Lizzie Kershaw is an independent spirit; ever since her father's death she has had to be a survivor. She makes an ill-advised marriage in order to escape her harsh home life. However, she quickly discovers that she has married a selfish and violent man. His beatings are ceaseless and she finds herse[...]

Little Billy is the light of Polly's life - it's for her son's sake that she puts up with an unkind mother-in-law and an isolated farm. Then Billy is knocked down by a car, his father killed attempting to save his life, and Polly, cast off by her husband's family, is left with a child who may never[...]

Mary Ann is illegitimate and life in 1905 is hard. It rapidly becomes worse when her new stepfather begins to interfere with her. Sent away at fifteen to bear his child she meets Gabriel Clough, who helps her escape to Blackpool after the birth. The Great War brings Mary Ann many new opportunities,[...]

Wiltshire, 1910. With her stepfather threatening her with a forced marriage, Mattie Willitt flees home in search of a better life. She is soon lost and at the mercy of the elements - until her life is saved by Jacob, a widower who takes her in and nurses her back to health. Finding consolation in e[...]

Bram Deagan has a thriving trading business, a growing family - and a gift for matchmaking. His dearest wish is to see his friends Dougal and Mitchell happily married too. In England, Eleanor Prescott has been widowed and often thinks of Dougal McBride, the ship's captain who was a true friend to he[...]

1945 - the war in Europe is over. Most women can't wait for their men to return, but in the small town of Rivenshaw in Lancashire, Judith Crossley fears having her husband back in the house. He'd grown into a bully and a drunkard, and on the occasions he'd come home from leave, he'd hit her. He wasn[...]