Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

Their country needed themIn the summer of 1942, Lorna Washbourne must say goodbye to her beloved home in the peaceful East Anglian countryside, which is about to be demolished to make way for the US Eighth Army Air Force and its new airfield.War brings with it great change and Lorna and her friends find themselves called up to serve. Violetta is in the army while Megan and Bunty are sent to London: Megan, in the American Red Cross; Bunty, a clippie on the London buses.

Deal, Kent, 1812. Eighteen-year-old Winnie Lennicker yearns for a peaceful life as a respectable married woman. However, when she becomes involved in her family's free-trading operations and is caught by the Revenue, she is sent before the magistrates. Forced to confess that she is with child, now more than ever, Winnie is determined to give up smuggling. But the only way she can support herself and her unborn child is to carry on.

Lettice Pegg's father is a working-class policeman and her mother is a middle-class suffragette. Stuck between them as they argue, Lettice mostly cares about trying to fit in at school and convincing her parents to let her have roller skates and go to the music hall. But, when Lettice sees her mother brutally thrown to the ground by a policeman while on a protest march, her life changes forever. Not all of the women on the march are vulnerable to attack. Some of them have a secret weapon: jiu jitsu.

It is 1913, and for best friends Megan and Hattie, born at the turn of the century and brought up in a convent orphanage in Leeds, the time has come to make their way in the world. Megan is to become an apprentice seamstress, and Hattie is to work as a scullery maid at Lord Marley's country residence. Once separated, Megan begins to excel at dressmaking, but Hattie is less fortunate. After a devastating encounter with Lord Marley, she is forced to earn a living working the streets....

Accused of killing her brother, Rachel Cade is sent to the workhouse to await trial. There, handsome landowner Jared Lytton comes to her rescue. Despite being vindicated, Rachel is forced to leave the village. She meets the widow Beulah Thomas and her son, William. Working on their farm, she is treated with kindness, and when William asks for her hand in marriage, she agrees. But Rachel cannot forget Jared Lytton, whose path seems destined to cross hers.

Essex, 1916. Lily is a housemaid up at St Clere's Hall. But times are changing with the outbreak of war. With a husband bent on signing up for the trenches and a lecherous master of the house, Lily is forced to leave. Doing her bit for the war effort - and bringing in more money for the family - Lily goes to work in a factory making explosives to send to the trenches. It's a hard job. The munitionettes must face terrible working conditions, the constant danger of accidents and air strikes and a patronising, self-serving boss.

It is 1930, and the sleepy Hampshire village where Emma Pearson lives with her husband and two daughters is untouched by the Depression. When the villagers are asked to offer a rural holiday to orphaned children from the poorest parts of London, they welcome the opportunity to share their good fortune. John and Tommy, two lads from the charity orphanage, come to stay with the Pearsons for a holiday in the countryside.

Barbara's first chance comes in 1945. A barrister's daughter, she runs away to marry her sailor sweetheart in secret, ignoring her parent's disapproval. When the marriage falls violently apart, she returns home and tries to rebuild her life. Then a second chance of happiness comes her way.

Rowan Forrester has it all - the happy marriage, the adorable dog, the good friends, the promising business and even the dream home after she and her husband, Tom, win a stunning but slightly dilapidated Georgian townhouse in London at auction. But in the blink of an eye, Rowan’s picture-perfect life comes crashing down around her, and she is faced with the prospect of having to start again. To make ends meet she begins a search for housemates and, in doing so, opens the door to new friends and new beginnings. But could she be opening the door to new heartbreak, too?

It is winter in London. Eliza Cummings, a ceramics restorer at the V&A Museum, is leaving work when she receives a phone call which draws her back 25 years - to the night Rose died. But why does Rose’s father want her to visit him when they both know that he blames her for what happened to his daughter? Grief and guilt cast terrible shadows, but as this beautifully wrought story unfolds we learn that generosity, humour, and friendship can smooth over and restore even the most broken lives....

