I've not read any of Maureen Lee's books for ages. I quite enjoyed this one and at times felt sorry for Jessica, as everything that happened to her seemed to be due to the fact that she'd a moment of passion with someone that she should never have been with. It just goes to show that the rash d...
A powerful and compelling Liverpool saga of one woman's life from bestselling author Maureen Lee. For Josie Flynn, the war was just the start of a journey that began in heartbreak when she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. Life took her to Barefoot House as the paid companion of an elder...
A sweeping Liverpool saga following the fortunes of one woman from the 1940s to the 1990s, by the ever-popular, award-winning author.Annie Harrison has a difficult childhood, and she eventually goes to live in the Grand Hotel with a rich schoolfriend. Marriage follows and when her husband dies, s...
Born in Warrington to an Irish mother, Pete McCarthy has long held a deep love for his mother's homeland and admits that despite the many exotic places he has visited, nowhere can match the particular magic of Ireland. In McCarthy's Bar, he journeys from Cork to Donegal, experiencing the unique a...
The government had started calling up men in their forties, but he was closing on fifty-six and stood no chance of receiving a letter telling him to get himself along to a recruiting office forthwith. He was anxious to do his bit – more than the fire-watching he was doing ...
More beds had to be brought up from the basement storeroom, and where there had been twenty patients to a ward, there were now twenty-six. As Christmas approached, however, the staff worked like Trojans to ensure every man fit enough would be home for the holiday, even if it meant some might have...
She had been accepted at Orrell Park Grammar School for Girls, only a stone’s throw from the boys’ school that Max attended. A coach passed through the village each morning to take pupils to Philip Wallace in Maghull, dropping off others at the station to make their way by train to their various ...
‘She looks as if she’s dressed for a garden party at Buckingham Palace – and you should see her furniture!’ ‘Annie! You sound just like Aggie Donovan. You haven’t been spying out the window, surely!’ ‘I have. As for Aggie, she’s out brushing her step to get a better look. Come on, Eileen.’ Somewh...
Mother and son prayed every night at cross purposes; Eleanor that he’d stay where he was, and Jonathan that he’d be posted to a place where there was some action to be had. He came home on leave every few months, leaner and fitter, and spoiling for a fight with the Jerries. ‘Everyone in the force...
‘Bury, Rochdale, Bolton,’ Orla said briskly. She wore a smart black costume and was thrusting the new leaflets Cormac had brought the night before into a briefcase, checking she had enough samples. ‘I’ll probably be home dead late, Mam, so don’t wait up.’ ‘I wouldn’t dream of waiting up, luv, con...
His name was Desmond Whitely and he was tall, slim, and very handsome, with straight, white-blond hair and dazzling blue eyes. He came to see Mam every Friday on his way home from work. Mam called him ‘Des’ and used to cry when he left. Des was better dressed than all the other men Ernest knew. H...
It had always been her mother’s favourite time of year, and this, the first Christmas without her, was particularly hard on the family she had left behind. But Rosie – Maggie was beginning to genuinely love her sister-in-law – had made great efforts with the food and decorations, even checking th...
As if a spell had been cast over them, people stopped talking, dishes stopped rattling and the restaurant was silent. Ruth felt convinced Matt’s words had been audible to the entire room, rendering everyone as dumbstruck as she was herself. Then somebody laughed and, all of a sudden, conversation...
“I don’t like the look of her, Flo. Once she’s installed upstairs you’ll be out on your arse.” “Oh, don’t!” said Flo. She felt hurt and a touch dismayed, as if Mr Fritz was letting her down. Somehow, unreasonably, she’d considered herself the only woman he wanted in his life, though their relatio...
Day after day, the country woke to a brilliant sun shining out of a cloudless blue sky. It was hard to believe, while they luxuriated in the warmth and glory of these magical summer days, that such terrible things were about to happen to their world.When Laura opened her eyes on Saturday morning,...
‘Because we haven’t got the room.’ ‘It could go in the corner.’ This was true, except it would leave no space to move around. ‘I can’t afford a new bed,’ Mollie said. Megan pouted. ‘Joe and Tommy have beds of their own.’ ‘That’s because they’re boys and they have a room to themselves.’ Mollie rol...