Showing results by narrator "Penelope Freeman" in All Categories

Julie Monday enjoys a rare moment of happiness when at the age of eight she visits the Essex seaside and meets eleven-year-old Harry Walker. Ten years later, they meet again. Fated to be together, they marry just before the outbreak of the Second World War. But it’s now 1939, Harry has enlisted, and Julie must face the blitz alone with their son. Travelling back from work one day, Julie is caught in the chaos of a direct hit.

At 17, Renee Rushmore lives at home with her father Ivan—a cruel man who rules the house with an iron fist and keeps Renee isolated and alone. She is desperate to escape him, but with no friends to help her, what hope does she have? Then war breaks out. With factories and farms looking to take on female workers, Renee dares to hope that her freedom might be within grasp. And when she hears through a kindly local farmhand named Jimmy that Oak Valley Farm is in need of help, she might just have found her chance.

The stirring second instalment in Terri Nixon's Penhaligon Saga series. 1910. Anna Garvey and her daughter are still running the Tin Streamer's Arms in Caernoweth, Cornwall, and it finally seems like she has left her tumultuous history behind in Ireland. Meanwhile, Freya Penhaligon has blossomed and is now the object of increasing affection of Hugh, the elder son of the wealthy Batten family.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, two women leave England for new lives as GI brides. Gracie Brown starts her married life living with her husband Jeff's family: an overbearing mother-in-law and a brother-in-law whom her husband detests. Valerie Brampton and her lawyer husband, Ross, have their own property, but with a past girlfriend still holding on to hope of a relationship with him, all is far from settled.

The Widows Wine Club of Viv, Janet and Zelda have navigated choppy waters before. Having supported each other through the first shaky years of widowhood, the future was starting to look brighter. But when Janet is dealt another blow, it’s all hands on deck for the firm friends. Deciding what Janet needs is a change of scenery, Viv and Zelda book a luxury cruise on the Queen Mary 2, heading for the bright lights of New York. And once on board, the women are entranced. A floating pleasure palace, the Queen Mary is just what the doctor ordered.

'Frances Brody has made it to the top rank of crime writers' DAILY MAIL A charming historical mystery set in 1960s Yorkshire, starring prisoner governor and amateur sleuth Nell Lewis. This is the perfect page-turner if you love Agatha Christie and Jacqueline Winspear. ___________ Yorkshire, 1969...

Welcome to Fox Bay Hotel, where family fortunes rise and fall. 1920, Bristol. Helen Fox is happily married to the love of her life: charming former playboy Harry. With their three children, glamorous lifestyle and extravagant parties, they have the perfect life. But after a tragic motorcycle accident, nothing will ever be the same.... Helen is forced to leave their home and move to the Fox family's hotel on the Cornish coast - where she discovers her perfect life has been based on a lie.

Fearless Felicity Penrose thrives on adventure: she's one of the most experienced female sailors in the world. But one day, in the middle of the 1950s, her boat is found abandoned. Fliss has mysteriously vanished, tragically leaving behind her husband and baby girl. Nearly 30 years later, Emma's world is rocked when she is approached by journalist Mike Bond with an extraordinary revelation: that Fliss was seen in America after she was presumed drowned.

Spring, 1942. Lizzie is making plans for her wedding with fiancé Bill. But preparations during wartime aren't easy, and attacks on the Yorkshire port of Kelthorpe are only getting worse. Connie wants to be there for her sister, but she has troubles of her own—a secret that is driving a wedge between herself and those who love her. Meanwhile, Pamela faces new complications in her romance with Fred, and the arrival of two new RAF servicemen stirs up trouble.

1929, Cornwall. Fiona Fox, youngest child of the celebrated Fox family, is a devoted volunteer at the local lifeboat station, giving all her free time and her energy to the selfless crew. But when she seizes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do more, she sets in motion a chain of events that sparks danger and intrigue at Fox Bay Hotel.  

