Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

Margaret Woodruff is slowly dying in a care home. When her son is presented with the chance of exceptional care in her final months, he finds the offer hard to resist. Winifred is assigned to Margaret’s care. She’s a Helper: a new kind of carer that’s capable, committed and completely tireless - because she’s a synthetic human being. Under Winifred’s care Margaret’s health improves beyond everyone’s expectations, and Winifred begins to learn from Margaret what it means to be alive. But how will Winifred use what she learns from Margaret - and what does she truly want from her?

1916. East London. When sixteen-year-old Clover Cooper's mother, Iris, calls her home from work one day, the last thing Clover expects is to find that her mother has given birth to another baby. After all, Clover's unpleasant father, Sidney, has been in France for longer than nine months. Banned from questions, and bound to secrecy by her beloved mother, Clover leaves her infant brother at a nunnery for safekeeping, despite her heartbreak at parting with him. But when Sidney unexpectedly returns from the Western Front, life at home suddenly feels more dangerous than a battlefield.

Verity Templeton, 18 and fiercely independent, travels to London with her aunt for the season. During a weekend with her friend Charlotte Huntington-Smythe an encounter with Charlotte's brother shows her another side of the family. Then she meets Brandon Summerville, the handsome, arrogant, wealthy man about town Charlotte is in love with. Will she be able to resist his obvious charm? When a secret from the past turns her life upside down she doubts everything she's believed in. Her fight to find the truth brings more heartache.

Despite air raids and rationing in wartime London, sisters Liz and Dora Beck find time for fun and laughter at the local ice rink. Then a handsome American serviceman catches their attention, and so begins heartache between the sisters. Dora is increasingly jealous of her sister's blossoming romance with Victor. But when Victor is killed in a bomb attack, Liz makes a shocking discovery that upsets her whole family. Forced out of her home, Liz finds support where she least expects it.

When Daisy Holt was dismissed from her post as a nursemaid she set off cheerfully into the jungle of mid-Victorian London. When Kitty Hammond, proprietress of the “select establishment” off Leicester Square discovered her she was quick to realise that Daisy has a rare talent and would make a successful entertainer. And there it was that she met the impoverished artist John Skelton. To him Daisy represented the perfect model – the one to inspire his work.

It is autumn 1940 and, as the bombs rain down on London, a close-knit community struggles to survive. Working at the local post office, Bessie Green does her best to keep her customers' spirits up, but when she receives a telegram addressed to her parents, there's nothing she can do to prevent the heartache that lies ahead. Then Bessie hears that 11-year-old Daisy Mason has been orphaned in a blast, and she's sure that taking Daisy into their home is just what her parents need to help them overcome their grief.

London, 1941. Keen to do her bit in the war, Connie Allinson joins the WRNS and is posted as a letter censor. Her task: to read and alter correspondence to ensure no sensitive information crosses enemy lines. At first, she is not sure she's up to it, but is soon drawn in by the letters she reads, and their secret... Doncaster, 1967. Bored of her domestic life, Connie wants a job, but her controlling husband Arthur won't hear of it. Looking for an escape and plagued by memories of letters she read during the war, she makes a bid for freedom and starts secretly tracking down their authors.

Born into poverty and hardship, Ruby Skinner's decision to approach the unscrupulous East End villain, Donald McCoy, for help, ends in disaster. In a desperate bid to move her ailing mother to the fresh air of the countryside, she realises that she has made a huge mistake, which will shape the rest of her life. Robert Thornton, a wealthy business man, also had the misfortune of suffering from the under hand dealings with McCoy, and when curiosity forces him to pursue Ruby Skinner, the barriers which divide the social classes of the 19th century are put to test by the power of love.

Everything has finally fallen into place for Renee. So when vicar Roger asks her to support a new dance hall, it should be a great way to give back to the community. Except Renee has a terrible secret she is holding onto. One that Roger can never know about. Nancy will keep Renee's secret. But she's got her own problems: handsome GI Jack has turned her head, and the American soldiers are causing a stir. Temperance has made a new friend - but now that she has someone who can understand the challenges she faces, will her relationship with Archie survive?

Interior designer Kat is broke and desperately needs this commission restoring the Edwardian mansion of Fownhope Priors, but her employer Scott's wife and mother-in-law are a nightmare. Yet when they are killed in suspicious circumstances, and she is the last person to see him, she can't help but be drawn in to the family's feuds. Where has Scott Hawkesmoor vanished to? Is it back to Yorkshire where his wife and mother-in-law died? Or is it somewhere far stranger? And how can she ever explain it to anyone–especially the police–let alone how she knows?

