Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Gracie Hart

Will she give in to temptation? 
 
When 18-year-old Eve runs away from her small village to start a new life in the city, she quickly discovers that Leeds is not everything she expected it to be. Wandering the cold streets in search of shelter, timid Eve can only find work as a barmaid at the Bluebell Inn - a place her strict parents would never approve of. 
 
Serving ale and cheap gin to the rowdy crowd, Eve eventually catches the eye of dashing Sergeant Joseph Oates – but his intentions are not honourable and he will leave her with more than just a broken heart… 
 
A gritty and heart-breaking saga set in Leeds from the author of The Girl from Pit Lane.

A Mother's Ruin

Gloria Cook

In the small mining village of Meryen, a dark secret lurks… 
 
Amy Lewarne finds her life changed forever when she finds her brother, Toby, dead – and trouble follows when Titus Kivell, the head of a powerful yet belligerent family, puts his son Sol in Toby's place. 
 
Despite his wild and formidable nature, Amy is inexplicably drawn to Sol, as he is to her. But will his family ties be the ruin of her? 
 
Book One in the Meryen series – a Cornish saga perfect for fans of Poldark, Dilly Court and Val Wood 
 
Note: previously published as Keeping Echoes

The Carpenter's Daughter

Audrey Reimann

Can Alice protect her siblings? 
 
Eldest child Alice Davenport has always helped to look after her younger brothers and sister when her Mama was unwell. But when her Mama dies suddenly and her Papa leaves to fight in the war, young Alice is left to care for her family alone. 
 
When her Papa returns home safe, Alice’s troubled days seem to be over. And when she meets the handsome Major Fredrick Blackshaw, a new life finally seems to be within reach. But when her Papa remarries, the jealously of their new stepmother leaves Alice fearing for the safety of her siblings. Will she sacrifice her own happiness to keep her family safe? 
 
A gritty, heart-warming family saga perfect for fans of Maggie Hope, Val Wood and Emma Hornby.

A Sister’s Courage

June Francis

A family at war... 
 
Raising three boys and running the Arcadia Hotel almost single-handed are enough to keep widow Kitty Ryan busy. She has no time for romance – unless it’s in the form of a rare evening out at the local picture house. 
 
Then along comes John Mcleod, bringing with him a second chance at happiness. However, Kitty finds her sons unwilling to accept another man into their household. 
 
Unless she can reunite her menfolk, the future looks set to be that of a family in conflict, in a world on the eve of war...

A Mother's Duty

Maggie Hope

A family torn apart. A daughter’s courage... 
 
When Elizabeth and her four sibling are orphaned, she and her brother are sent to a children’s home; their younger sisters into foster care. 
 
Life in the home is hard, but she is determined to look after her brother and make a better life for them both. Working as a nurse gives her a purpose but she risks everything by falling for wounded officer Jack Benson. Far above her in wealth and station, Elizabeth cannot marry him and she risks losing her nursing place if there is any hint of impropriety about her conduct. 
 
Then Elizabeth learns that her sister, Jenny, has been adopted by an abusive farmer. Torn between her hopeless love for Jack and her sister, must Elizabeth make an extreme sacrifice to reunite her family?

A Daughter's Gift

Can she give her baby a better life? 
 
After the tragic death of her parents, Caroline Shrigley is left with the responsibility of bringing up her younger sister, Jane, as well as running the family business at the Temperance Hotel. Carrie is beginning to think her care-free days are gone forever when Patrick Kennedy, a wild, handsome and passionate Irishman, turns her world upside down. The life she’s dreamed of is finally within reach – until a devastating betrayal changes everything. 
 
Left with a newborn baby to care for, Carrie has some difficult choices to make. What must she sacrifice to protect her baby?

Mill Town Girl

A gripping saga from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Coal Miner's Daughter 
 
Life is a long, tough struggle for Meg Maddison… 
 
Growing up caring for her brothers after the death of their mother, it is only her indomitable spirit that gets her through the hard times. And when she marries and starts a family of her own, it seems as if the hardships are over. 
 
But the return of a darkly menacing figure from her past threatens to destroy all she has fought for…

An Orphan's Secret

Emma Kennedy

From the author of bestselling The Tent, The Bucket and Me, now a BBC1 comedy series, THE KENNEDYS. 
 
As the youngest in a family of six, all eleven-year-old Anthony wants is a pair of shoes to call his own. Instead he’s condemned to wear a pair of hand-me-down wellies that may or may not be haunted. 
 
