Résultats lu par "Julia Franklin" dans Toutes les catégories

As Christmas draws nearer, Simmy Henderson is invited to a party in Glenridding at the heart of the Lake District. However, the festivities are overshadowed by two alarming discoveries: a man's body in the beck above the village, and a vulnerable newborn baby, apparently abandoned by its mother. Caught in the crosscurrents and tensions of the inhabitants of Glenridding, Simmy is drawn into the investigation. The season of goodwill has been eclipsed by far darker emotions, and a murderer must be found.

Young widow Julia Nance has found happiness again running her beloved Guesthouse, Fairlight, but with the arrival of war, even her last bookings are being cancelled. Step-daughter Elowen immediately offers to find work with arch rival Alma Jennings, but Julia prefers to keep her close, and searches desperately for alternatives. Offering up her beloved home to be requisitioned, looking for any opportunity for work herself, she finds herself thwarted at every turn, and unwilling to accept the help of unscrupulous brother-in-law Pasco.

Manchester, 1941. Kept apart by war work, bombs and blackouts, Lorna and her beloved George cherish every precious moment together. George's vital role working for the War Office keeps him in London, while Lorna rolls up her sleeves to do her duty each day at the Manchester Salvage Depot, alongside her dearest friends, Sally and Betty. When George proposes, Lorna is happier than she could ever have imagined. But her high spirits are soon dashed when she hears that the War Office is sending George to America.

Manchester, 1944 Alison is thriving in her rewarding role at the railways. But when family tragedy strikes, her world is turned upside down. Persephone is struggling with matters of the heart. Can she muster up the courage to tell Matt how she truly feels? Colette is slowly learning to embrace life again after she left Tony. But will he ever let her move on?

Martha Owen has not had an easy start in life. Her abusive father dominates the family and she has lost her only friend after a painful falling-out. When her father's reliance on the bottle, and his increasingly violent temper, causes more turmoil for Martha, her mother and her three siblings, as well as World War One causing more strain on the home front, her prospects look bleak. With no money or qualifications to speak of, starting a job at the Potteries feels like a lifeline, but Martha finds herself wanting more than the production line job she works on.

This will be a Christmas to remember for the railway girls. Little Max is growing day by day and Joan is adjusting to her new life. But in her heart of hearts, she is desperate to return to work on the railways. Margaret's job in the engine shed is demanding. But when a friend finds herself in crisis, she knows she must do everything she can to help her. Alison is overjoyed at the prospect of organising a Christmas wedding until a long-held secret is revealed. Knowing the truth, can she find the strength to forgive those she holds most dear?

Manchester, 1940. By day, Betty works cheerfully with her best friend Sally, now the manager of the salvage depot. By night, they both do their bit for the war effort as Auxiliary Fire Service girls. But Betty wishes she could do more. So when Samuel, a kind and gentle young bookseller, needs help sorting out novels to entertain the boys overseas, Betty volunteers. Anything for the troops! But then Sally's home is destroyed, and her surviving possessions stolen by looters. Desperate to help her friend, Betty could never have expected the guilt when she uncovers what really happened.

Librarian Pru Pearce is preparing for her wedding to police detective Andy Barnes. But after one of her Women's Institute friends suffers a suspicious accident at Rookery Grange, a home for the elderly and infirm, Pru and the other ladies are on alert. And when one of the residents is asphyxiated with a pillow, no one can rest easy.

It’s early summer on the French Riviera when Vivienne Wilson arrives for a one-woman writers’ retreat after her philandering husband informs her that their 30-year marriage is over. There to collect the shell-shocked Vivienne is recently widowed Maxine Zonszain, who is struggling to come to terms with her empty life following the sudden death of her husband. Florist extraordinaire, Olivia Murray, shares the Villa that Vivienne is renting. She’s pretty content with life - but longs to meet ‘The One’. Life under the summer sun in Antibes becomes a challenging time for all three women.

