Showing results by narrator "Anne Dover" in All Categories

1939. The threat of war is looming over Blackpool, but Martha and Trisha are determined not to let it dampen their spirits. With two young evacuees for Martha to take care of, and Trisha's market garden business growing as Britain digs for victory, the friends have their hands full. Both are proud to see their daughters making their own way in the world, even in wartime. Sally has become a ballerina and Bonnie is training to become a doctor. The girls' friendship brings them all happiness and hope. But Martha is troubled by her visions for their daughters' futures.

November, 1941. Christmas is coming... and despite the blackout, shortages and a constant threat of air raids, the inhabitants of Kelthorpe on the Yorkshire coast are determined that war won't stop them celebrating. The run-up to Christmas sees sisters Connie and Lizzie and their good friend Pamela busier than ever. Between their jobs, carol-singing rehearsals with the church choir and night shifts doing their bit as Air Raid Wardens and ambulance drivers, it's all go.

Summer, 1936. Newly trained midwife Hazel Price returns to the Yorkshire streets of her childhood, only to find that her modern methods and 'stuck-up' ways bring her into conflict with her family and other formidable residents of Raglan Road. Determined, Hazel battles on, assisting with home deliveries and supporting the local GP. The days are long and hard, but Hazel brings knowledge and compassion to the work she loves.

Liverpool, 1958: nursery nurse Irene Miller falls for her friend Peggy's handsome older brother, Marty. But he is trapped in an unhappy marriage. Meanwhile, Irene's friend Peggy is desperate to marry her long-term boyfriend, Pete, but Peggy's staunchly Catholic parents would never accept a Protestant son-in-law. When her mother decides to remarry, her brother heads off to sea, and she loses her job, Irene feels utterly alone in the world. An unexpected job offer from America offers her a lifeline.

Fleur Bosley didn't believe in love at first sight, at least not until she bumped into Robbie Rodwell on a railway station in the blackout of wartime Britain. Posted to a newly built Lincolnshire airfield, Robbie as a wireless operator on bombers and Fleur as an R/T operator in the watch office, their only escape is to the little cottage in the nearby village where Fleur is billeted with another WAAF, Ruth. The two girls become good friends, but Ruth, already hurt by the loss of one of the pilots, does not approve of wartime romances.

Scarborough, 1938. When Jane and Nell are brought together by a chance encounter, Jane, unhappy at home, sees an opportunity to escape when Nell invites her to visit her family in Lowestoft. However, they have no idea that their friendship will be tested through the trials of love, hardship and war. Nell's friends, Simon and Ewan, accept Jane as one of their own and welcome her into their world. But the threat of war soon brings changes for all four of them.

When Ethan Postlethwaite, his wife, Grace, and their daughter, Amy, announce that they will be leaving the family home in the Yorkshire Dales, Grace’s parents are heartbroken. Hoping for a new life prospecting for gold in the wilds of Canada, the young family say goodbye and set sail across the Atlantic in search of a brighter future. The journey there proves hard and treacherous; upon arrival, it becomes apparent that the riches they had been promised in the gold fields have already been plundered.

May, 1941. Meet the Air Raid Girls: three young women keen to do their bit during the Yorkshire blitz. Connie's life has taken an unexpected turn since her husband died - she's living at home and working in the family bakery - but night shifts as an ARP warden give her a firm sense of purpose. Her younger sister, Lizzie, is eager to play her part, too, perhaps as an ambulance driver. Twenty-year-old Pamela has led a sheltered life, but when her family's home is destroyed in a raid, she must learn to stand on her own two feet - helped by new friends.

In the year of her 100th birthday, Dame Vera Lynn's fascinating and life-affirming wartime memoir from the forces' sweetheart of her adventures entertaining the troops in far-flung Burma. "I was just 27 years old when I went to Burma. It was an experience that changed my life for ever. Up until that time I had not really travelled anywhere at all, apart from one touring visit to Holland with a band I was singing with before the war, and I had certainly never been in an aeroplane. But I wanted to make a difference, to do my bit." And she did.

