Showing results for "The War of the Worlds" in Small Town & Rural

Veronica McCreedy lives in a mansion by the sea. She loves a nice cup of Darjeeling tea whilst watching a good wildlife documentary. And she’s never seen without her ruby-red lipstick. Although these days, Veronica is rarely seen by anyone, because at 85, her days are spent mostly at home, alone. She can be found either collecting litter from the beach, trying to locate her glasses, or shouting instructions to her assistant, Eileen. But today...today, Veronica is going to make a decision that will change all of this.

Kent, 1953. The Woolworths Erith store, a beloved cornerstone of the community, faces closure if the December turnover fails to increase. And, as if store manager Betty Billington doesn't have enough on her plate, personnel shortages and a troublesome new employee add to the strife. With Christmas on the horizon, Betty and her staff must strive to find solutions to improve business and keep the store running – from special events for late-night customers to a festive group trip into central London.

Cambridgeshire – 1942. As a new year begins and the war continues, young Artie Talbot feels trapped. In his heart he longs to fight, like his two brothers, for his king and country but is duty tied to Blackberry Farm. As feelings grow between Artie and Jeanie Salmons, Artie wonders if marriage will help him to finally accept his lot and settle down. Meanwhile, his brother John Talbot must come to terms with the tragic loss of a lost love. Can he overcome his trauma and begin to build a new life for himself and his new born son?

It is 1910 in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Fourteen-year-old Rosie Waterhouse lives with her father, Sam, well-known as the local poacher, in a cottage on the Thornsby Estate. The land is owned by William Ramsey, a harsh and heartless man, determined his only son, Byron, should marry well and produce an heir. Rosie is quick to learn the tricks of her father’s trade and it’s when she’s poaching fish from the estate’s stream that she meets Byron.

June, 1941. When Bobby Bancroft arrived in Silverdale to take a job as a reporter on The Tyke magazine, the sleepy Yorkshire Dales village felt like a little pocket of a past long gone. But war finally seems to have come to Silverdale. The villagers face new hardships when shortages and rationing begin to bite, young men become scarce as more are called up, and Bobby finds herself juggling her job on the magazine with a new role as an ARP warden. Even her surly editor Reg and his wife are doing their bit, agreeing to take two evacuees from London into their home.

Dover 1940 As firebombs fall on Dover, Edie Castle's life is thrown into turmoil when the garage where she lives and works is damaged and her beloved boss is arrested. With no job and nowhere else to go, Edie returns to Castle's Café and her formidable mother, Nellie. Living with her mother is never easy, but tensions reach boiling point when an old friend of Nellie's arrives looking for a place to stay. Meanwhile, desperate to clear her boss's name, Edie turns to his nephew for help.

James Acton has come to the village of Upton to begin again. As his grief over the death of his wife eases, he hopes to find new purpose as the vicar of this small Hampshire parish, still emerging from the long shadow of the war. James’ own war was in the Western Desert, where he fell in love, first with the thrill of being a hurricane pilot and then with Yvette Haddad, the captivating, enigmatic young Alexandrian with a penchant for dangerous driving.

1932. Dunfermline, Scotland. Marion Crawford, a bright, ambitious young teacher, is ready to make her mark on the world. Until a twist of fate changes the course of her life forever… 1936. Windsor Castle. At first this ordinary woman is in a new world, working as the governess to two young princesses, in a household she calls home but where everyone is at a distance. As the course of history changes, she finds herself companion to the future Queen, and indispensable to the Crown. And slowly their needs become her needs. Their lives become hers.

It's 1941, and the war rumbles on. Nowhere is immune to the effects of war, not even Ambridge. But in England's favourite village, something else is occupying the residents. When a prominent villager dies, the main beneficiary's name is a mystery, and no one knows who is set to inherit the estate, cottage and all. The name is hidden within a locked box, and the villagers much uncover the password to find out the name of the beneficiary.

Victoria is looking for a life away from the dangers of wartime London for herself and two orphaned children. Her search takes her to Churchwood in Hertfordshire which looks ideal, but the village residents are already dealing with their own problems . . .With so much trouble and uncertainty in the village, can Victoria and her little family find the safe haven they crave?

