Unhappy in her life and relationship, Francesca is inspired by her sighting of a mermaid swimming away to freedom, to leave her lover and uproot her life. She moves to Lewes to stay with Agnes Potts, her loving, eccentric friend. Francesca begins to paint again with Agnes's encouragement and when her painting of the mermaid is seen by Henry, a local potter, he takes her into his employment and plans to organize an exhibition of her art. When Agnes suffers an accident, Francesca must become nurse, chef and companion to her friend. Meanwhile, her ex-lover reappears and attempts to con Henry. Preoccupied by her new duties as Agnes's carer, Francesca is too late to stop him and suddenly everything she has worked for and built in her new life is put at risk.

It is 1944, and Private Steve Wilkins is waiting to go to war. A new recruit to the mighty Desert Rats, he is billeted in Norfolk as the Allies meticulously plan the attack to open up the Second Front. Being nineteen and away from home for the first time, Steve, along with his fellow recruits, must find something to keep his mind off what lays ahead. The Saturday hop at King's Lynn, with its dancing and local girls, is the perfect distraction. Steve, calm and confident when it comes to the Army, but tongue tied when it comes to girls, usually leaves chasing tail to his friends. But when Steve witnesses a local lad pushing around a young girl, he intercedes without a second thought. Barbara, or Spitfire to her friends, isn't normally in need of rescuing. But when Steve comes to her aid and sweeps her away from Victor and onto the dance floor, she finds herself letting him.

Spirited and independent, lady's maid Nan Smithen has ambitions far beyond her station. Marriage to a wealthy businessman enchanted by her youth brings her position, children and a comfortable union. Until her doting husband is killed on an ill-fated trip to revolutionary France.Alone with three young children, Nan faces a bleak future, for there is no money left. But the strength of will that brought her this far drives her on. A newswalk in Mayfair is her first step towards establishing a business empire that will soon stretch throughout London and beyond. Nan's fortune starts to grow.Then Calverly Leigh, a dashing—and dangerous—cavalry officer waltzes into Nan's life and she discovers there is much, much more to life than selling the Tuppenny Times.Tuppenny Times, first published in 1989, is the first book of the Easter Empire trilogy.

Ellen Murphy was born to a world of rotting slums and starving children. Determined to escape from poverty and her drunken Irish father, she takes a job as a shop girl on Shoreditch High Street. David Cheifitz is the only son of devout Jewish parents, David has grown up with his future mapped out. But he is an artist and a rebel. When he falls in love with Ellen Murphy, he turns his back on the old ways. But as time passes, life starts to get in the way: religious differences, rejection by David's parents and domestic strife throw up barriers between the newlyweds. It is only when David is drawn into the Great War do they realise how precious their marriage is and by then it may be too late.

It is 1936 and the headmistress at Roehampton Secondary School, pioneer and suffragette Octavia Smith, is steering her pupils towards success as her exemplary girls' school moves from strength to strength. But as Europe rumbles towards war, Octavia's drive to change the world burns as bright as ever and she finds herself caught up in covert plans to rescue Jewish families from the Nazi advance in mainland Europe.Meanwhile, talk of an evacuation of schoolchildren is increasing and Octavia will have to uproot if she wants to continue her students' education. Furthermore, Octavia's prize student Lizzie has quite an interesting father – Octavia's old flame Tommy Meriton is back on the scene, and once again Octavia finds herself torn between love and duty...As a new World War strikes closer and closer to home, bringing challenges and tragedies along the way, Octavia's war is only just beginning

Gemma Goodeve, a young actress with a promising career, is involved in a terrible train crash in which many lives are lost and many people are injured. Gemma herself has to have her lower leg amputated before she can be freed from the wreckage. When she wakes from the anaesthesia she has to face the difficult truth, deal with a long and painful recovery and accept that she will not be able to act anymore.Her young doctor, Nick Quennell, becomes more than professionally involved in Gemma's care as he tries to protect her from the media circus that surrounds the rail accident and her own mother, who is far from being supportive. But is his care and romantic feeling really what Gemma needs and wants in this terrible moment in her life?In Gemma's Journey, first published in 1997, Beryl Kingston sets the romantic plot against the difficult issues of recovering from a life changing accident and with her characteristic interest in social problems she also explores the...