August 1937 - Seffy Blake falls in love with Amyas Troy from the moment she sees him on a Cornish beach. But when he disappears, she is forced to face the consequences of their affair alone. In London Seffy makes a new life for herself working as an assistant to journalist Charlie Bradford, and as Europe hurtles towards war, it is Charlie who sees her through her darkest times.

It is Christmas 1937 when sisters Rowan and Thea travel from London to Scotland to visit their dying father. Having lost their mother in a tragic sailing accident when they were young, the two women are accustomed to grief. But they have no idea that their father's death will expose a terrible deception.... For back in London is his wife, Sophie, and their two sons. Neither family knows of the other's existence, and when news reaches Sophie of Hugh's death, her whole world is turned upside down.

Cornwall: 1793. Rose Pengelly's father has been ruined, plunging Rose and her mother into poverty and debt. There appears to be only one way out of their terrible circumstances; for Rose to marry Mr Tregellas, a powerful timber merchant. He has made his terms clear; either she marries him or faces homelessness and destitution. Desperate, Rose sets out to find evidence of Mr Tregellas's wrongdoing. In her search, she encounters a mysterious young sailor called Jim, who refuses to disclose his identity....

Running from her past, Rachel answers an advert to be a live-in assistant to glamorous and eccentric author Dorothy Winters. But behind the closed doors of Dorothy's mansion, she quickly discovers that nothing is as it seems. When Dorothy's manuscript throws up striking similarities to events in Rachel's own life, she becomes convinced that the past she's tried to hide is catching up with her. Then the phone calls start. The parcel arrives. The blood shows up in the bathroom. And Dorothy's friend disappears....

Educated, beautiful and the daughter of a prosperous merchant, Angelica Lilly has been invited to spend the summer in high society. Her father's wealth is opening doors and attracting marriage proposals, but Angelica still feels like an impostor among the aristocrats of Cornwall. When her brother returns home, ill and under the influence of a dangerous man, Angelica's loyalties are tested to the limit. Her one hope lies with coachman Henry Trevelyan, a soft-spoken, educated man with kind eyes.

After fleeing her divided Dutch homeland, Jannekyn van der Hest comes to Colchester, Essex, looking to make a new life for herself. Though she seeks comfort and community, she finds herself at the mercy of her cruel uncle, who condemns her to a demeaning life as a kitchen maid. As she struggles to regain her independence and make a life for herself in the cloth trade, Jannekyn will need all the courage and resourcefulness she possesses - especially when she falls in love with an Englishman, whose arrival turns Jannekyn's world upside down.  

Summer, 1939. The de Lacey family believe they are ready for the changes the war will bring. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, is due to return home from her grandparents’ farm in France and is expected to marry Captain Max Coburn. But when Grandpère suffers a stroke, her future is changed. Instead of returning home, Elizabeth chooses to stay and help her grandparents. Max is also stationed in France – but will the war threaten to separate them for ever? Meanwhile, in the village of Nayton, Lucy Storey dutifully cares for her father the stationmaster.

Worthing, 1933 Ruby Bateman works at the prestigious Warnes Hotel on Worthing seafront. She enjoys her job and the camaraderie with the girls at the hotel, but she also loves a day off . . . On an outing to the Sussex Downs, Ruby meets handsome photographer Jim Searle and instantly falls for him...

February 1941. The world is at war, and Joyce Cooper is doing her bit for the war effort. But as the Blitz takes hold of London, Joyce is called upon to plot the devastation that follows in its wake. Night after night, she must stand before her map and mark the trail of loss and suffering inflicted upon the homes, families and businesses she knows so well. February 1974. Decades later, from her basement flat, Joyce watches the world go by above her head.

Cornwall, 1801. In the wake of her mother's death, Pandora Woodville is desperate to escape her domineering father and finally return to Cornwall. Posing as a widow, she safely makes it across the Atlantic, bright with the dream of working at her Aunt Harriet's school for young women. But as Pandora is soon to learn, the school is facing imminent closure after a series of sinister events threatened its reputation.