Risultati letto da "Penelope Freeman" in Tutte le categorie

Canterbury, 1853. Agnes Berry-Clay might have been born into rags, but she is growing up with riches. Given away as a baby by her real mother, she was rescued and raised by her darling Papa and distant Mama. Agnes wants for nothing, except perhaps a little freedom. But as times goes on, her life at Windmarsh Court changes. New arrivals and old resentments push Agnes to the peripheries, and finally the consequences of one fateful day shatter her dreams for the future. Heartbroken and surrounded by the threat of scandal, Agnes is faced with a terrible choice: stay and surrender or flee and fight to keep her freedom.

A moving story of two women struggling with their past: one cannot remember hers, the other cannot forget.... When Hebe receives a life-changing diagnosis at only 40, she struggles to make sense of what it will mean for her, her job and the man she loves. With memories slipping away by the day, she flees to the one place she has always felt safe and peaceful - Cornwall, and the house her family spent so many summers in.

The stirring second instalment in Terri Nixon's Penhaligon Saga series. 1910. Anna Garvey and her daughter are still running the Tin Streamer's Arms in Caernoweth, Cornwall, and it finally seems like she has left her tumultuous history behind in Ireland. Meanwhile, Freya Penhaligon has blossomed and is now the object of increasing affection of Hugh, the elder son of the wealthy Batten family.

In 1918 the Great War has taken so much from so many, and it threatens to take even more still from the Hunters, their friends and their servants. Edward, in a bid to run away from problems at home, decides not to resist conscription and ends up at the Front. Sadie's hopes for love are unrequited, and Laura has to flee Artemis House when it is shelled, and she finds herself in London driving an ambulance. 

A debut novel by a bestselling non-fiction author, this is a witty, wholly entrancing story of the pleasures, pains and obsessions of contemporary life. Lisa Blaize – teacher, and would-be fashion writer, mother and second wife – feels out of place when her high-flying husband becomes the...

It is April 1939 and unaware that the German war machine is advancing towards the Channel Islands, seventeen-year-old Meg Colivet and her sister are enjoying a holiday in Oxford with their aunt. Here Meg meets charismatic German undergraduate Rayner Weiss and the couple fall passionately in love...

Bath, 1852. As a girl, Nancy Bloom longed to be part of Bath's Theatre Royal. When a man promised her parents he could find a role for Nancy in the theatre, they believed him. His lie and betrayal led to her ruin. Francis Carlyle is a theatre manager, an ambitious man always looking for the next big thing to take the country by storm. A self-made man, Francis is now rich, successful and in need of a new female star. Never in a million years did he think he'd find her standing on a table in one of Bath's bawdiest pubs.

Lou Channer wants a life outside of North Devon, somewhere she's never left. She yearns to contribute to the war effort and takes a job as a clerk in the Royal Canadian Naval Yard in Plymouth, lodging with other girls from the depot who take her under their wing. When Lou catches the eye of local wheeler-dealer Harry, who dazzles her with nights about town, she finally feels like one of the girls. And when Lieutenant Douglas Ross asks her out, Lou can't decide who to give her heart to. But during war, tragedy is always just around the corner....

Esme Colborne is about to marry Richard Trevannion. When she finds out she is adopted - from a working-class family - she cannot allow Richard to marry so far beneath his station. Fleeing the life she knew, she starts working as a ‘decoy woman’, testing British undercover operatives who may otherwise reveal secrets in a moment of weakness. However, she still has feelings for Richard. Will she be brave enough to risk having her heart broken all over again?

Cornwall, 1798. Eighteen months have passed since midshipman Edmund Melville was declared missing, presumed dead, and Amelia Carew has fallen in love with a young physician, Luke Bohenna. But, on her birthday, Amelia suddenly receives a letter from Edmund announcing his imminent return. When he returns, it is clear that his time away has changed him. Amelia, however, is determined to nurse him back to health and honour his heroic actions in the navy by renouncing Luke.