When war comes to his small, impoverished mining village, life starts to get more exciting: there are American soldiers, his sister has joined the WAAF – Mrs Reece even has a banana! But it is only when a foreign plane crashes into the Welsh hillside that Anthony and his gang discover what war is really about…

Shoes for Anthony

Mia Dolan

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 himself on the wrong side of the law. He claims he's being framed for murder and Marcie wants to believe him but she has worries of her own. With her husband in prison, everyone seems to think she needs to sell the club and concentrate on raising her family. But a little voice seems to be telling Marcie she needs to fight for her children's future...And if that means standing up to intimidation, then so be it...

Wishing and Hoping

Maggie Ford

What will she sacrifice for love? 
 
Growing up in London’s East End with six siblings, Nora Taylor has always been close to her younger sister Maggie. But when she meets Maggie’s fiancé Robert, they are immediately drawn to each other. Forced to choose between her family and her heart, Nora decides to marry the man she loves – even if it means losing her sister. 
 
When the First World War breaks out, Nora must fight to hold her family together through the challenges and tragedies to come. As her children grow up they embark on their own adventures, but another war will threaten all their hopes for the future. Can this broken family survive the dark days of wartime? 
 
A sweeping saga charting one family’s fortunes through the First and Second World War and beyond, perfect for fans of Maggie Hope and Dilly Court.

The Rag and Bone Girl

Torn between duty to her family and a last chance at love... 
 
Busy bringing up her motherless brothers and sisters, romance is the last thing on Lily Thorpe’s mind. But when the handsome preacher Matt Gibson asks Lily to return with him to Australia as his wife, she finds it very hard to say no. 
 
But with rumours of war on the horizon, will she have to choose between her head and her heart? 
 
A story of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of wartime Liverpool.

Lily's War

Can two young, coal-miner's daughters survive on their own? 
 
When their mother tragically dies, Mary-Anne and Eliza are left under the care of their drunken step-father. Unable to rely on him, they are determined to stick together. But things are complicated when Mary-Anne, the eldest, falls pregnant with the child of a married mine-owner. Scared and unsure what to do, the sisters try to hide Mary-Anne's pregnancy. But such things cannot stay secret for long... 
 
*Don't miss the next book in the series, The Child Left Behind*

The Girl From Pit Lane

‘You’ll have to sit with the orphans,’ she said. ‘On the bottom table.’ 
Lily pulled her coat tight. ‘I’m not an orphan. I have a Mam.’ 
‘But you haven’t got a dad. Never did have one.’ 
 
 Growing up in Macclesfield, a town whose cotton and silk industries were hit hard by the war, poor Lily Stanway never got to know her father. Neither can she understand the tensions and ties between her mother and the members of two Macclesfield families, the Hammonds and the Chancellors. But when she falls for a man she shouldn’t and finds herself in trouble, many family secrets start to unravel…

A Daughter’s Shame

All she wants is a family of her own... 
 
Lottie is just three years old when her Mammy dies and she is sent to the workhouse. A childhood spent in poverty, skivvying for other people, leaves her with no prospects, no family... 
 
Yet Lottie is bright and has ambitions for a better life. And when an opportunity arises at the local Chapel, Lottie seizes her chance. But will she ever be anything more than a workhouse child?

Workhouse Child

Can this East End girl find a better life? 
 
Born in a tenement on the Isle of Dogs, Jessie has higher hopes for her future. When she manages to land a job at the Telephone Exchange, her earnings allow her to join the choir at the People's Palace. There, she catches the eye of the charming James Medway who sweeps her off her feet. 
 
But married life isn't a bed of roses, and when Jessie falls pregnant it quickly becomes clear that James is far from the doting husband she'd hoped for. Can Jessie find a way to stay strong for her baby? 
 
A heart-warming and gripping East End Saga, perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Maggie Hope.

Mile End Girl

Elizabeth Morton

Her father is dead and her mother doesn't want her... 
 
When Babby's dad is killed in a senseless bar room brawl it changes their family forever. She is sent away only to return home a few years later, unmarried and pregnant. Her mother is incandescent with rage and with Callum - Babby's sweetheart - nowhere to be found, persuades her daughter to go to a Mother and Baby Home. 
 
But does Babby have no option but to give her baby up...

A Liverpool Girl

Rosie Clarke

She is a servant girl... 
 
