Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

Sammy Adams is always on the look-out for a new business opportunity. When he hears from his son David about the new-fangled supermarkets that are becoming all the rage in America, he immediately starts looking for a suitable site in South London. Meanwhile, legacies of the last war continue to haunt the Adams family. The mystery of Katje Galicia, the Polish woman who knows something of Sir Edwin Finch's past, becomes a major police enquiry while a beautiful German girl appears, bringing wartime memories back to Tim Adams and his wife, Felicity.

It’s Christmas 1880 in London’s East End, and a dying Irish girl leaves her baby in the care of the Sisters of Clemency. The nuns raise little Ettie O’Reilly as their own. But the lives of the nuns and orphans are soon crushed by an unexpected turn of events. Ettie is at her lowest ebb when she is betrayed by the boy who has promised his undying love and loyalty. She is faced with the revelation of a heart-wrenching secret.

East-End London, 1858. In London's twisting streets, it's hard to tell friend from foe. And for Katherine Martin, arriving back in London after years away, the city is crueller than she remembers. Her eyes opened to the plight of London's poor, Kate is determined to do what she can to help, even if it means defying her parents. In secret, she opens a soup kitchen. But there is a world of criminals within London's poorest alleys. Catching the notice of Harry Trader and his gang, Kate is out of her depth. Until she begins to discover that her true enemies might not be who she thought.

Lolly Bruce spent several years in the lap of luxury, but now she's back in a world she knows: London's East End. Her guardian Mal Fury is doing time, so Lolly is working on the wrong side of the law to get by. She'll need to use all her street smarts to keep her safe in Kellston. Then one day the Old Bill turn up on her doorstep. Mal is on the run, but why when he has only months left to serve? Lolly is convinced the only thing Mal would escape for is news about the daughter he lost 19 years ago. She's the only thing he has left to lose.

Kate Lewis is 35 and feeling restless. She's fed up of worrying about the ironing and would like her husband, Jeffrey, to pay more attention to her than to his golf clubs. There must be more to life than this! Kate enrols herself in a t'ai chi course and takes best friend Sonia along for the ride. She's determined to 'find herself', but it's easier said than done, especially when she finds the distracting Ben Mahler first....

The best things in life are never free. Cain Moran wanted Jenny Riley more than he had ever wanted anyone or anything before in his life. But loving Jenny Riley was the easy part; it was telling his wife he wanted a divorce that was going to be the killer.... Jenny is not just any girl. She cares nothing for Cain's hard-man reputation - she just wants to be with him. But Cain is not a free man. And he's about to find out that when his wife Caroline said 'til death us do part, she meant it.

The most talented voice since Dilly Court - an absorbing, thrilling and romantic historical saga with characters you'll fall in love with. Mattie Maguire is a 26-year-old widow with an infant son. Since her husband, Brian, died three years before, she has struggled to keep the family's East End coal business solvent, as well as taking care of her troubled mother-in-law. But unbeknown to Mattie, life is about to get even tougher.

By the year 1949, life in Walworth has almost returned to normal. Sammy and Boots, now in a highly successful partnership, are rebuilding the old family firm. But an old enemy resurfaces - Mr Ben Ford, better known as the Fat Man, who seems determined to ruin the various branches of this growing business. It takes all the well-known Adams ingenuity and determination to outwit the thugs in the Fat Man's pay.

Once they had been called Orrice and Effel, two bedraggled, scruffy waifs who lived rough off the streets of Walworth. Now they were Horrace and Ethel Cooper, grown up - quite respectable really - and living with their adopted parents, Jim and Rebecca Cooper. When Horrace saw the pretty girl who worked as a shop assistant in Adams (Ladies Fashion Modes) he was quite bowled over and knew he had to meet her. From then on he was in and out of the shop, buying hats and stockings and ribbons, trying desperately to persuade Miss Sally Brown to come out with him.

