Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

The heartwarming and nostalgic new novel from the Sunday Times top ten best-selling author of The Beggar Maid. Motherless since she was five, Mirabel Cutler was raised by her father to be a lady. But when he dies suddenly, Mirabel finds herself cast out on the street by her ruthless stepmother. She is taken to a place of refuge by charismatic sea captain Jack Starke. But the safe haven turns out to be a house of ill repute.

London, 1940. Sheila Phipps is orphaned after a devastating air raid claims her family and her home. She is evacuated to Bletchley to live with her aunt Constance, where she forms an unlikely friendship with Prudence Le Strange, who is working in the code breaking unit at Bletchley. As their friendship grows stronger, the war subjects Sheila and Prue to fresh tragedies as, one by one, those they love are called away to distant battlefields, only to join the growing ranks of the missing, the captured and the dead.

Crime is a man's business, so they say, though not according to Queenie Dove. A self-proclaimed genius when it comes to thieving and escape, she reckons she's done pretty well. Yes, she had a tough childhood in London's East End. But she survived the Blitz, learned how to get by on her wits, and soon graduated from shoplifting to more glamorous crimes. Daring, clever and sexy, she thrived in the Soho of the Krays and the clubs of Mayfair, fell wildly in love, and got away with it all. Or did she? For beneath Queenie's vivacious, unrepentant account lies another story....

Gosport, 1941. Fourteen-year-old Vera has led a sheltered life with her overbearing mother. But her world is turned upside down with the arrival of the Lovell family. Vera quickly befriends the daughter, Angela, who opens Vera's eyes to what she has been missing. But Vera invites the unwanted attention of Angela's father, with devastating consequences. Outraged at the news that her teenage daughter is pregnant, Vera's mother sends her to a home for wayward girls.

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....

Hope Randall has lived a quiet life. But that peace is about to be broken. When a stranger turns up on her doorstep telling Hope she has a half-sister, her instinct is to turn him away. But Michael Flint won’t give up that easily - he believes Hope’s sister, Connie, is in serious trouble. Connie’s childhood was a world away from Hope’s comfortable upbringing - she’s endured poverty, hardship and abandonment. Connie’s future doesn’t look much brighter.

The three Bentley children are used to fending for themselves. Their widowed mother has been forced to take a night job at Grant's clothing factory and sees them only at breakfast and on Sundays. But at nearly 18, with a job of her own, Dora is well able to look after her younger siblings. Then one morning their mother fails to appear for breakfast.

All her short life, 11-year-old Rose Webster has encountered closed doors. Growing up in the slums of London with her siblings, trying to avoid their violent, drunken father, she develops an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and becomes convinced that she and her loved ones deserve better. All Rose has is a quick mind and the will to survive. Can she open that door and seize the chance to make something of herself?

Queenie Bonner is only two when she is taken from her large family in the slums to a big house in the country. Frightened and confused, she yearns for her nine brothers and sisters, especially her favourite brother, Harry. Albert and Mary Warrender rename her Eleanor, bringing her up as their own, and as time passes, Ellie forgets about her other family.

London, 1941. The East End Angels - Frankie, Bella and Winnie - are settled into life as ambulance crew members at LAAS Station Seventy-Five. The threat of air raids and other atrocities are a constant worry, but life continues regardless, and the weight of responsibility weighs heavy on each of them. Frankie's grandfather is unwell, and she promised him she would always look after Ivy, her stepgrandmother, but things between the two women are becoming increasingly strained. And then Frankie discovers something that turns everything she thought she knew about herself on its head.

The Second World War has finally come to a close. Birmingham is welcoming home its menfolk, and a new chapter is beginning in Rachel Booker's life. Her husband has returned, and the family that struggled for survival throughout the uncertain war years is now together. But family life settles into a routine, and Rachel, unsatisfied, starts to yearn for more.

Lily Larkin is the youngest of six and the least important member of her family. With their father dead and their mother a stranger to them, she must stay at home and keep house whilst her elder siblings go out to work. As she goes about her daily chores, her head is full of dreams. And she longs for the day she can have a life of her own. When a fire threatens to destroy the nearby docks, Lily's act of kindness towards a handsome foreigner has disastrous consequences for the whole family.

On the surface, Ruby Gallagher has the perfect life: an adoring husband, Manny, a beautiful home and a luxury lifestyle that involves shopping, holidays and not much else. It's safe, predictable - exactly what she needs after her turbulent past. Until one day it all collapses as Manny is arrested for fraud. And it seems it's not only his business deals that have been shady - Ruby discovers he's been hiding a mistress and son too.

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.

As World War II breaks out, four friends from London’s East End consider the changes that war will mean for all of them. Tomboyish Becky Adams plans to join the ATS, her neighbours Bob and Jim the navy and army respectively. Only Becky’s brother, Will, is left out of the excitement; because of a slight physical disability, he is forced to stay behind, working as a cub reporter on a newspaper.

Rose Paton doesn't think she'll be singing at The White Horse for much longer. After all, she's got good looks, youth and talent on her side. But when mysterious stranger Marcus Bennley asks her to be his birthday present to his sister Marie – by singing at her party – she accepts. It won't lead to greater things, but it will lead to half a guinea. To Rose's excitement, the party is more than she could ever have hoped for.

Like most in London's 1920s East End, Joan Baldwin has her crosses to bear. Her greatest by far is her husband: a violent drinker and gambler. When he perishes, Joan is surprised by her sudden freedom. She finds a housekeeping job in Kent, and when her employer dies, leaving her 200 guineas, Joan is able to start her own dressmaking business. Then she meets Eric Roussel, a charismatic businessman, and it looks like happiness will finally be hers. But is he a little too slick to be trusted?

Tommy Jr might be one of the youngest members of the Carter family, but he has plans to one day step into his Uncle Jonny’s shoes as head of the family. But when his young girlfriend Aimee announces she’s pregnant, everything changes. Although only nineteen, Tommy’s determined to be the best dad he can. Aimee’s dad Kevin Fox feels the Carters owe him big time and now he’s going to part of the family it’s time to pay up. But publicly rejected by the Carters, Kevin plots his revenge and Tommy Jr is firmly in his sights.

When Poppy Robbins is targeted by a blackmailer threatening to reveal secrets from her family’s past, she turns to the mysterious Edward Taverner for help. Taverner proposes an escape to his country manor, and to maintain a respectable appearance, he asks her to pose as his fiancée. She reluctantly agrees, but then finds herself trapped, unwelcome and alone in a threadbare mansion. Has her engagement secret put her in greater danger, or will it change her life forever?

With his once thriving casino business now in ruins, Seb Stoker is certain about two things: One – he will rebuild bigger and better than ever. And two – someone will pay for torching his club. But until that day comes, Seb has bigger things to worry about and a business deal that could make or break them all. Sam Reynold knows Seb is out for revenge, and she’ll do anything she can to help him. But Sam has her own enemies and battles to fight – ones much closer to home. With pressure mounting for both of them, tensions run high.