Newly retired Philip returns home to Cologne and is thrown into emotional turmoil upon bumping into his long-lost sweetheart. In the midst of a domestic crisis, Ricarda confides in Philip that she is looking for somewhere to live. And there and then, Philip suggests that she move in with him - he is setting up a flatshare. Will she join him with his mischievous dachshund named Ralf?

As time ebbs and flows over the summer both Katie Teague and her godmother Mattie Cranford discover their lives are at a crossroads. Mattie shackled to the family wool shop for over 50 years, feels life has passed her by. She dreams of seeing the world and shaking off a lifetime of regrets. When Katie is made redundant, Mattie seizes the moment and asks Katie to move back to her home town of Dartmouth and breathe new life into the rundown wool shop and to her surprise Katie agrees.

Nurse Florence Shaw is worried about her patient and friend, elderly widow Nora Selleck. When she encounters Nora in the market town of Stone seeming confused, Florence decides to pay her a visit in more familiar surroundings. But at Nora's house she meets Ben Evans, a mysterious young stranger who has befriended Nora. Who is Ben, and why is he encouraging Nora to miss her surgery appointments? Florence doesn't trust Ben. She's sure he doesn't have Nora's best interests at heart and is a threat to her vulnerable patient.

Two days before an auction of the contents of High Gates House in Borrowdale, Christopher Henderson bumps into Jennifer Reade, the heir to the entire estate, and the expected recipient of the proceeds of the house clearance sale. She discovers a dead man in the cellar of the house but threatens and cajoles Christopher into remaining silent about it until after the auction to avoid complications and delays. The auction begins but is soon halted by the police with the news that a murder has been committed.

June 1998: Elodie Marshall has committed a terrible crime. But when she's deemed unfit to plead, she is sentenced to living within the confines of a mental health facility . . . Present day: Amateur detective Pru Pearce and her friends from the Winterbottom Women's Institute are about to embark on their annual getaway. The 1960s Butlins-style Harmony Hollows Resort has caught their attention for a few reasons, including the northern ballroom championships and the unsolved double murder from 1983.

During her lifetime Violet Paget, who wrote as Vernon Lee, was referred to as 'the greatest of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction', and yet today she remains on the periphery of the genre. This collection of her uniquely weird short stories and dark fantasies proves why she was once considered among the best of the genre, and why she deserves to return to those ranks today.

Buying and relocating to the Château du Cheval in rural France has fulfilled one of Peter and Ingrid Chevalier’s lifelong ambitions. Despite never being able to trace a missing link in Peter’s French ancestry he feels he has finally come home. Now they must renovate the Château to its former glory and make it pay for itself…With money getting tight, they take the decision to sell a couple of cottages on the estate. Can the Château begin to pay for itself and be sustainable for the future?

Manchester, December 1940: this winter, the girls boarding at Star House - Betty, Sally and Lorna - are determined to keep a stiff upper lip. But for Lorna - who is dedicated to caring for the wounded with the Women's Voluntary Service - the past is about to come calling. Lorna is heartbroken when the devastating Christmas Blitz reunites her with her ex-fiancé George. . .As air raids and rescue missions throw George and Lorna together time and again, it becomes clear that nothing about his visit to Manchester is what it seems.

Richard and Christine Clay have been married for decades. Their relationship has stood the test of time despite Christine appearing passive while her husband is unmistakably dominant - at times bullying and controlling. Nurse Florence Shaw has seen Christine at the surgery a number of times with minor complaints over the past year, none of which has led to a serious diagnosis. But when Florence hears that the couple appear to have entered into a suicide pact, she is shocked, though not surprised that Richard has survived.

When Cordelia's daughter Emily falls for a young chap who doesn't meet the approval of her father, Cordelia is reminded of her own first love - a love that she has never forgotten. Mabel is determined to get to the bottom of a spate of local burglaries. Her heart is in the right place as she sets out on a quest to clear her friend's name, but there will be unforeseen consequences. It's nothing short of a miracle when Colette returns to Manchester. But it's not going to be easy for her to keep living the life she once knew, and an impossible situation lies ahead.