Showing results by author "Maggie Mason" in Family Life

Blackpool, 1893. Tilly has come a long way from the run-down tenements in which she grew up. She has a small but comfortable home, a loving, handsome husband, two beautiful little'uns - Babs and Beth - and she earns herself a little money weaving wicker baskets. Life is good. Until the day Tilly returns home to find a policeman standing on her doorstep. Her Arthur won't be coming home tonight - nor any night - having fallen to his death whilst working on Blackpool tower. Suddenly Tilly is her daughters' sole protector, and she's never felt more alone.

It is 1937, and Alice, Edith and Marg continue to face hardships every day, growing up on one of the poorest streets in Blackpool. Penniless, their friendship has helped them survive this far, but it'll take more than that to see them through the dark days ahead. Alice is coping with a violent father. Marg is left reeling after a dark secret about her birth comes to light and threatens to destroy the life she knows, and Edith is fighting to protect her alcoholic mother from the shame of their neighbours and keep her brother on the straight and narrow.

Blackpool, 1922. Martha and Trisha may have escaped poverty, but their fortunes have yet to turn. Happy on her wedding day, Trisha's new fairy-tale romance soon darkens as her husband, Walter, keeps her at arms length. Between his secrecy, and her mother-in-law's coldness, Trisha feels a stranger in her own home, and lonelier than ever. Meanwhile a spectre from Martha's past threatens the happiness she has found with Joshua and Bonnie. When she is called to help in her past love's hour of need, she must decide whether to risk exposing a secret that could cost her the trust of her daughter.

Babs and Beth are identical in looks but very different by nature. Kidnapped by gypsies a decade ago as young girls, Beth has accepted their plight, but Babs has always yearned for their real mother, Tilly, and their beloved hometown of Blackpool. Convinced the best thing for them is to be reunited with Tilly, Babs tries to persuade Beth to escape. But Beth is too afraid, and Babs knows if she wants to find their mother, she'll have to do it alone.

1939. The threat of war is looming over Blackpool, but Martha and Trisha are determined not to let it dampen their spirits. With two young evacuees for Martha to take care of, and Trisha's market garden business growing as Britain digs for victory, the friends have their hands full. Both are proud to see their daughters making their own way in the world, even in wartime. Sally has become a ballerina and Bonnie is training to become a doctor. The girls' friendship brings them all happiness and hope. But Martha is troubled by her visions for their daughters' futures.

The war is over, but peace hasn't quite settled between newly reunited sisters Babs and Beth. Tilly and her daughters have encountered enough pain to last several lifetimes, but their struggles are far from over. Will they be able to put their past behind them and look forward to a happy future?