D. E. Stevenson

The four Grace sisters love their quiet life in the country village of Chevis Green. To some, their insular world might seem dull, but the sisters never seem to run out of conversation. They truly are the happiest of families. That is, until Aunt Rona comes to town....

Marriage to her publisher, Arthur Abbott, has done nothing to stop Barbara Buncle from involving herself in the lives of her neighbours....

Since being widowed, Caroline Dering has been content to live her life solely for her children. Then the mysterious Robert Shepperton arrives in the village....

Tenth May, 1934. At this moment I look up and see the Man Who Lives Next Door standing on his doorstep watching my antics, and disapproving (I feel sure) of my flowered silk dressing gown....

On a beautiful spring day, Julia Harburn sat on a seat in Kensington Gardens enjoying the sunshine....

In the small town of Beilford, Sue, the Baker's daughter, makes an uncharacteristically impulsive decision to accept a post as housekeeper to Mr and Mrs Darnay, dashing her family's hopes of her marrying a local suitor.

The plot centres round Miss Barbara Buncle, a maiden lady who was obliged to write a book because – as she naively explained – her dividends were so poor....

Bel Lamington finds London a very lonely place - until a young artist literally drops in on her rooftop garden....

Young Frances Field arrives in a scenic coastal village in Scotland, having escaped her dreary life as an orphan. Once there, she encounters an array of eccentric locals, the occasional roar of enemy planes overhead and three army wives....

When Dinah was 19, Gilbert was a sort of fairy prince. She had loved him madly but gradually she had begun to realise that he was not quite so wonderful....

Mrs Abbott is flustered at the thought of putting up a lady from the Red Cross, but is happily surprised when she turns out to be an old friend from her previous life as Miss Buncle, infamous writer....

Married at 19, Katherine had four years of happiness with her beloved Gerald. When he dies, she is left on her own to bring up a stepson, Simon, and her own little twins....

In the romantic atmosphere of the Highlands, anything can happen - and even the cool, efficient Charlotte surprises herself....

Hester Christie has spent a blissful 18 months living in Kenya, where husband Tim is posted. But now it’s back to England to be with her two nearly grown children....

When young doctor Kit Stone returns to Britain, a female associate of his brother Henry secures him a post in a country practice. He meets a selection of charming - and not-so-charming - characters and quickly settles in.

After spending time combatting terrorists in Malaya, James Dering returns to Scotland. He starts a new life at Mureth House, the home of his aunt and uncle, Mamie and Jock Johnstone....

With husband Tim stationed in Egypt and her children at boarding school, Hester Christie finds herself at a loose end, until her friend Grace takes her at her word and finds her a job with the formidable Erica Clutterbuck, who has opened a new hotel in the Scottish Borders....

1940 finds Adam Southey in a mood of bitter resentment: he cannot join up because he is lame. But at the school where he is teaching, the headmaster, Sam Cooke, is a brilliant scientist. And Adam suddenly finds that the battleground is not the only place to fight a war — for Dr.

When their father dies, none of the three Harcourt girls are particularly upset. The loss of the family's income, however, is not something so easily overcome....

Jane Fortune causes a stir when she arrives in the small community of Dingleford....