Showing results by narrator "Anne Dover" in All Categories

Viv's marriage to David was not a conventional one, but when he died - in an accident for which she blamed herself - it was as if her whole world had collapsed around her. She escaped by running, mainly around the nearby lake, which was once a popular place of recreation but was now desolate and deserted. It became both her refuge and her dread.

After the death of her mother during childbirth, Beth is left to care for her father and two older brothers. When she discovers that she is pregnant, she leaves the family home in a Yorkshire mill town to live with her aunt. A tragic accident leaves her in the colourful world of the Romany Gypsies, where she gives birth to her son, Joshua. She keeps his birth secret, but when he is falsely accused of murder many years later, she is forced to reveal her secrets to save him from the hangman’s noose.

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.

Helen-Alice Dear was only 15 when she left London to visit Bulgaria on a family holiday in 1937. Just weeks after her arrival, she found herself unable to leave and struggling to survive in an increasingly hostile and terrifying environment. Her marriage to a Bulgarian man bore her four children but they were often homeless, cold and hungry. Despite these hardships, Helen refused to give up hope and bravely managed to protect and raise her family.

Cornwall, 1960, and a whole new world for young Connie Vickers as she holidays with her brand-new fiance William. But a strange encounter with a beautiful blonde boy on the beach leads to a terrible tragedy, the consequences of which are to affect Connie and William for the rest of their lives.

Liverpool, 1539. A pregnant novice nun, Agnes Moore, ejected from her convent, claims to have been attacked in the ancient chapel of St Mary del Quay by Satan himself. Her former abbess, Lady Katheryn Lukeley, comes to her aid, but Agnes refuses to identify her lover.

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.

The slums of Dublin are a lonely place for Katherine Donovan. Her father is one of the most hated men in the district, notorious for his viciousness. Her one friend is eight-year-old Ceppi, as much an emotional orphan as 18-year-old Katherine. When her father is murdered in the unrest surrounding the docker's strike, Katherine, fearing for her life, flees to Liverpool with her father's money, taking Ceppi with her. She finds a refuge for herself and Ceppi with the Moore family, until the eldest Moore boy's unnatural interest in Ceppi convinces Katherine that they must move on.

When John Mitchell inherits property from a distant relative, he and his family move from a comfortable living in Whitby to a large country estate in Cornwall. It seems an ideal place for John and his wife to raise their young daughter, Abigail. However, life in the South is not without its problems and he finds himself clashing with the Gaisfords, a powerful old Cornish family. Any problems the family encounter over the years, however, seem to be averted when Abigail marries handsome Luke Gaisford, in spite of her father's warning that still waters run deep.

Whitby 1901. Sarah Brook has kept diaries for most of her life. Now eighty-five and at the end of her own journey, she allows her favourite great-niece Esther to read them. But while full of Sarah's thoughts and dreams, and family stories, the diaries also hold dark family secrets about the past, which are about to be exposed... Whitby 1832. When their mother tragically dies, life changes dramatically for Sarah and her siblings.

Hull, 1930. A terrified woman runs through the dark, rain-lashed streets pursued by a man, desperate to reach the sanctuary of the local police station. Alice Goddard runs with one thing in mind: her daughter. In her panic she is hit by a car and rushed to hospital. When she wakes, she has no memory of who she is, but at night she dreams of being hunted by a man, and of a little girl. The weeks pass, but even her own mother is evasive about the girl’s whereabouts. Penniless and homeless, Alice must rebuild her life, hoping that one day she will be reunited with her lost daughter.

Sophia Seddon and Grace Thompson are poles apart - the one a member of the notorious Seddons of Plover Street, the other the vicar's spoilt only child. But their childhood friendship is revived when they find themselves fighting a common cause: women’s rights. And the ties of friendship prove stronger and more enduring than those of background or family, even in the face of danger. Both incredibly moving and engrossing, this is period drama for fans of Dilly Court, Margaret Dickinson and Annie Murray, from an experienced and acclaimed storyteller.

Liverpool, 1917. When Irish seaman Michael Gallagher docks in Liverpool after years of fighting with the British Navy, he never expects to fall in love. But the moment he glimpses Stella Bennett, all thoughts of returning to his homeland vanish. Determined to be together, the young couple defy Stella’s parents’ wishes. But their plans to marry are soon derailed by the arrival of baby Ginny. Her crop of fiery red hair plants a seed of doubt in her father’s mind, and it’s not long before their world begins to fall apart.

A short story from British Library Crime Classic The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. A Christmas Eve party at Clevere Hall ends in tragedy when the host is found stabbed to death. Major Ceely certainly wasn’t short of enemies, but who hated him enough to commit the crime?

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. When the women of a small English village meet to organise a hospital supplies depot at the outbreak of the Second World War, talk soon turns to the previous war and how this one will compare.

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.