Showing results by author "Lizzie Lane" in All Categories

May 1944. Hope and excitement is in the air when news breaks of the allied forces landing in Normandy. D Day has arrived. However, the day-to-day struggles for the Tobacco Girls continue. Peace is on the horizon, but will their wishes and dreams win through and bring them a happy ever after?

Frances Sweet can’t really remember her real parents. Brought up by her uncle, her cousins Ruby and Mary have always treated her like their little sister. As the war continues to keep her cousins separated from the men they love – Frances is growing up fast enough to catch the eye of dashing American soldier Declan. But she also has a greater longing – to find the mother who abandoned her years before.

After escaping a train bound for a death camp with a trusty German Shepherd dog, a girl wakes to find that she has no memory of her former life. Lily is fostered by the kind RAF pilot who found her and his wife, Meg. It is not long before their lives are disrupted once again by the war and, with their home in ruins, they are forced to flee to the country. In the Somerset countryside, Lily is reunited with Rudy, the heroic German Shepherd.

The year is 1937 and the country is still reeling from the abdication of King Edward the Eighth the year before. His brother, the Duke of York, has become King George the Sixth and will be crowned in May. The country is on a high. Union Jacks are being dusted off and bunting is being made. Thelma, Jenny and residents of Coronation Close are all a buzz with planning the street parties and celebrations for the great day. But behind every door shameful secrets and sins linger on Coronation Close, just bubbling to expose themselves.

1925 - The Midland Canals. Born on the canals, feisty Beth Dawson, knows danger lurks in the shadows. When she falls victim to a vicious attack and knowing she might be pregnant, she quickly marries a fellow boatman. Her mundane existence is interrupted by the arrival of Anthony Wesley whose mission is to organise the impoverished boatmen for strike action. Anthony makes her feel valued and she wants to help the cause in any way she can. Along the way she makes friends with rebellious Abigail Gatehouse, daughter of the owner of the company. She too is in love with Anthony.

As Cholera sweeps through the streets of Bristol, no one is immune. Blanche and her husband Conrad Heinkel, sugar merchant and master sugar baker, are devastated when their seven-year-old daughter, Anne, is taken by the deadly disease. Lost in her own immense grief, her childhood sweetheart Tom Strong is the only man who can heal Blanche’s terrible hurt and reignite the passion for life and love that has died within her.

Barbados 1818. One fateful night, a terrible tragedy occurs at the Strong family sugar plantation on the paradise island of Barbados. The Strong family quickly move to keep the shocking event a secret. But secrets can’t stay hidden forever. Twenty-two years later Blanche Strong, the living, breathing proof of that night, is left following her mother's sudden death. Now, alone in the world Blanche is determined to get answers about her past.

Ten-year-old Magda Brodie’s world is torn apart when her mother dies in the workhouse two weeks before Christmas. Her wastrel father arranges for her sisters to be sent to their grandparents in Ireland and for her younger brother to be adopted, leaving Magda distraught with worry as her family are scattered far and wide. Magda, as the eldest girl, is sent to live with her Aunt Bridget who, for whatever reason, holds a bitter resentment towards Magda. But adversity makes Magda strong and determined.

After a seemingly endless labour, Horatia Strong is delighted to announce that she’s given her husband, Tom, a much-needed son and heir to the entire Strong fortune. But the birth of the child is soon shrouded in secrets and Horatia will do anything to keep the truth from her husband – it could destroy the Strong family completely. Tom’s enduring love for Blanche is still as deep as ever, but his marriage to Horatia is the only thing keeping the Strong family – and his new baby son - from destitution. Can he really risk their safety for passion?