Showing results by publisher "Headline" in 20th Century

Cat Cleary is a 16-year-old Irish 'slummy' arriving in Liverpool to seek her fortune. Joe Calligan, a young steam-packet deckhand, thinks she's the loveliest girl he's ever seen and hasn't the heart to tell her that Liverpool is full of people tramping the streets looking for work. And then Cat sees the White Empress, a huge luxury liner. In that moment her ambition is born - to be chief stewardess. In spite of her poverty, her lack of education, her family background, Cat Cleary sets about realising her incredible dream.

In 1915 three women start work at a toffee factory in the market town of Chester-le-Street, Durham. Anne works for the enigmatic owner Mr Jack. She is highly efficient and whips Mr Jack's disorganised office - and Mr Jack himself - into shape. However, behind her business-like façade, Anne hides a heart-breaking secret. Elsie is feisty, fun and enjoys a good time. However, her gadabout ways get her into trouble when she falls for the wrong man in the sugar-boiling room. And there's dependable Hetty, who's set to marry her boyfriend when he returns from the war.

It is 1919. Liverpool has been devastated by World War I. But at last the war is over. Emily Parkinson goes back into service and enjoys the return to normality. But her sister, Phoebe-Anne, has ideas beyond her station. Working as a lady's maid, Phoebe-Ann hopes that one day she will be more than just a friend to her mistress's shell-shocked brother James Mercer. When Emily is brutally attacked, the sisters' lives come close to ruin.

In the summer of 1939, nineteen-year-old Olivia Goodland arrives in London. Working for a society dressmaker, she meets wealthy, beautiful Grace Ruthwell. Beguiled by the glamour of Grace's world, it's only slowly and too late that she becomes aware of the darkness that lies beneath the glittering exterior. When the Second World War erupts, Olivia joins the Land Army. At a party in Wiltshire, she meets the handsome poet George Flynn, whose charms prove impossible to resist.

Liverpool, 1901. The Tempest family is all but destitute, barely able to put food on the table. When Florrie falls ill with pneumonia and Arthur is imprisoned after a drunken fight, their 13-year-old daughter, Lizzie, finds herself parentless, desperate and alone. Despite her young age, Lizzie has spirit and determination, and she knows that she must find work to keep herself off the streets. In a stroke of luck, she gets a job in the match factory, and foreman George Rutherford takes her under his wing.

Somerset, 1911. Miner's wife Lorna Harrison sometimes wonders what became of her marriage. The affection has gone, and now her husband Harry is surly and cold. But Lorna will always be grateful for the joy that their two daughters bring. When a devastating accident occurs at the pit and Harry is unable to work, Lorna worries about how she will make ends meet. Worse, the pit owner wants them out of their house. While Lorna's friend Flossie is a tower of strength, other neighbours turn their backs, as rumours spread that Harry helped cause the mine collapse.

New York, 1953. For Alana Olson, there's always been something about Picasso. An art historian and aspiring journalist, Alana was bound to encounter the most renowned artist of the era, but it was her late mother's strange fascination with the man that inspired Alana's doctoral thesis on his work. Then an assignment for a profile on Picasso from her dream publication leads Alana to a series of intimate interviews with Sara Murphy and Irene Legut - two women from the once-vibrant French social circle that included the artist.