Lu Edwards believes in travelling light. All she needs is a Mr Right to slip into her streamlined life, and Marcus fits the bill to perfection – if only he wasn’t moving to Minneapolis. Lu’s grandmother is also looking for a man, a First World War soldier from her past, but there’s only a photo to go on. Lu turns for help to Nick, a WW I expert with more baggage than Heathrow. He is, on paper, everything she doesn’t want in a man.

When the beautiful but naïve Grace Lennicker falls for Isaiah Feasey, son of a rival smuggling family and owner of a local tavern, her sisters try to intervene. But as tensions grow, there is another suitor also hoping to win her hand in marriage, the dashing and more favourable Albert Enderby, a young lieutenant in the Revenue. Grace is unwittingly drawn back into the world of smuggling that her sisters fought hard to leave behind, and as violence erupts, she finds herself unable to stand by, knowing the rival gangs will kill anyone who stands in their way.

Margaret Woodruff is slowly dying in a care home. When her son is presented with the chance of exceptional care in her final months, he finds the offer hard to resist. Winifred is assigned to Margaret’s care. She’s a Helper: a new kind of carer that’s capable, committed and completely tireless - because she’s a synthetic human being. Under Winifred’s care Margaret’s health improves beyond everyone’s expectations, and Winifred begins to learn from Margaret what it means to be alive. But how will Winifred use what she learns from Margaret - and what does she truly want from her?

A young woman's body is found dumped in the Essex countryside. Investigative reporter Riley Gavin recognises her as Helen Bellamy, a former girlfriend of her colleague, PI Frank Palmer. Ex-military policeman Palmer is accustomed to death, but this is different; this is the brutal murder of someone he was once close to. He knows only one way to deal with it: find the killers.

Strong-willed Winnie loves being part of the crew at Station 75, but her parents are less than happy. When a tragedy hits too close to home she finds herself wondering if she's cut out for this life after all. Former housemaid Bella was forced to leave the place she loved and is finally starting to build a new life, but it seems she may have to start over once again.

But we don’t know the first thing about looking after babies.’ Phoebe’s mum and dad are foster parents, and they’re having a tough time. Her dad’s moved out for bit, and her little foster brothers are playing up. So when Phoebe and her brother Adam find a baby abandoned in their den, they decide to try and look after her themselves ...

Edwin Spencer has enough problems at school as it is, without strange voices calling him into another dimension! But when he is sucked into the peculiar kingdom of Hysteria on a secret mission he feels very at home. This could be his chance at last to be a hero-even if he does have Perpetua Allright ,school swot, as his sidekick.

STANLEY BUTTERS is 10 years old. He has a hero - his Great Granddad, Sidney, a comedian who played the Palladium in the 50s and 60s (even if it was at the bottom of the bill). He has a passion - to be just like his Great Granddad and fulfil his dream of performing at the Royal Variety Performance - in front of the Queen. Armed with Sidney's wisdom and training and his secret box of destiny, Stanley is working towards his dream. One day on a school trip to the Drury Lane Theatre, Stanley gets his chance.

Moira and Jack Taylor own a thriving rag-and-bone business, and have six children. Their contented family life is upset when their eldest daughter, Nora, steals 18-year-old Maggie’s fiancé, Robert, a widower with a young son. Maggie, heartbroken, swears that she will never forgive her sister’s betrayal. The First World War and the Spanish flu epidemic of 1919 bring further tragedy, and the younger generation of the Taylor family embark on their own adventures.

When Sam falls in love with Deptford thug Derek, and Anne’s best friend Kathleen takes her own life, they discover they are linked not just by a world of drugs and revenge - they also share the friendship of the uncanny and enigmatic Deborah. Seamstress, sailor, storyteller and self-proclaimed centenarian immortal, Deborah slowly reveals to Anne and Sam her improbable, fantastical life, a history of hidden Deptford and ultimately the solution to their crises.