1961. Lucia once dreamed of a man who would love her. She has lost hope because what man would, when she's responsible for so many siblings? Everything changes when Tim Murphy enters Lucia's coffee bar. She knows of Tim's troubled past, but she accepts Tim's offer of a date. But has Tim really changed his ways, and will his past catch up with him?

Thousands of short stories were published during the First World War, which coincided with the heyday of the fiction magazine in Britain. Much of this material has never been republished since the end of the war and is virtually lost to the modern audience. This new collection is an important work of recovery, introducing little-known magazine short fiction - which was primarily written for a civilian readership - by major writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle as well as more neglected authors.

Women’s contribution to the war effort was constantly changing, and The Despatch-Rider follows one young woman’s determination to contribute in a practical way.

Despite the war, life had to go on at home, and in this short story, the voluntary work carried out by women on the home front is brought to the fore.

Hattie finds herself relegated to the factory floor on her return from the war. Her workmates are unforgiving at Hattie's attempt to raise herself up, and she is soon ostracised. After journeying to Australia to marry her husband, Clara is betrayed and returns penniless, homeless and trying to raise a child alone. Lou's daughter and parents are killed by a bomb blast. By day she works at the factory; by night she roams the bomb sites, half mad with grief. These women forge a bond that will ultimately allow them to find hope.

January 1936. Sarah, a young executive at a Yorkshire mill, returns home to attend her grandfather's funeral, blissfully unaware of the shock that awaits her when his will is read. The twists and turns of the next few weeks see her meeting an old flame and find her striving to unravel the mystery of a long-hidden family secret. But what of Daisy, the terrified child she meets on the train?

Yorkshire, 1927. Eclipse fever grips the nation, and when beloved theatre star Selina Fellini approaches trusted sleuth Kate Shackleton to accompany her to a viewing party at Giggleswick School Chapel, Kate suspects an ulterior motive. During the eclipse, Selina's friend and costar Billy Moffatt disappears and is later found dead in the chapel grounds. Kate can't help but dig deeper and soon learns that two other members of the theatre troupe died in similarly mysterious circumstances in the past year.

Happily married to the Reverend Simon Norwood, Fiona Norwood's happiness should be complete. But Fiona has a secret in her past, and she can never forget the baby girl she gave away at birth. Meanwhile, Debbie Hargreaves has known since she was a little girl that she was adopted. Her parents are kind and loving and she has a happy home life. Despite that, once she reaches her teenage years, Debbie determines to find out about her birth mother. But is the past sometimes best left alone?

Industry in Yorkshire is booming and the cities are expanding. But this growth comes at a price: a valley in Nidderdale is doomed to be dammed and flooded to quench the cities' thirst. Rachel Garnett is determined to fight for her lovely valley and their way of life. Working against her is a young engineer, Roger Beckwith, who is planning a reservoir that will swamp the parish of Firby. Rachel works at Firby Hall, an Elizabethan mansion that will be demolished when the reservoir is built.

When all is lost, can she find the strength to start again? It is 1916, and Edith Mellor is one of the few female surgeons in Britain. Compelled to use her skills for the war effort, she travels to the Somme, where she is confronted with the horrors at the front. Yet amongst the bloodshed on the battlefield, there is a ray of light in the form of the working-class Albert, a corporal from the East End of London. Despite being worlds apart, Edith and Albert can't deny their attraction to each other.

Meet the daughters of Iris Parker. Dee, sensitive and big-hearted; Rose, uptight and controlled; and Fleur, the reckless free spirit. At the reading of their mother's will, the three estranged women are aghast to discover that their inheritance comes with very tricky strings attached. If they are to inherit her wealth, they must spend a series of weekends together over the course of a year and carry out their mother's bucket list.