When Naomi's brother, Ned, is sent home seriously injured, it's up to Kate to manage the household as well as Ned's rehabilitation. But with the growing workload, she struggles to keep everything running smoothly and yearns to return to Woodicombe House. And with no word from her husband, Luke, fighting in France, it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay positive. Hard times are ahead for Kate and her family - when the realities of war land on their doorstep, can Kate find the strength to keep going?

Kate Channer thought married life was going to be a grand adventure. But when Luke ships off for war before the echoes of their vows have ended she’s left behind, desperate to make a difference and bring him home. Yet life in Devon as ladies-maid to her half sister, Naomi, brings battles of its own. Facing hardship and heartbreak they never imagined, Kate and Naomi must now find the strength to keep the home fires burning through the long uncertain months of a wife’s war.

Kate Bratton dreams of more. It’s 1914, and her life is mapped out ahead of her: continue working as a maid in the beautiful Woodicombe House, settle down with Luke the gardener and, of course, start a family. Desperate to run away in search of adventure, Kate’s plans are curtailed by the arrival of the Russell family at Woodicombe House. Tasked with becoming a lady’s maid for their daughter, Naomi, Kate gets a glimpse of the other side of life. Will she return to the safety of her life before, or will the handsome Ned Russell turn her head?

Black Country Orphan is a moving story of the courage and strength of women, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Annie Murray. The early 1900s: Cradley Heath, a town in the Black Country near Birmingham and centre of the world’s chain-making trade. Lucy Butler, a young girl crippled by a...

Phoebe Parsons is destitute, disgraced and alone. After her mistress tragically dies, Phoebe is forced back onto the poverty-ridden streets of Manchester by her unforgiving new master. Desperately searching for work as a domestic maid, Phoebe soon discovers her reputation is in ruins. Fearing for her future and haunted by the harshness of her abandonment, Phoebe finds herself living with thieves and drunks in the smog and squalor - until she meets Victor Hayes. 

Dover, 1864: Violet Rayfield leads a happy life with her family in a beautiful terrace on Camden Crescent. But Violet’s seemingly perfect world is shattered when her father makes a decision that costs her family everything. Now Violet must sacrifice all she holds dear, including the man she loves. As Violet strives to pick up the threads of her existence, a series of shocking revelations leaves her feeling even more alone. But where one door closes, another opens, and the embroidery skills Violet perfected while a young woman of leisure win her vital work.

David Tompkins thinks it is a splendid idea to open a tea garden at his Kentish cottage. His wife, Germayne, is not so sure. The local villagers are divided on the matter, and not necessarily supportive, particularly Mr Perch at the Dolphin, who sees it as direct competition to Mrs Perch's own tea garden. It doesn’t bode well when the official opening coincides with a break in the beautiful weather.

Since her mother's death, Jennifer has devoted years of her life to her father, managing the family home. After the sudden announcement that he has taken a new wife, Jennifer, at 33, seizes the opportunity to lead an independent life. Quickly she secures the lease of Rose Cottage and turns her attention to her own interests. While Jennifer is desperate to experience life on her own terms within her reduced financial means, her neighbour, Alice, is pre-occupied with ensuring her position as head of her brother's household is never challenged.

A story from the collection Do Not Exceed the Stated Dose. It’s Christmas week, and there’s been a grisly discovery in Santa’s grotto: the head of the toy department has been murdered, a crossbow arrow through his chest. But when the store manager arrives, the body has vanished. It’s up to shop assistant Pauline, Santa and his elf to get to the bottom of the mystery.

No turkey. No fruit to make a decent pudding. No money for presents. Your children away from home; your husband, father and brothers off fighting. How in the world does one celebrate Christmas? That was the situation facing the people of Britain for six years during the Second World War. From the family whose dog ate the Christmas roast, leaving them to enjoy “Spam with all the trimmings”, to the exhibition of handmade toys for children in a Singapore prison camp, these firsthand stories are by turns tragic, poignant and funny.