Kent, 1953. The Woolworths Erith store, a beloved cornerstone of the community, faces closure if the December turnover fails to increase. And, as if store manager Betty Billington doesn't have enough on her plate, personnel shortages and a troublesome new employee add to the strife. With Christmas on the horizon, Betty and her staff must strive to find solutions to improve business and keep the store running – from special events for late-night customers to a festive group trip into central London.

Best friends Sarah, Maisie and Freda are brought together by their jobs at Woolworths. With their loved ones away on the front line, their bonds of friendship strengthen each day. Betty Billington is the manager at Woolworths and a rock for the girls, having given up on love...until a mysterious stranger turns up one day - could he reignite a spark in Betty?

Billie Jo is the adored only child of wealthy villain Terry and Michelle, the drunken wife he hates. Knowing how much Billie Jo dreads her parents' fights, Terry imagines that she'll understand when he tells her he is going to leave Michelle to marry his pregnant secretary. But fate is about to deal a terrible hand and change everything in a way Terry has not planned for, leaving Billie Jo's protected world in tatters.

Once the top dog, Danny Mckay has walked away from his old gangland life. He’s on the straight and narrow now, looking forward to settling down and living a quiet life. But trouble seems to follow Danny. And when his own family is caught up in a shocking event, Danny is dragged back into the gangland world, hell-bent on revenge. Danny’s determined to make someone pay, but the rules are different this time around—old friends are enemies, and Danny doesn’t know who he can trust.

Fern has the voice of an angel, but as an underpaid barmaid and pub singer, she's going nowhere fast. Then she enters the TV talent show Fame Game, and this could be her big break. But then, things are never that simple. Evan David's exquisite tones have enthralled opera buffs throughout the world. Everyone around him panders to his every need, but what he really needs now is a break - from everything. Two worlds collide when Fern becomes Evan's assistant, and neither is prepared for the dramatic effect they have on each other.

When Rose escapes from London and her handsome and charming ex-lover, she has no idea her occupation as an aromatherapist will cause such a scandal in her new country village. All she wants is a bit of peace and quiet, but her new neighbours soon ensure that her life is more chaotic than ever before. But that may be because Rose is falling in love....

Michael Flynn is untouchable in a world of power, money and violence. He fights for what he wants and he takes it, whatever the cost. He learns the rules of the life from the best, and when his mentor, legendary Face Patrick Costello, is taken out, no one questions that Michael Flynn is his natural successor. For Michael, loyalty - and crime - pay. Michael Flynn rises to heights beyond anything the criminal underworld has seen. He owns everyone, and he rules his empire with an even but fierce hand. No one would dare challenge him.

The Last Word is the definitive story of how Katrina Amy Alexandria Alexis Infield became Katie Price. It documents how her life has been shaped by a tradition of strong women, by cycles of abuse which have been repeated through generations, and by the impact of fame and trauma on a close family unit.

From autumn 1941 to the first months of 1942, the war continued to affect the lives of the Adams and Somers families. It was not so much the war, however, as a succession of tragic domestic events that brought a sad and lonely little girl called Phoebe into the care of Susie and Sammy Adams, reminding them of the entry of Rosie as a child into the lives of Boots and Emily. Much needed to be done to cure little Phoebe of her sadness, and it proved a difficult time for Susie and Sammy.

1905: Ruby Caselton may only be 25 years old but she already has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Heavily pregnant with her second child, penniless and exhausted, she is moving her family into a new home. The Caseltons left their last place when they couldn’t pay the rent, but Ruby’s husband Eddie has promised this will be a fresh start for them all. And Ruby desperately hopes that this time he will keep his word.

Daddy’s girl Samantha Reynold hadn’t bargained on unexpectedly needing to step into her father’s shoes and take over the family casino business. Pampered and spoiled, Sam knows nothing about the rules of this glamorous but deadly new world. She has a lot to learn and even more to prove. But she won’t let her family down, especially when it looks like they could lose everything to their biggest rivals - the Stoker family.