Showing results by author "Faye Godwin" in All Categories

Nine-year-old Flora didn’t ask to be born into a life of hardship and suffering. When her mother sells her to the owner of the Great Hotel as a scullery maid, Flora learns the value of her life: eight shillings. Life in the Great Hotel is unspeakable. For years, Flora works constantly, half starved and constantly driven by the cruel cook and malicious hotel owner. She would lose hope entirely, were it not for the sweet, gentle boy who visits the Great Hotel from time to time.

Daisy Parker’s life is imperfect, but it’s better than she could ever have imagined. Born in a Victorian workhouse, Daisy grew up knowing little other than discipline and desperate need. It is sweet and kind Bart Parker who changes her life by marrying her, giving her everything she holds most dear: a cozy home, a beautiful baby girl named Fannie, and a husband who truly loves her.

Bincy Hall was just seven years old when her mother abandoned her in a marketplace - a moment that will haunt Bincy forever. Discovered by the police, Bincy is taken to an orphanage, where she learns that Mama is not the only person who doesn't want her. In truth, nobody wants her, and Bincy is forced to cling to the orphanage bully Mae for comfort.

Lady Sybil Fallow, heartbroken after four stillbirths and desperate to provide her husband with an heir, secretly adopts a baby girl, Charlotte, from a destitute family. However, the deception does little to heal her fractured marriage with Lord Irvin Fallow.

Doxie Shaw suffers bitterly in an orphanage in Victorian London. As she struggles to survive, she tries to comfort the younger children, but her kindness quickly costs her the only home she's ever known. Thrown into the streets at the tender age of nine, Doxie's gentle heart tries to keep on loving and hoping in a world that seems bent on destroying her. Faced by one trial after another, Doxie becomes acquainted with the depth of cruelty in her city.

The last thing Lindy Cook wants to do is leave Yorkshire behind. The countryside is the only home she’s ever known, and its splendid landscapes lift her spirits even amidst trouble, so does Titus, the bright-eyed country boy who’s always been her dear friend. Lindy’s troubles are many. Papa has gone to London for work; Mama is quite unwell, and her two little brothers constantly need to be fed and cared for. With no resources, she has no choice but to pack her little family into a stifling railway carriage headed for a whole new world - a world she doesn’t understand.

The streets of Whitechapel are a savage place to grow up, especially during the terrible winter of 1895. Even before she was brought into the world, the odds were stacked against Effie Wilson. Born to two irresponsible, alcoholic parents, Effie is the eldest of five children - none of whom really stand a chance. Matters are made even worse when Effie’s parents disappear one day, never to return. Her only hope could rest in Willie Green, a sweet boy with bright hazel eyes who comes and goes from Effie’s life. If only she knew when he might appear again...

In the wake of losing both her parents, young Joanna believed Bernard Woods was the solution to all her problems. It’s only after her baby, Della, is born that Joanna discovers Bernard is a scoundrel and a drunkard, more interested in gambling than in caring for his little family. When Bernard’s past catches up to him and Joanna finds him dead, police suspect she was the one who drove the knife into his heart. She has no choice but to take her baby and flee into the perilous streets of Victorian London, where children are a commodity and women a convenience…

Juliette Purcell has never known anything beyond her small, miserable world: the tiny tenement where she lives with her mother and brother; the grimy street filled with terrifying homeless men; and the market square where they scrounge scraps of food. Her mother, a washerwoman, works incessantly, yet Juliette and her brother Reuben often go hungry.

Sophia Morgan and Elsie Carter share a unique friendship that defies the rigid social classes of Victorian London. Sophia is a lady; Elsie, a maid; but they’re bound together by a hardship that overcomes all obstacles. Their two children, Quincy and Ada, are raised in the Morgan house together, and their friendship grows steadily into something more. Simon Morgan, Sophia’s husband, is cruel and heartless. When a tragic death renders Simon completely unreasonable, little Ada’s world is torn apart.

