Showing results by narrator "Penelope Freeman" in All Categories

In 1930s Birmingham, in the impoverished district of Nechells, a young girl bravely endeavours to hold her family together in trying times. A Hopscotch Summer is an emotional journey of determination and resilience from Annie Murray. Read by Penelope Freeman (My Daughter, My Mother) Emma Brown...

Matron Kathleen Fox has the job of putting the hospital back together but wonders if she is up to the task. In an attempt to bring some festive cheer, she decides to put on a Christmas show. The idea is greeted with mixed feelings by the nurses, who all have their own problems, and also by the new Assistant Matron and ward sister, who find themselves rivals for the role of organiser. But as rehearsals begin, the performers begin to find the show is not just a tonic for the patients.

When Ellie Roberts inherits a cottage on a remote Scilly Isle, she's shocked. She's never heard of the previous owner, Patience Ellis, so why did she leave Ellie her legacy? Overwhelmed with unanswered questions, Ellie travels to the isolated island. The house feels strangely familiar, and she has a memory of her beloved mother in the window seat overlooking the sea. The mother she lost when she was only a child. Determined to find out more, Ellie meets enigmatic local Branok Shore.

Jo Docherty and Hattie Contaldo have a vision - a holiday retreat in the heart of the Lake District exclusively for guests of 'a certain age' wishing to stimulate both mind and body with new creative experiences. One hotel refurbishment later and the Best Boomerville Hotel is open for business! Perhaps not surprisingly, Boomerville attracts more than its fair share of eccentric clientele.

The final book in Cynthia's War at Home series 'Always a stay-up-all-night read with Cynthia Harrod-Eagles! ***** 'Fabulous series of books, this author never disappoints' ***** 'I love Cynthia Harrold-Eagles' historical novels' ***** 1919: The war is over, but peace is yet to come. As men are...

Alice Linford arrives at a grand Victorian house in Belsize Park – a home that isn't hers, but that brings her heartbreakingly close to the man she still loves. Once, she was Mrs Thomas Linford. Now, she is a companion to Mrs Violet Osborne, a stranger whose house stands only streets from her past. Determined to reclaim her happiness and the love she once lost, Alice must navigate a tangled web of secrets, betrayals, and lingering family tensions. Every choice carries risk, and the shadow of the past threatens to undo everything she holds dear.

When Dorothy Linford defies her father to marry Franz Hartmann, a former German internee, she’s cast out from the Linford family and forced to build a new life in Germany. For a time, happiness thrives – until the 1930s bring fear and suspicion that threaten to tear their world apart. Across the Channel, Dorothy’s sister Nellie and cousin Louisa face struggles of their own as the Linford family fractures under the weight of old secrets. Separated by distance but bound by love, the sisters must cling to hope – even as the shadow of war darkens their lives forever.

'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...

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.

Orphan William Hyde and professor's daughter Melissa Elmet fell passionately in love as teenagers at Oxford. But, after her family intervenes, their secret marriage is annulled. Heartbroken, Melissa retreats into her shell, now a shy academic. Will, on the other hand, joins MI6 - then becomes a millionaire in New York, with a model girlfriend and only dark memories of the young woman who broke his heart.

London, 1914. While young men enlist up and down the country, the Nightingale Hospital has its own set of new recruits.... Anna Beck is the daughter of the best baker in Bethnal Green. Her German father built the business out of nothing, but as the shadow of war descends, his fate is at the mercy of their neighbours. Meanwhile Katie Carlyle has always wanted to become a doctor. She fought hard to get into medical school, and even now she faces prejudice from her fellow students as well as the tutors. Can she prove them wrong?

No turkey. No fruit to make a decent pudding. No money for presents. Your children away from home; your husband, father and brothers off fighting. How in the world does one celebrate Christmas? That was the situation facing the people of Britain for six years during the Second World War. From the family whose dog ate the Christmas roast, leaving them to enjoy “Spam with all the trimmings”, to the exhibition of handmade toys for children in a Singapore prison camp, these firsthand stories are by turns tragic, poignant and funny.

August 1939: Thirteen-year-old Poppy Brown is evacuated to a village in Dorset. Tired and frightened, she arrives with nothing but her gas mask and a change of clothes to her name. Billeted at a grand country house, Poppy is received with cold indifference above stairs and gets little better...

West Yorkshire, 1901. When Eli Simmonite takes in a heavily pregnant woman fleeing from peril, he feels sure no good will come of it. After all, settled folk don't need much reason to take against the travellers, so having one seek safety amongst his people is unheard of. When danger comes knocking, they leave devastation in their wake. Eli is left with the baby girl and his orphaned grandson; a reminder of the offer of aid that cost him his family. With no kin but the adopted family who hold her responsible for their demise, Rosie is filled with questions of her past.

Featuring some of the characters from Sons and Daughters, Jenny's War is an epic story of loss and heartbreak from Margaret Dickinson. Is it possible for a ten-year-old girl to fall in love? Jenny Mercer thought so. Evacuated to Lincolnshire from the East End of London at the outbreak of war...

In this addictive collection, master crime writer Peter Lovesey prescribes 15 fiendishly clever stories featuring the man in the street along with the ever-popular detectives Peter Diamond and the self-important Bertie, Prince of Wales. Here, the genteel mix easily with the sordid in a nasty but effective concoction of mayhem and suspense. It’s a mixture that will make your heart beat faster - and there are twists that will take your breath away....

1851, England. After her merchant husband saved her from a life of prostitution, Louisa Hill was briefly happy as a housewife in Bristol. But then a constable arrives at her door. Her husband has been found hanged in a Bath hotel room, a note and a key to a property in Bath she knew nothing about the only things she has left of him. Knowing the debt collectors will arrive any moment, Louisa must leave everything she knows behind, and move to Bath. But left with no means of income, Louisa knows she has little choice but to return to her old way of life.

December, 1940. As German bombs fall on Southampton, the city’s residents flee to the surrounding villages. In Upton village, amid the chaos, newly married Ellen Parr finds a girl sleeping, unclaimed at the back of an empty bus. Little Pamela, it seems, is entirely alone. Ellen has always believed she does not want children, but when she takes Pamela into her home the child cracks open the past Ellen thought she had escaped and the future she and her husband, Selwyn, had dreamed for themselves. As the war rages on, love grows where it was least expected, surprising them all.

Best friends Jana and Eva are carefree eight-year-olds in Prague – until Nazi occupation tears them apart. As their mothers are taken away and the girls face the horrors of war, survival becomes all that matters. In Theresienstadt, two desperate women make unimaginable sacrifices to one day find their children. But will love and hope be enough to help them reunite?

East Kent, 1876. With doting parents and siblings she adores, 16-year-old Rose Cheevers leads a contented life at Willow Place in Canterbury. A bright future ahead of her, she dreams of following in her mother’s footsteps and becoming a teacher. Then one traumatic day turns the Cheevers’ household upside down. What was once a safe haven has become a place of peril, and Rose is forced to flee with the younger children. Desperate, she seeks refuge in a remote village with a long-lost grandmother who did not know she existed.