When genealogist Cleo is asked to investigate the family of Upper Moore House as a favor to her estate agent friend, it's a different commission to the ones she's used to. And right from the start she feels there's something not quite right about Mrs. Darcy D'Eath Wytcombe. What is Mrs. Wytcome's real motive for digging so deep into her late husband's family? What secrets does she think Cleo will uncover? And is she prepared for what else might be revealed?

1813. Haunted by her father's death and tired of watching her mother struggle, Meg Marsh will do anything to keep a roof over her family's head. Even if that means getting involved in a dangerous smuggling operation. When Meg catches the eye of a dashing gentleman above her station, things start to look up, and she can't help but start dreaming of a life away from the shingle and boats of Castle Bay. Blinded by flattery and coin, Meg can't see the danger on the horizon - and the cost just might be her life.

London, December 1940. It's Christmas for the Good Time Girls, and whilst London tries to inject some sparkle into the wartime rubble, the women of the Hammersmith Palais aren't looking forward to the festive season. Nancy continues her battle to keep control of the Palais as Ronnie and his thugs appear at every turn, determined to take what he lost back. Can she draw on all of her strength to keep everyone safe, even if it means sacrificing herself? Meanwhile, Betty and Violet have secrets of their own. Secrets which would cause certain ruin if they were discovered.

It only takes one defeat to topple an empire. With Britain still in the grips of World War Two, Georgina Garrett has her own battles to fight. She has made many enemies over the years, and with every victory she's only grown stronger. But following a bitter betrayal, Georgina must find a way to claw herself out of the depths of despair and back to the top position within London's criminal underworld. She'll do whatever it takes to secure her freedom and defeat those who'd rather to see her dead.

She's out of retirement – and out for revenge! When Georgina Garrett wakes in the night to find intruders in her house, she knows she must do everything she can to keep her children safe. But just when she thinks the ordeal is over, she realises something is terribly wrong. She arrives at her crime-lord husband David Maynard's London house to find a bloodbath. Six of David's best men lie dead and he is nowhere to be found. Georgina may have walked away from the game but she's still the best player on the street.

When Annie and her brother Cory are orphaned Hettie's mother takes them in. Hettie and Annie sell watercress on the streets of Victorian London to make a living. Annie's dissatisfaction grows and her reckless ambition takes her on a separate path. After she disappears in mysterious circumstances, Hettie sets out to find her. While searching for Annie, in the darkest and most dangerous part of London, she uncovers the corruption and depravity of Victorian society. Secrets are revealed that put both their lives put in danger. Can Hettie find her friend before it's too late?

April 1940. Violet Millington, is ready to rediscover the joy of living. As she waltzes into the Palais, to begin her new life of boosting morale in war swept London, she must leave her family's sorrow behind her. But soon Violet discovers she's not the only one with something they're running from. Violet quickly befriends gutsy American Nancy, the diamond of the dance hall, flame-haired Renee with her enviable foxtrot, and Temperance, who must overcome her bullies to achieve her dreams.

Violet Daniels isn't perfect. She's made mistakes in her life, but the deep love she has for her five-year-old twins is beyond dispute. When their feckless and often violent father turns up out of the blue, demanding to see them, she's terrified he might snatch them from her. She flees with them to a place of safety where she meets the handsome and charming Gabriel Stone. He shows her a better way of life, but is he everything he appears to be? Violet decides to stop running and finds the courage to return to London to confront the children's father.

When 12-year-old Ada Cooper's elder sister, Connie, goes mysteriously missing, Ada and her younger brother, Sam, are forced to fend for themselves. Connie's job at the match factory was the only thing keeping the family together, and when the rent man, Mr Winterbourne, threatens them with internment at the workhouse for non-payment, Ada and Sam must flee. A costermongering family come to their aid by providing Ada with a barrow of her own to sell fruit and veg by day and flowers outside the theatres by night.

Now that Molly Dawson's family have grown up and left home, she has every reason to expect that her life on the Woodchurch Manor estate with her husband, head gardener Charlie, will settle into happy contentment. It seems, though, that her estranged half-sister, Harriet, has other ideas. When the secret Molly has kept for more than 25 years is revealed in front of her whole family, Molly's relationship with her son and her husband begins to crumble. And when she takes a trip away from home to allow things to settle, Harriet steps in - with devastating consequences.