Tilly Barton can’t wait for Christmas - it’s her favorite time of the year. Her seafaring husband, Ray, is due home any moment now. Soon, she’ll be baking gingerbread and decorating the tree with her three young children. But, everything changes when Ray is tragically lost at sea. Tilly finds herself a widow with three little ones to think of in the brutality of a London winter. They’re cast into a turmoil of hardship, with Tilly struggling and scraping to keep her little family alive. Christmases come and go, bringing little joy with them.

Abbie Hughes lives in a tiny, rundown tenement with her crippled father and younger sister. Her mother is long dead, and her brother has gone out to sea. Abbie and her sister, Gail, eke out a living by selling posies and broth on the street corners. It isn’t much, but at least they aren’t starving, and they have each other; in truth, their little tenement is filled with love.

Dinah Shaw has learned not to ask questions about what her mother, Ethel, does for a living. She spends her days trying to keep her younger brother, Ollie, entertained and safe in the tiny Whitechapel tenement where they live. There’s never enough food, and their ominous landlord threatens them continually with eviction. Ethel is gone for days on end - and Dinah’s life is one of hardship and loneliness. The only bright spot in her world is Benjamin Morris, the boy who lives in the tenement next door.

Cara Cooper’s third Christmas starts out as the best she’s ever known. As the daughter of a kitchen maid, she’s just old enough to be really excited. When a kind stranger appears and takes Cara to a beautiful house filled with toys and Christmas treats of every description, she is thrilled. Little does the toddler know that the kind stranger, Edna, has an ulterior motive. Now kidnapped, Cara’s life is set on a collision course with tragedy.

In the filth-ridden streets of East End in London, Young Elsie Griggs knows little more than grueling poverty and constant hunger. When Mama becomes ill, Elsie must get a job to support the family. But working as a personal maid in Whiston Manor proves a constant challenge for Elsie. The only good thing about the manor is Mrs. Whiston's grandson, the kind and charming Andrew - who is out of bounds to Elsie. She has no way of knowing a series of tragedies are barreling toward her that will rip her entire world apart, setting her on a new path. But will this new path include Andrew?

Fae Carter has been hiding all her life. First, her mother keeps her hidden away from the angry, violent man who owns their home. He calls Mama his favorite secret, but Fae knows he's not her father. Fae has to hide whenever he comes because he hates her so much that he hurts her if he finds her. Mama sends Fae to go and live with her grandparents in the country.

Olive Wickes knew a better life once. Before their old master died, her family lived in comfortable servants' quarters beside a garden where birdsong echoed through the day. But the new young master turned them out, and now Olive, her parents, and her five-year-old brother Jimmy are struggling to get by. In their cold and desolate tenement, Olive sings to Jimmy about the birds of the garden, trying to cling on to hope.

London. 1854. For years, Fern Hall has lived in an orphanage in the East End of London. It’s a brutal life of endless chores and punishments for even the smallest infractions. She’s able to escape it for a time when she’s hired out as a temporary maid to the wealthy Hawk family, but a servant’s lot is little better. Gerard Hawk, the second son of the prosperous merchant, is drawn to Fern from their very first meeting when she comes to work for his parents.

Ivy Harris is twice unwanted by the time she's two years old. Thrown away both by her parents and her grandmother, she has no choice except to live with her aunt, Bertha. As brilliant, kind, and loving as Bertha is, she's also a crook and a thief - and her ways get them both into trouble more often than not. When Bertha dies, Ivy’s whole world ends - until she meets charismatic, compassionate, golden-haired George, the leader of a gang of street children living in an abandoned warehouse. Despite the best efforts of jealous Jane, Ivy falls for George.

Lena Phillips has everything she could want: a father who adores her, a mother who spends hours reading to her, a nursery full of the most wonderful toys. Lena even has Sally Goodman, a doting governess. Lena is only four years old, and she's the happiest little girl in the whole wide world. As Christmas approaches, Lena grows more and more excited - unaware that a dark plot is brewing, and she will be caught in its tendrils.