Showing results by author "Katie Flynn" in All Categories

London, 1939. When tragedy strikes, Libby Andrews is left homeless and destitute, fending for herself on the capital's most dangerous streets. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Libby is on the cusp of making a decision that could jeopardise her future when a local boy saves her from ruin. The kindness of this stranger sets her on a different path, and Libby heads to Liverpool with a determined mind and hope in her heart. There, she reconnects with long lost family - but will she be able to uncover the truth that tore them apart all those years ago?

Marianne seems to have everything. She is married to a handsome Naval officer, Neil Sheridan. They have a daughter, Libby, and a beautiful home near Prince's Park in Liverpool. When war comes, Marianne takes war work and moves in with her mother, Mrs Wainwright, and younger sister. Neil disapproves because the Wainwrights live close to the docks, which are bound to be a bombing target, but Marianne is firm.

One wild night in the 1930s, midwife Patty Peel is called to attend a birth on the opposite side of Liverpool. She pedals off into the storm and delivers a baby girl in a filthy slum dwelling, just as the mother dies. The drunk and violent father tells Patty to get rid of it so she takes the child away, meaning to deliver it to the nearest orphanage. However, Patty spent her entire childhood in an institution, except for the frequent occasions when she ran away, and cannot bear to hand the baby over.

Emmy Dickens lives with her widowed mother in a neat house in neglected Nightingale Court, but Mrs Dickens has always impressed upon her daughter that her main aim in life must be to escape from the court. Emmy sees that marriage is her best way out, and when Peter Wesley, First Officer aboard a cruise ship, asks her to marry him, she is over the moon. Life goes well for the newlyweds; they set up home and start a family. But when Peter is killed and Emmy is left almost penniless, her problems begin....

Liverpool, 1942. Though they may be posted miles apart, Cadi and Jez's love for one another is stronger than ever—until Cadi receives a heart-breaking call from Jez's base. Cadi races to be with her beau and at his bedside, they make each other a promise before they say their goodbyes. In her darkest hour, Cadi is comforted by her friends and with their support and guidance she begins to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But Cadi will face more than one unexpected turn along the way.

Rose McAllister is waiting for her husband, Steve, to come home. He is a seaman, often drunk and violent. Rose does her best to cope and sees that her daughters, Daisy and Petal, suffer as little as possible. Sensing that war is on the horizon, Steve tries to reform, but on his last night home, he pawns the girls' new dolls to go on a drinking binge. When war is declared, Rose finds a good job but agrees the children must be evacuated. War brings hardship and difficulty for the girls and Rose as they face the destruction of their home and cruelty at the hands of others....

It wasn't a privileged childhood, but it was a happy one. Sybil and Lizzie Cream, brought up in a fisherman's cottage on the edge of the cold North Sea, were content to leave privilege where it belonged: with their friends the Wintertons. Christina Winterton was the same age as Sybil, and the two girls were inseparable, but it was Lizzie whom Ralph Winterton, three years older, found irresistible. Then war came to East Anglia, and so did Manchester-born Fenn Kitzmann, now of the American Army Air Force.

It is a cold December night and Sylvie Dugdale is weeping as she walks by the Mersey. She fails to notice an approaching figure, and jumping to one side to avoid collision, she finds herself struggling in the ice-cold river. Constable Brendan O'Hara, just coming off duty, sees the girl's plight and dives in to rescue her. He is dazzled by her beauty but discovers that Sylvie's husband is in prison, and the closeness that Brendan soon longs for is impossible. But he is able to help her escape from Liverpool....

Miranda Lovage and her mother have a blazing row when Arabella tells her daughter that she can no longer afford their present lifestyle. Miranda goes to bed angry and upset. When she awakes next morning, however, it is to find that her mother has disappeared. Miranda raises the alarm but everyone is baffled, and when searches fail to discover Arabella's whereabouts, Miranda is forced to live with her Aunt Vi and cousin Beth, who resent her presence and treat her badly.

1901. Tina Rose is the beloved daughter of a wealthy Jewish family while Edward grew up with an abusive father in the wilds of New Zealand. Despite their differences, the two fall madly in love when Edward arrives in England, looking for a better future. However, the consequences of their love affair are terrible for Tina, as she is shamed by the father she adores, and Edward is sent away. Against all the odds, Tina and Edward find each other again.

