Showing results by narrator "Anne Dover" in All Categories

Diane Allen invites you into the heart of Yorkshire with her historical saga, Daughter of the Dales, the stirring conclusion to the Windfell Manor Trilogy. Upon the passing of matriarch Charlotte Atkinson, her daughter Isabelle courageously assumes the role of caretaker for the family's...

1914. Mining engineer Tommy Birch goes off to war, leaving his new wife, Rita, behind in Pontefract. On the front line, Tommy runs afoul of a German mine and is reported as missing, presumed deceased by his fellow soldiers. But Tommy isn't dead. Found behind enemy lines, wearing only a pair of boots stolen from a dead German, Tommy is picked up by the enemy, who believe him to be one of their own.

1939. Eve Armstrong is being evacuated to Devon. As the train pulls out of London, she takes a last look at the crowded platform, the shabbily dressed evacuees, and a rude little boy sticking his tongue out. At first, Eve is happier than ever at Drake's Farm. It's a different world that invites fresh starts, and so when Eve runs into the boy from the station, Johnny Durrell, they call a truce and soon become firm friends. The war might be a distant reality, but the arrival of Connie Hale makes every day a battle.

A moving Yorkshire saga, The Windfell Family Secrets is the much anticipated follow up to Diane Allen's The Mistress of Windfell Manor. Twenty-one years have passed since Charlotte Booth fought to keep Ferndale Mill and her home at Windfell Manor following her traumatic first marriage. Now...

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. In 'Night in the Front Line', the title story of this collection, Molly Lefebure vividly captures the different reactions of one small community to the Blitz. When Mrs Brown is found sheltering under her stairs during a raid, she is quickly rushed to the safety of the local school. There, amidst the chaos and panic, she meets an array of neighbours in varying states of distress.

When Dot McCann, playing with her pals, decides to hide in Butcher Rathbone's almost empty dustbin, she overhears a conversation which could send one man to prison and the other to the gallows - and suddenly finds herself in possession of stolen goods. Dot lives with her aunt and uncle, abandoned after her parents died. She feels very alone until she meets up with Corky, who has run away from a London orphanage. They join forces with Emma, whose jeweller's shop has been burgled, and Nick, a young reporter who is investigating the crime.

West Yorkshire, 1914. Newly married to Noah Jackson, Beth is happily content working on her family's market stall while Noah fulfils his dreams of being a teacher. When war erupts, Beth's peaceful life is shattered by events beyond her control. Noah enlists to fight alongside his brothers. A devastating accident occurs that changes all their lives. Once a loving home, Beaumont Farm becomes Beth's responsibility.

After the sudden and brutal breakdown of her marriage, Jenny finds herself alone for the first time in her life when she leaves the comfortable farmhouse with her four-year-old daughter. Taking refuge in a seaside town in North Wales, Jenny finds a room in a boarding house. It's difficult at first, but as she gets to know her fellow residents, she gradually begins to see that life has much more to offer than she could ever have dreamed.

Is love just an illusion? To the outside, Clare has everything: a beautiful home, a devoted husband and daughter, and plenty of money. But she is bored. Her husband Clive spends most of the year abroad - but what does he do after work hours? And her daughter Sally claims to spend all her time with horses and homework - but what about boys? Lonely, thwarted and unfulfilled - and against Clive's wishes - Clare takes a job managing a café.

Handsome Frank Rossi took Matty Gilbie away from her working class roots in East London, promising her fame and fortune. As his wife, she would be half of a power couple. But the Wall Street Crash puts paid to all that, and as Frank becomes more violent, Matty flees in the dead of night. Once home in Bermondsey, she goes into hiding, but Frank is on the move, determined to find her and get her back.

What happens if you fall in love with the wrong person? Rose knows only too well the exhilaration and devastation of loving a married man. So she watches with a keen eye as Eve - her closest companion, the granddaughter she never had - meets Myles, the new tenant in her downstairs flat. Quietly and softly and against the backdrop of their own unsatisfactory marriages, Myles and Eve fall in love and, as they try to have the perfect affair like Rose did before them, they come to learn about the pain of lost opportunities.

