Showing results by narrator "Penelope Freeman" in All Categories

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.

It’s the perfect wedding: tropical sunshine, glamorous guests, a beautiful bride and a handsome Hollywood millionaire. But the day is about to take a shocking turn. Lisa Costello has all the expensive clothes and exotic vacations that come with dating a rich man. But her relationship with Josh Steen is a sham. Yet nothing could have prepared Lisa for the morning after their decadent wedding in Thailand. Josh is dead – and it looks like Lisa killed him.

Bristol 1927 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...

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....

From AWARD-WINNING author Liz Harris comes the second gripping novel in the Linford Family Sagas – a story of lost love, secrets, and the courage to reclaim a life almost destroyed.💔 💫 London, 1923 Alice Linford arrives at a grand Victorian house in Belsize Park – a home that isn’t...

In Talyton St George, vet nurse Tessa Wilde is on the way to her wedding...It should be the happiest day of her life. But then her car hits a dog, and though the dog is saved, her wedding is not. Animal welfare officer and part-time firefighter Jack Miller spends his life saving animals and people. As one of Tessa’s oldest friends, he feels he has the right to rescue her from a marriage that can only end in tears.But does he? Tessa is sure she doesn’t need rescuing, least of all by Jack.

London, 1899. As she prepares for a glittering ball, 20-year-old Gertrude Melrose considers her good fortune. Attractive, intelligent, with a loving family, her only concern is her brother, Edward, who seems intent on squandering his inheritance. A few days later the Melrose family's happiness is shattered when Edward's mounting debts threaten to destroy their prosperity, with the loss of both house and business.

The whole world believed eight-year-old Cara killed her younger brother on that fateful night. But she blamed it on a paranormal entity she swears was haunting her house. No one believed her and after two years of treatment in a psychiatric unit for delusional disorder, Cara was shunned by her remaining family and put into foster care. Now she's being forced to return to the family home for the first time since her brother's death, but what if she's about to re-discover the evil that was lurking inside its walls?

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...

Canterbury, 1853. Agnes Berry-Clay might have been born into rags, but she is growing up with riches. Given away as a baby by her real mother, she was rescued and raised by her darling Papa and distant Mama. Agnes wants for nothing, except perhaps a little freedom. But as times goes on, her life at Windmarsh Court changes. New arrivals and old resentments push Agnes to the peripheries, and finally the consequences of one fateful day shatter her dreams for the future. Heartbroken and surrounded by the threat of scandal, Agnes is faced with a terrible choice: stay and surrender or flee and fight to keep her freedom.

Brought to you by Penguin. The second book in the page-turning Worktown Girls at War series, from the bestselling author of A Shilling for a Wife, perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin. At seventeen, Renee Rushmore lives at home with her father Ivan - a cruel man who rules the house...

For Abigail Chiswell, the Colne river front in Colchester, Essex, is a second home. With its own sights and sounds - of crowded quaysides, fishing smacks and packed oyster barrels - it means more to her than all the lofty rooms and comforts of her father's home. When she falls for local fisherman Matthew Bateman, Abigail's family loyalty is stretched to breaking point. While Hiltop House represents the pinnacle of her father's wealth and success, for Abigail its very luxury keeps her from the life - and the man - she loves.   

England, 1912 is a place of rigid rules. A chance meeting between scullery maid Lizzy Parker and heiress Evie Creswell is about to break them all . . . Their meeting leads to more than an enduring friendship and a new job for Lizzy - it draws her into a world of privilege and intrigue and...

In 1918 the Great War has taken so much from so many, and it threatens to take even more still from the Hunters, their friends and their servants. Edward, in a bid to run away from problems at home, decides not to resist conscription and ends up at the Front. Sadie's hopes for love are unrequited, and Laura has to flee Artemis House when it is shelled, and she finds herself in London driving an ambulance. 

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.

Bringing the Keep Fit movement vividly to life in 1940s' London, Pam Evans' family saga will inspire and enthral anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better life. In the middle of a party to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, in 1935, Mollie Fisher's good-for-nothing husband walks out on his wife and baby girl. Luckily, Mollie has a loving family to turn to for help. Mollie's mother, Marge, is delighted to look after baby Esme while Mollie goes out to work.

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.

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....

When Naomi's brother, Ned, is sent home seriously injured, it's up to Kate to manage the household as well as Ned's rehabilitation. But with the growing workload, she struggles to keep everything running smoothly and yearns to return to Woodicombe House. And with no word from her husband, Luke, fighting in France, it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay positive. Hard times are ahead for Kate and her family - when the realities of war land on their doorstep, can Kate find the strength to keep going?

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.