Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

Winifred Foley grew up in the 1920s, a bright, determined miner's daughter - in a world of unspoilt beauty and desperate hardship, in which women were widowed at 30 and children died of starvation. Living hand to mouth in a tumbledown cottage in the Forest of Dean, Foley - 'our Poll' - had a loving family and the woods and streams of a forest 'better than heaven' as a playground. But a brother and sister were dead in infancy, bread had to be begged from kindly neighbours and she never had a new pair of shoes or a shop-bought doll.

Becky, Bernie and Rose - three best friends from very different backgrounds - are working hard to establish themselves in prewar Spitalfields. Becky, the daughter of a Jewish tailor, wants to become a nurse, but her father has more traditional plans for her. Aching to leave the East End and travel the world, Bernie feels trapped by her vast family of poor Irish dock workers. And then there is Rose. Tiny and thin, she lives with her drunken mother and a revolving selection of surrogate fathers who exploit and brutalise them both.

When Emily's boyfriend posts compromising photos of her on the Internet, her life goes into sharp decline. Emily is about to lose everything - including the man she thought she loved. Her best friend, Cara, is determined to mend Emily's broken heart, and she believes that a little magic is all that's required. But will Cara cast the right spell to get Emily out of her current position? Or will it go horribly wrong when they both fall in love with the same man?

Kate Lewis is 35 and feeling restless. She's fed up of worrying about the ironing and would like her husband, Jeffrey, to pay more attention to her than to his golf clubs. There must be more to life than this! Kate enrols herself in a t'ai chi course and takes best friend Sonia along for the ride. She's determined to 'find herself', but it's easier said than done, especially when she finds the distracting Ben Mahler first....

In 1950, after her marriage went badly wrong, Dolly Taylor returned to Rotherhithe from America. She is now helping her best friend, Penny, to walk again after she contracted polio. Not able to have children of her own, Dolly envies Penny for having a beautiful baby daughter, Gail. Penny's husband, Reg, has set up his own business as a builder and offers Dolly a job in the office. Tony, who was engaged to Dolly before the war, also works for Reg and is still pursuing his childhood sweetheart.

It is 1938, and the threat of war looms on the streets of London. But when the lights go down in the cinema aisles, usherette Daisy Blake is transported to a world of glamour and romance. Among the staff there is much merriment, and Daisy soon falls in love with the handsome organist, Al Dawson. Then war is declared, and, just after Al leaves for the front line, Daisy discovers she's pregnant.

Carla Scofield has looked after her family since she was a teenager, but it's never been a bother because there isn't anything she wouldn't do for those closest to her. Warm, friendly, and with the ability to make everyone around her laugh, she carries her burden proudly. As the years roll past, Carla sees life around her change dramatically. Wartime brings new challenges and a new job for Carla in a sewing factory, and she shines.

London, 1940. Sheila Phipps is orphaned after a devastating air raid claims her family and her home. She is evacuated to Bletchley to live with her aunt Constance, where she forms an unlikely friendship with Prudence Le Strange, who is working in the code breaking unit at Bletchley. As their friendship grows stronger, the war subjects Sheila and Prue to fresh tragedies as, one by one, those they love are called away to distant battlefields, only to join the growing ranks of the missing, the captured and the dead.

Flame-haired beauty Chloe Collard watched her mother struggle through life, scraping together pennies in order to provide for her and her brothers, so Chloe promised herself something a long time ago: she would get a proper education and make something of herself. This vow would carry Chloe through her entire life. When Chloe is offered a job as a personal assistant in a prestigious firm, she finally feels that her hard work is paying off.

1916: Across the channel, the Great War rages and in London's East End with her husband away fighting, Hannah Loxwood battles with the overwhelming burden of 'duty.' She has sacrificed so much for a husband who may never come home. When she meets Daniel who is thoughtful, intelligent and quietly captivating - Hannah finds herself faced with the most dangerous of temptations. Soon Hannah and Daniel will realise just how precarious their happiness is, as their destiny rushes towards them…

But we don’t know the first thing about looking after babies.’ Phoebe’s mum and dad are foster parents, and they’re having a tough time. Her dad’s moved out for bit, and her little foster brothers are playing up. So when Phoebe and her brother Adam find a baby abandoned in their den, they decide to try and look after her themselves ...