It is 1852 and Alexander, a young biographer in search of the truth about William Blake, has parted from his new bride and travelled to the village of Felpham. For it was here that the scene of Blake's darkest hour – the mysterious incident that caused him to be tried for Sedition – occurred. But the villagers hereabouts don't have much to say on the subject, and go strangely quiet whenever the trial is mentioned.We travel back to 1800, when William Blake and his faithful wife Catherine have just moved to Felpham to take up the promise of work under a new patron, William Hayley Esquire. This tireless taskmaster soon gives Blake so much work that his own poetry is neglected. Trying to appease his patron and still find time for his masterpiece frays Blake's nerves beyond endurance.Witnessing this exchange are Betsy and Johnnie, two young lovers employed in Mr Hayley's service. In awe of Blake's beautiful engravings and glorious paintings, Betsy enlists Johnnie...

Growing up in the Tower of London under the loving protection of her soldier father, Peggy is proud and content, even if she does have to put up with her mother’s nerves and her whining younger sister, Baby. But when fate moves to rip her away from the security she has known, it is down to her to look after her mother and two sisters. Taking the world’s burdens on to her narrow shoulders is something that comes all too easily to Peggy, often at the expense of her own well-being.For later, when War comes to London, it only seems natural for Peggy to join the ARP and do her bit to protect her beloved city. Watching the skies through long, fear filled nights, fire-fighting and digging victims from the ruins of their homes does not excuse Peggy from her duties to her family, who still expect to be taken care of.But life seems to be looking up when love comes in the shape of neighbour Jim Boxall. Like Peggy, Jim has had to look after his own family from a young age, whilst doing his best to better himself in a world that dismisses his promise and intelligence because of his class. Joining the RAF is his chance to get on in the world, but it also tears him away from his home, and from Peggy.London Pride, first published in 1990, is Beryl Kingston’s tribute to the people of London’s endurance and bravery throughout the terrors of the Blitz, and a testament to how love – like the London Pride flower itself – can blossom and grow from the rubble.

When Alison marries Rigby Toan she cannot believe her luck. Rigg is the perfect husband – loving, ambitious and attractive – and everybody envies them their happiness.But when the recession takes hold Rigg's facade is stripped away and his flashy car and sharp suits prove to be bought by expensive lies. As debts spiral out of control and their home is repossessed, Alison is forced to open her eyes to the world and to the sort of man her husband really is.From his position as a private investigator, Morgan watches as Alison trudges the weary path of poverty and despair. But even he underestimates the inspirational strengths of her determination to eventually win through.Maggie's Boy, first published in 1994, is a heartwarming story of the determination and love that can conquer a change of fortune and terrible hardship.

When your heart and your dreams are dividedA much loved only child, great things are expected of young Octavia Smith. While her cousin Emmeline's ambition is to 'get married and have lots of babies', Octavia's childhood dream is to change the world. It isn't long before the determined young woman finds her cause in the Suffragette movement – but will the arrival of the irresistibly dashing Tommy Meriton into Octavia's life give her passions another path to follow?

Johnnie Easter takes his family by surprise when he falls in love with Harriet Sowervy. For all his business talent Johnnie is a shy lad, awkward at social events. But when he meets gentle Harriet, beaten into submission by her brutal parents, Johnnie reveals hidden strengths, rescuing his love from her prison-like life and making her his bride. Harriet's love for her rescuer, her hero, her husband, knows no bounds. Surely theirs is a marriage made in heaven? But as Johnnie devotes more and more time to the family business, rushing newspapers across the country on the swift new 'Fourpenny Flyers', Harriet suffers from his neglect. Until, amid the terrible massacre at Peterloo, where her eyes are opened to the suffering and deprivation of the poor around her, she meets dynamic revolutionary Caleb Rawson, who is everything Johnnie is not - passionate, exciting, and champion of the poor. And so the seeds of tragedy are sown...