It's 1945 and the war is finally over. For the Devlin family in Liverpool, the wartime years have been almost too much to bear. But at long last sisters Grace and Chrissie can return to their normal lives. Level-headed and hard-working, Grace wants nothing more than to meet a nice man and settle down. Vivacious Chrissie, though, craves fun and excitement - and there's not much of that to be had in the austere post-war years. So when Chrissie meets Pat Kilroy, a handsome Irishman, she's swept off her feet and eagerly follows Pat to Ireland. Chrissie soon realises she has made a terrible mistake, and Grace rushes to her side to help.

Born in 1800, George Hudson was raised from farmer’s son to the rich and powerful Lord Mayor of York - friend to royalty and owner of half of the railways in the kingdom. But Hudson was driven by greed as well as ambition and a dark secret lurked within his past - a youthful indiscretion…and an illegitimate child. That child, Milly, has been brought up, quietly and lovingly, by her mother, Jane, who dreams of taking revenge on her careless begetter. By a quirk of fate, both Jane and Milly work in the Hudson household. Will Jane’s revenge be sweet?

It is the autumn of 1945 and identical twins Joy and Gillian Lawrence are on their way home to Liverpool, having been evacuated to Devonshire five years earlier. Their mother has been killed in the blitz but the girls hope that with their beloved father’s help they will be able to manage. All goes well until there is a terrible accident and Joy loses her sight. At first she is bitter and resentful whilst Gillian is racked with guilt.

Lottie and her mother, Louella, share a house in Victoria Court with Mr Magic and his son, Baz. Lottie is a child star, dancing and singing at the Gaiety Theatre; Louella acts as Max Magic's assistant. But a road accident causes Lottie to lose her memory. Then Lottie meets a boy with golden-brown eyes who calls her "Sassy" and accuses her of running away. It is after this meeting that the dreams start, dreams of another life, almost another world.

England, 1940: Clara is forced to flee her home as the Nazis invade the beautiful island of Guernsey, leaving her mother Julia behind. She's scared and alone, but her spirits lift a little when she learns she's headed for Blackpool. Her slight hopes are crushed however when she is housed with and at the mercy of a cruel shopkeeper, Miss Brandon. Clara is worked like a dog, but the warmth of some newly made Blackpool friendships will go far to save her. Separated from her beloved daughter, Julia heads to London to try and track Clara down but she is thwarted at every turn.

Laura Collins is struggling to make a good life for her daughters, Tess and Tina. So when she is offered a good job, with accommodation, she is delighted. Life is very different for the Brewsters who live on Manor Farm in Herefordshire. Danny plans to marry one day so that he can take over the farm, whilst his cousin, Phil, longs to escape the world of farming as soon as possible. War changes all their plans.

The moment artist Riana Evans sees the dilapidated mansion in Wales she longs to buy it, despite its unhappy past – 20 years ago, five maids died there in mysterious circumstances. So she is delighted when the house’s elderly and eccentric owner sells it to her for a pittance. The house’s “ghosts” prove good for business – inspiring her paintings and providing welcome atmosphere for a series of successful ghost-spotting weekends.

Working at a tiny village school in rural Yorkshire has its own unique set of challenges - but when teachers Lydia Knight and Jake Immingham are tasked with getting the children to put on a Christmas play for the local elderly people’s home, they know they’re in for a tricky term! But in between choreographing sugar plum dance routines, reindeer costume malfunctions and trying to contain Rory Scott’s wannabe rap star aspirations, Lydia realises that, even as a teacher, she isn’t past being taught a couple of things - and one of those things is a much-needed lesson in Christmas spirit.

A story from The Prisoner’s Defence, a collection of First World War short stories. In 'Paraphernalia' a nurse describes the difficulty in distancing herself from her patients and their suffering.