Along a blacked-out wartime street a girl is scurrying, a basket on one arm. As sirens begin and bombs crash down, she is filled with panic and, with a heavy heart, abandons her burden in a sheltered doorway, meaning to return later. Even as she disappears in the resulting chaos, the bundle in the basket begins to wail.

After the sudden and brutal breakdown of her marriage, Jenny finds herself alone for the first time in her life when she leaves the comfortable farmhouse with her four-year-old daughter. Taking refuge in a seaside town in North Wales, Jenny finds a room in a boarding house. It's difficult at first, but as she gets to know her fellow residents, she gradually begins to see that life has much more to offer than she could ever have dreamed.

Dympna Byrne lives a simple life with her family on the Connemara coast. She adores her father Micheál, and does her best to help her family by working hard and expecting little. But beneath the surface there are hidden secrets. Dympna’s mother idolises her clever eldest son, yet her attitude to Dympna is puzzling. So when her family find themselves in desperate need of money, it is Dympna who crosses the water to Liverpool to seek a better life.

December, 1938. Rozalin Sachs has grown up in the vibrant city of Frankfurt. But with the Nazi Revolution gaining power, her family is forced to flee Germany. When a tragic accident separates Roz from her parents, she finds herself aboard the Kindertransport bound for Holland. Here Roz meets a young lad called Felix, and they vow to stick together as their journey takes them to England. Eventually, they find themselves in Liverpool with the promise of a new life, until a devastating incident takes Felix away.

Addy and Prue Fairweather live with their widowed mother Nell, in a flat above her shop. Addy is plain and always in trouble whereas Prue is as angelic as her looks imply. To make matters worse, Nell makes no secret of her preference for the younger girl, increasing Addy's jealousy. On the other side of the coin, Giles Frobisher and his twin sister, Gillian, live in a crumbling mansion in Devon. The family have lost most of their money in the Depression, so Giles joins the Fleet Air Arm.

Imogen, Rita and Debby all missed the original evacuation and now the authorities are finding it difficult to place them. When Auntie and her niece, Jill, who run the Canary and Linnet Public House, offer to take them in, the billeting officer is greatly relieved. The countryside is heaven to the three little townies, especially after they meet Woody and Josh. They find that by climbing to the top of a tree they are able to watch the comings and goings of the young fighter pilots.

When the Todds move into a flat on the Scotland Road, they are strangers to city life: their previous home was a canal barge. Harry gets a job as warehouse manager and his wife, Martha, works in a grocer’s shop whilst Seraphina trains as a teacher, Angela works in Bunney’s Department Store and young Evie starts at regular school. Then circumstances change, and Seraphina takes a job in Lyon’s Corner House. Customers vie for her favours, including an old friend, Toby....

Jimmy Trewin and his little sister are devastated by their mother's death and horrified to find themselves entrusted to the care of a hated neighbour, Mrs Huxtable. They hope their father will rescue them when his ship comes into port but this does not happen. When Cyril Huxtable accuses them of theft and threatens a terrible revenge, they decide to leave Liverpool and try to find their mother's family in Wales.

Liverpool, 1934. Hester Lowe agrees to act as governess to spoiled, self-willed little Lonnie Hetherington-Smith when they leave India to live with Lonnie’s elderly aunt in Shaw Street, Liverpool. Hester speedily realises that her new employer dislikes her niece and means to make life uncomfortable for both of them. Things improve a little when they meet the poor but happy Bailey family, who live in a court off Heyworth Street. Hester likes Dick Bailey very much, but her employer does not permit 'followers', and Lonnie and young Ben Bailey are deadly enemies.

Liverpool, 1939. As winter descends on Tuppenny Corner and rumours of war float across the canals, 15-year-old Rosie O’Leary must come to terms with her own dramatic upheaval. Forced to say good-bye to all she holds dear and embark on a new life aboard The Kingfisher, her world is suddenly full of uncertainty. But new beginnings open up new possibilities.... When fellow bargee Tim Bradley offers to show Rosie the sights of Liverpool, she jumps at the chance, and it’s not long before their friendship grows into something more.