The third book in beloved and best-selling Anna Jacobs' Lancashire-based Ellindale saga. Lancashire, 1932. Widower Harry Makepeace lives in Manchester with his sickly daughter, Cathie, scrimping and saving to get by. But after she suffers a violent asthma attack, the doctors say she must move to the clean, fresh air of the countryside to have any hope of survival. When Harry chances upon a patch of land for sale in Ellindale and an advert for a disused railway carriage that can be made into a home, he snaps both up quickly.

October 1940. Twenty-three-year-old Bobby Bancroft is working as a typist for a city newspaper, but she longs to be breaking the news herself. When she successfully applies for a junior reporter role at The Tyke, a magazine serving the Yorkshire Dales, she's thrilled – even if she only gets the position because so many men are away fighting. Bobby moves to the sleepy village of Silverdale, but she quickly discovers life in the countryside is a different world.

After saving her family farm from falling into disrepair Framboise, a secretive widow, lives a quiet life splitting her time between home and the creperie where she brings her mother's recipes to life. When her nephew approaches her to exploit her family's culinary legacy, Framboise is forced to confront her dramatic childhood at the heart of the German Occupation of France.

Its 1943 and the war continues on in Ambridge. But the minds of the villagers are focused a little closer to home. For many centuries, a local tradition has told of a mystic living in a hermit’s cave just outside the village. Legend tells that she has hidden her prophecies around the area, but none have ever been found. When a visiting academic arrives in Ambridge, there for war work, but personally intrigued by the prophecies, he becomes determined to find out more. And as the prophesies are uncovered, it appears the mystic knows more than anyone could have predicted.

December, 1940. As German bombs fall on Southampton, the city’s residents flee to the surrounding villages. In Upton village, amid the chaos, newly married Ellen Parr finds a girl sleeping, unclaimed at the back of an empty bus. Little Pamela, it seems, is entirely alone. Ellen has always believed she does not want children, but when she takes Pamela into her home the child cracks open the past Ellen thought she had escaped and the future she and her husband, Selwyn, had dreamed for themselves. As the war rages on, love grows where it was least expected, surprising them all.

When a sudden reassignment gives Lily Baker only three days to report to mysterious Bletchley Park, she’s confused but excitedly answers duty’s call. Learning the reputed madhouse is actually the clandestine home of Allied codebreakers, Lily walks a fine line between guarding British secrets and protecting her heart. But when she overhears that a spy could be hidden among the eclectic mix of codebreakers, she is determined to uncover which of her new friends is the traitor.

In the drab Yorkshire town of Garsthwaite, Lacey Barraclough works hard in the textile mill, determined to fight for improvements to the dismal working conditions. But she hadn't reckoned on falling in love with the boss' son, Nathan. Before Nathan and Lacey can make a life together, World War I breaks out and Nathan enlists to fight. When Nathan heads off to the Front, Lucy must find a new way to face the future. As hard times come to Garsthwaite, will there be a home for the returning heroes to come back to?

France, 1942. At the end of the day, the schoolteacher releases her pupils. She checks they have their identity passes and warns them not to stop until the German guards have let them through the barrier that separates occupied France from Free France. As the little ones fly across the border and into their mothers' arms, she breathes a sigh of relief. No one is safe now. Not even the children.

Vicky Parrot wanted more out of life than working all hours in her father’s post office. Her dreams were ruined when tragedy came calling, and now happiness seems impossible. The other townsfolk have their problems too. Sylvia Barker runs the haberdashery shop, and she’s hiding more than a few secrets behind the bales of wool in the shop window. Her daughter, Rosie, wants more out of life than needles and cotton, but her headstrong ways are about to get her into trouble.

The aroma of chocolate was as familiar to Molly Freeman as the nose on her face. Living and schooling on Haxby Road alongside the Rowntrees Chocolate Factory, Molly watched the daily trudge of women employed there in their white uniforms as she sat at her school desk. When Molly secures a job on the production line at the factory, she's excited to become one of these women. As she labours hard at the factory, she meets Connie. Quickly the two form a close friendship, and Molly begins to see the world differently.