When her father becomes ill, Emily Carter finds herself sent into service at Priorsfield Manor in order to provide the family with an income. 
 
He will be the Lord of the Manor... 
 
Emily strikes up an unlikely friendship with the daughters of the house, as well as Nicolas, son of the Earl. But as the threat of war comes ever closer, she becomes even more aware of the vast differences between upstairs and downstairs, servant and master... 
 
If you like Downton Abbey you’ll love this!

The Downstairs Maid

She will do what it takes, for the sake of the children… 
 
Rosie Kilshaw is only fifteen when her mother Violet is killed in a tragic accident, but as the oldest of her siblings, she vows to keep her family together, no matter what the sacrifice. 
 
But as distant family members begin to resurface into their lives, Rosie quickly realizes that there is a lot more to parenting than she first thought. And when her estranged aunt Amelia decides to take them in, she will have a difficult choice to make…

A Sister's Duty

In the 1920s, nobody is safe from scandal... 
 
Amy Harrington leads a privileged life out in London society. Her maid, Alice Jordan, lives in the poverty-ridden East End. But when a disgraced Amy is disowned by her parents and fiancé, Alice is the only person she can turn to… 
 
Forced to give up her life of luxury, Amy lodges with Alice’s friendly working class family. But while Amy hatches a plan to get revenge on her former love who caused her downfall, Alice finds herself swept into the glittering society her mistress has just lost. And when Amy meets Alice’s handsome older brother Tom, they can only hope that love can conquer all… 
 
Will the two girls ever lead the lives they dream of?

Rags to Riches

A wealthy landlord’s son, and a coal miner’s daughter… 
 
Growing up in poverty, one of six siblings, Hannah Armstrong never thought she’d know anything other than her little mining town. But then she falls for Timothy Durkin, a wealthy Oxford student… 
 
Following her heart, Hannah sacrifices everything she holds dear and follows her new husband to Oxford. But will her new life of luxury be everything she expected - or will she find that once a coal miner's daughter, always a coal miner's daughter...?

The Coal Miner's Daughter

Can she escape her past? 
 
 After being orphaned as a child, Mary is taken in by her mother's friend Nell and raised as her own. But when Nell dies her step-father takes too much of an interest in Mary and she is forced to leave home, landing a job as a bar maid. 
 
 Only Whitelocks is no spit and sawdust pub but a new gin palace in the centre of Leeds. Mary thinks she's landed on her feet. More so when she catches the eye of William Winn, the charming owner of a glamorous new hotel. But Mary is the daughter of a music hall singer and the adopted child of a prostitute. Will she ever be good enough for a man like William?

Gin Palace Girl

Happiness always comes at a cost... 
 
Having grown up in a convent after the death of her mother, Lizzie Knight has never known what it’s like to have a real family. So when a strange woman turns up with promises of a new life in Liverpool, she is thrilled. 
 
Warm-hearted and kind, Phyl is everything she wants in a stepmother. But then Lizzie falls in love with the one man who should have been out of bounds. Should she follow her heart and risk losing it all? 
 
From the author of A Sister’s Duty and Lily’s War 
 
 
(Note: previously published as Going Home to Liverpool)

Mersey Girl

Will her courage be enough to protect her family? 
 
Eleanor Saint spends as much time as she can helping in the community of her small mining town, even though her snobbish grandmother disapproves of her visiting the poor. When she comes of age, Eleanor is married to Frances Tait, a missionary, and she is delighted to have a husband who shares her passion for helping others. 
 
It is not long before Eleanor starts a family of her own. But when Mr Tait’s work takes their family far from home, her children face dangers that Eleanor could never have imagined. She will need to put her family first, before everything else, if she wants to protect them… 
 
A gripping saga from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Coal Miner's Daughter

A Mother’s Courage

She is the downstairs maid; he is the Master&rsquo;s son... 
 
Forced to become a kitchen maid at Fortune Hall, Hetty Pearson strikes up an unlikely friendship with the younger son of the house, Richard. 
 
But Hetty is just a poor servant girl: what hope does she have of either winning Richard&rsquo;s heart or escaping his older brother&rsquo;s more base attentions? 
 
Note: previously published as THE JEWEL STREETS by Una Horne

The Servant Girl

Holly Green

A gritty, heartwarming family saga for fans of Dilly Court, Sheila Newberry and Maggie Hope. 
 
All they have left is each other... 
 
