Berkshire, and she crossed her fi ngers, hoping that she would be setting off with them. Finally, the corporal came to her name. ‘Private Ward,’ s...

The personal accounts of three young women who joined up in 1940.In the summer of 1940, Britain stood alone against Germany. The British Army stood at just over one and a half million men, while the Germans had three times that many, and a population almost twice the size of ours from which to draw new waves of soldiers. Clearly, in the fight against Hitler, manpower alone wasn’t going to be enough.Eighteen-year-old Jessie Ward defied her mother to join the ATS, Margery Pot...