Lavender Road

Lavender Road boasts a pawnbroker, a pub, two rows of terraced working class homes and, at one end, the big house owned by the local brewer. When war breaks out, the lives and fortunes of the families who live in Lavender Road are changed out of all recognition. For Joyce, it means a struggle to keep food on the family table; for Jen it may mean the end of her dream to become an actress; and for Pam, there is the sickening seesaw of emotions as she fights attraction to her handsome lodger and a growing distance from a husband who is judged not fit to enlist.

September 1940. As Luftwaffe bombs rain from the skies over London, the women of Lavender Road are fighting their own battles. Shy Katy Parsons has always been sheltered by her overprotective parents. Enrolling as a nurse was always her dream, but the reality is tougher than she ever imagined. And falling in love isn't all plain sailing either.  

London has been ravaged by war for three years now, and life couldn't be tougher for those living on Lavender Road. Many loved ones have been lost, and sacrifices have been made, but Lady Helen de Burrel is about to take the biggest risk yet. Inspired by the courage of her friends on this south London street, Helen volunteers to join the Special Operations Executive and so put her life in jeopardy for the sake of her country. But it's hard to know whom to trust, and when her heart is on the line, even love becomes dangerous.

It will take more than Hitler's Luftwaffe to break the spirit of the residents of Lavender Road. If courage, resilience and a shared sense of humour could win wars, the conflict would already be over. It's not all harmony, though. Nurse Molly Coogan and would-be actress Jen Carter certainly don't see eye to eye. Molly, despite hating the strict discipline of wartime hospital life, is unimpressed by flighty Jen's prima donna ways.

Young widow Louise Rutherford longs to find a new husband, and when a handsome American officer arrives to recruit volunteers for a secret project, she senses an opportunity. Her efforts are hampered, though, by her determination to help a 10-year-old war orphan, George Nelson. On both sides of the street there are challenges to face. Jen Carter's relationship with Henry Keller is threatened when an old flame reappears in her life. Her mother Joyce's decision to take romance slowly threatens to become a dangerous mistake when the V1 rockets start hitting London.

Victory Girls is the sixth poignant saga in Helen Carey's much-loved Lavender Road series, set in south London during the Second World War. Not to be missed by fans of Katie Flynn, Annie Murray and Lilian Harry. August 1944. Allied troops are fighting their way across Europe. But rocket attacks on London are a chilling reminder that the war is far from over. Helen knows all too well how dangerous it is in war-torn France. But it's a long time since she heard from her French fiancé, Andre, and nothing is going to stop her going back to track him down before he is lost to her forever.