London, 1640. Fifteen-year-old Henrietta Challoner dreams of adventure, of a life lived at the gallop, of the opportunities afforded to her brothers, Ned and Sam. She cannot know how devastatingly real these dreams will become, as the country slides towards vicious civil war...The crisis threatens to tear Henrietta's family apart. As religious and political tensions spill into the streets, they all must decide what comes first – their family, their country or their desires.

Their country needed themIn the summer of 1942, Lorna Washbourne must say goodbye to her beloved home in the peaceful East Anglian countryside, which is about to be demolished to make way for the US Eighth Army Air Force and its new airfield.War brings with it great change and Lorna and her friends find themselves called up to serve. Violetta is in the army while Megan and Bunty are sent to London: Megan, in the American Red Cross; Bunty, a clippie on the London buses.

Linked through marriage to three brothers, the Underwood women prove time and again that they are a force to be reckoned with. Jodie has travelled a hard road to reach her own prosperity, despite her husband's constant unreliability. Yet she can't bring herself to fully sever ties with John. But now with a potential new love waiting nearby, Jodie must make a decision she has been avoiding for too long. Widowed at a young age, Lariane believes her marriage to Rick was perfect.

Crime is a man's business, so they say, though not according to Queenie Dove. A self-proclaimed genius when it comes to thieving and escape, she reckons she's done pretty well. Yes, she had a tough childhood in London's East End. But she survived the Blitz, learned how to get by on her wits, and soon graduated from shoplifting to more glamorous crimes. Daring, clever and sexy, she thrived in the Soho of the Krays and the clubs of Mayfair, fell wildly in love, and got away with it all. Or did she? For beneath Queenie's vivacious, unrepentant account lies another story....

Life's been hard for Marcie Brooks, but when she marries Michael Jones things start to look up. Not only has he given her daughter, Joanna, his name but they now also have a son. The family's finances are on the up too, with Michael opening his first nightclub. However, when he refuses to do business with Paddy Rafferty, an Irish gangster, Michael soon finds him on the wrong side of the law.

Even a small town girl can have big dreams... Marcie Brooks has returned to her home town with a baby and a ring on her finger. But for all her grandmother's insistence that she's a young widow, the truth is the only boy Marcie has ever loved tragically died before he could make good his promise to wed her. Sometimes she still feels his presence near her, which is both a comfort and an unnerving sign that she's inherited her grandmother's gifts...

Lu Edwards believes in travelling light. All she needs is a Mr Right to slip into her streamlined life, and Marcus fits the bill to perfection – if only he wasn’t moving to Minneapolis. Lu’s grandmother is also looking for a man, a First World War soldier from her past, but there’s only a photo to go on. Lu turns for help to Nick, a WW I expert with more baggage than Heathrow. He is, on paper, everything she doesn’t want in a man.

Like a princess in a fairytale, Grace Hamilton has been showered with blessings: professional success, a happy marriage, and she even lives in a beautiful castle. But the only thing she really wants – her heart’s desire – is the one thing she can never have. Her sister, the beautiful Susannah, has made a mess of her life. Like a reverse Midas, everything she touches turns sour. But fate puts Grace’s future in Susannah’s hands, changing the balance of power between the sisters forever.

On the surface, Ruby Gallagher has the perfect life: an adoring husband, Manny, a beautiful home and a luxury lifestyle that involves shopping, holidays and not much else. It's safe, predictable - exactly what she needs after her turbulent past. Until one day it all collapses as Manny is arrested for fraud. And it seems it's not only his business deals that have been shady - Ruby discovers he's been hiding a mistress and son too.