This major best-selling memoir of a poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool is one of the most harrowing but uplifting books you will ever hear. When Helen Forrester's father went bankrupt in 1930, she and her six siblings were forced into utmost poverty and slum surroundings in Depression-ridden Liverpool. The running of the household and the care of the younger children all fell on 12-year-old Helen. Writing about her experiences later in life, Helen Forrester shed light on an almost forgotten part of life in Britain.

Liverpool, May 1941. An extraordinary story of three brave women, each trying in her own way to deal with the brutal tide of destruction brought on by the air raids of the Second World War. There is Ellen—whose home is destroyed by bombs; Gwen, whose family absorbs all her time and energy and Emmie, whose only fears are for the safety of her merchant seaman fiancé, far away in the South Atlantic. None of them were prepared for what would follow, when the air raid siren sounded for the first time on 1 May, 1941.

Life in a Liverpool tenement block is a grim struggle for Martha Connelly and her poverty-stricken family, as every day renews the threat of homelessness, hunger and disease. Family warmth remains constant however, despite the misery and disquiet of the slum surroundings, and the indomitable neighbourhood puts up a relentless fight for survival. Helen Forrester’s poignant novel relays bleakness and hardships, but celebrates also the spirit of unified hope and the restorative values of the close-knit community.

Jane’s parents think Eddie’s rebellious ways will lead their beloved daughter into trouble. They forbid her from seeing Eddie, telling Jane to get a proper job as a nurse. But Jane cannot stand the idea of life without the boy she loves and secretly continues to see Eddie. The day she finds out that Eddie has betrayed her, she is utterly distraught. Were her parents right all along?

June 1914. Edie Moore is a Governess for Lord and Lady Moreland, living comfortably at the grand Downland House in Sussex. But, wanting more from life, she flees to Littlehampton, where she spent many idyllic childhood holidays. Desperate for work, Edie begins working as a chambermaid at the prestigious Beach Hotel, despite the menial tasks being a far cry from her previous job. But as she navigates her new life, friendships, and rivalries, she also grows closer to charming, cheerful porter, Charlie Cobbett, and finally finds the happiness she has been searching for.

Bristol 1936. Jenny Crawford has resigned herself to a loveless marriage living hand to mouth with their two children. Like many others, husband Roy struggles to find work at the docks but a chance encounter turns the family's fortunes around. Not only does he get regular work but they are also allocated a council house on Coronation Close on the outskirts of the city. Jenny and the children are overjoyed, this is the fresh start she could only ever dream of. But trouble feels never too far away.

Looking back on his life, eight-four year-old Manuel Echaniz will never forget his youth growing up poverty-stricken and in hardship on the streets of Liverpool. Now far away from the place that formed him, Manuel has a family who know nothing about the place he grew up. Concerned by their lack of interest in their heritage, he sets out to teach his granddaughter about his formative years and the matriarchal community that raised him through the toughest of times. Will she ever understand that other world he left behind in the teeming streets of the Mersey docklands?

Kitty and Tom Conlon arrive in Liverpool in July 1916 to claim the house Tom’s great-uncle has bequeathed him in his will. The move to England couldn’t have come at a better time. Dublin is in turmoil following the Easter Uprising and Kitty’s brother is now in prison. The house in Weaver Street is all they hoped for, and after a shaky start with her new neighbours, Kitty believes the world is her oyster. Until that is, Tom is conscripted into the navy. With Tom away, it’s up to Kitty and the women of Weaver Street to get each other through the war.

Staffordshire, 1911. Money is in short supply for Ginnie Jones’ family, and she is sent to Haddon Workhouse. When she meets Clara and Sam, she hopes that she has made friends for life...until tragedy strikes. Three years later, Ginnie finds work as a mouldrunner at the Potteries, but never stops thinking about her friends. When Sam and Ginnie are reunited, their bond is as strong as ever, until Sam is sent to fight in the war. Can Ginnie find the joy that she’s never had? 

I reach out, arms aching to hold my newborn baby, and catch just a glimpse of soft, dark brown hair before someone pushes me back onto the bed. "It’s alive," says the woman who delivered my child before she places something over my face. My last thought is of my baby’s first cry before my world goes dark.

From Liverpool’s best-loved author comes a superb novel of loss and grief, love and hope, set on Merseyside in 1920.

England, 1940. Opening the box with trembling hands, she couldn’t believe it–a tiny baby lay inside. She gently lifted the newborn as it started to cry. Cradling the little one to her chest, she searched the darkness for any sign of whoever left it here. And as she rocked the child, something fluttered to the ground...a ration book.

Left homeless after the Exeter Blitz, May must find a job if she's to put a roof over her head and help support her two younger sisters. Taking a job as housekeeper to farmer George, May soon ends up getting stuck into more than just cleaning and cooking. The Ministry of Agriculture will close Fair Maids Farm if it doesn't meet their produce targets, but George refuses to heed their warnings. With only two reluctant Land Girls to help, May receives unexpected guidance from Dan, a neighbouring farmer, whose kindness gets tongues wagging in the village.

When 17-year-old Marie Sinclair travelled to Strathlinn in Scotland in 1920 to visit her brother and his new family, all she was looking for is rest and recuperation after the death of Lady Hanley, for whom she had been caring for over the past 18 months. But when her pregnant sister-in-law is rushed to hospital, Marie is forced to take on a far greater role in the lives of her Scottish family. And who is Mark Blackford, the new, young Estate owner? Meeting him on the train to Strathlinn, Marie's life becomes entwined with his, as friend, help-meet, and, maybe, something more?

Paris, 1941. As we drive down the cobbled street, I take in the red banners with swastikas covering every building. Suddenly, a group of guards appears. I duck beneath the window of the car, and my heart thumps as my hand jumps to my chest. But I’m not wearing my yellow star now, I left it with my sister. Tears well in my eyes. Will I ever see her again?