Life has always been tough for May and Gus Lavender. Their father went away to sea never to return, and then their mother falls victim to the typhus sweeping through Liverpool. Regarded as orphans by the authorities, May and Gus are sent to the Brownlow Hill Workhouse. 
 
Like all workhouses, Brownlow is the last resort for the poor and the destitute. May and Gus will have to rely on each other more than ever if they are to survive the hardships to come... 
 
________________________________ 
Make sure you've read all the books in the Workhouse series: 
1. Workhouse Orphans 
2. Workhouse Angel 
3. Workhouse Nightingale 
4. Workhouse Girl 
 
And don't miss Holly Green's new series about wartime nurses: 
1. Frontline Nurses 
2. Frontline Nurses On Duty 
3. Secrets of the Frontline Nurses

Workhouse Orphans

Can this orphan ever fulfil her nursing dreams...? 
 
After her mother's death, Dora is sent to live with her father and his other family. But the fact that Dora is mixed race and illegitimate see her treated as little more than a servant by her step-mother and half siblings. This doesn't stop the son of the house abusing his position and Dora finds herself on the streets and pregnant... 
 
Sent to the local workhouse, Dora's future looks bleak but she still dreams of a better life where she can help others as her late mother did with her herbal remedies. But can a girl from a workhouse ever achieve anything, let alone become one of Florence Nightingale's nurses? 
 
________________________________ 
 
Make sure you've read all the books in the Workhouse series: 
1. Workhouse Orphans 
2. Workhouse Angel 
3. Workhouse Nightingale 
4. Workhouse Girl 
 
And don't miss Holly Green's new series about wartime nurses: 
1. Frontline Nurses 
2. Frontline Nurses On Duty 
3. Secrets of the Frontline Nurses

Workhouse Nightingale

Torn between love and duty... 
 
Following a disastrous marriage to a miner, Karen has devoted herself to a nursing career. Rising to the challenge of caring for the wounded soldiers returning home from the Great War, she has resigned herself to putting her vocation before any hope of a romantic life. 
 
However, she finds herself drawn to handsome, troubled Patrick Murphy. But Patrick is also a Catholic priest. Dare Karen risk scandal and her position by falling for the one man she cannot have...?

A Nurse's Duty

Growing up in a small seaside town, Marcie Brooks dreams of owning a Mary Quant mini-skirt, the Beatles, and escape. Instead she's stuck in a dead-end job selling candy floss to tourists and with a crazy family. Her grandmother sees ghosts, her step-mother is unable to control her growing family and Marcie's father is usually in and out of prison or away 'working' for East End gangsters. 
 
Despite it all, Marcie adores her father, but Tony's light fingers and hard man reputation mean most people give the Brooks family a wide birth. Sometimes Marcie even wishes she had a respectable dad like her friend Rita; well-groomed, wealthy by local standards and surprisingly attentive to a teenage girl. But when she discovers Tony may have had something to do with her real mother's death, Marcie finds her friend's father is more than just a shoulder to cry on... 
 
Mia Dolan's novels will appeal to all saga readers, especially fans of Katie Flynn .

Rock A Bye Baby

From rags to riches…? 
 
Since her father's death, Emma Beech has supported her family by selling paper flowers to the theatre crowds in the West End. But when Emma meets street musician Theodore Barrington, she dreams of finally leaving poverty behind. 
 
Previously known as the Great Theodore on the London stage, Barrington turns Emma's head with tales of his former glory. But as Emma is captivated and eager to become his new assistant, she must face her mother’s disapproval over their secret rehearsals. Forced to make a difficult decision between staying loyal to her family and her roots, or pursuing fame and fortune, will she follow her heart or her head?... 
 
A gripping East End saga, perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Maggie Hope.

The Flower Girl

Can she escape her mother's scandalous past? 
 
Cath Raine and her sister have had a difficult childhood. Abandoned by their mother who ran off with a Canadian airman, the two young girls were forced to fend for themselves in a town rife with gossip about their family. 
 
When Cath first meets the wealthy Jack Vaughan on the grounds of his father's estate, he dismisses her because of the rumours he's heard about her family. But when their paths cross again, they find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other despite their different backgrounds. However, it's soon clear her family's reputation will make a fresh start impossible. Can Cath escape her difficult upbringing and find love at last? 
 
A gripping saga perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Dilly Court. 
 
Previously published as 'Like Mother, Like Daughter'

A Daughter's Secret

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