Showing results by narrator "Karen Cass" in All Categories

Connie Morgan works in the haberdashery department of a large Southampton store, and is in love with her married boss. But everything changes when she's swept off her feet by dashing young car mechanic Sam. Having fallen head over heels for Sam, Connie is anxious to end her adulterous affair with John Baker. But John isn't going to let her go that easily, and Connie knows that if Sam ever finds out about her relationship with a married man, he will end everything, dashing all her dreams.

A beautiful and talented actress, Mary Robinson was one of the most famous women of her time. But Mary was destined always to be betrayed by the men she loved: by her father, who abandoned his family; by her husband, who bankrupted the family with his gambling and humiliated his young wife with numerous affairs; and by the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, who fell in love with Mary when he saw her playing Perdita in A Winter's Tale.

“Always love life” was the message Briony Stone’s first sweetheart left with her before he was killed in an air crash. It seems strange that the same thought should be voiced by Robert Baker, the young vet whom she has known such a short time, but to whom she is so unaccountably drawn. Briony, now married to the snobbish, unimaginative Charles, realises too late that she has disregarded her lover’s advice, running away from life into marriage with a man she likes and respects but doesn’t love.

Mia Cosgrove is a high-flying psychotherapist with a thriving practice, but when she receives a desperate phone call from her oldest friend, Lysette, she puts her life on hold to rush to her side. A friend of Lysette's, Sarah, has plunged to her death from the top of a multistorey car park, an unsent text message on her phone, simply saying 'I'm sorry x.' At first the police are convinced it's a suicide, but as more deaths rock the rural community, the police aren't so certain....

It's the 1940s. War alters lives, and for three women from different walks of life, the choices they make will change everything forever....

Jenny Proctor is a well-to-do housewife with a demanding husband. She devotes her life to serving him - but when he enlists, she finds her voice...and a new friendship with a young GI. Vibrant Rusty Dobbs is a prostitute by choice, making money from servicemen. But when she falls in love with an American captain, she hides her profession from him.

Meggie Elliot is on the brink of adulthood. Living with her aunt and uncle in London at the outbreak of World War II she's intent on going to university, then pursuing a career in law. Meggie follows her dream as best she can, knowing it's unlikely it will ever come to fruition. In a burst of patriotism she joins the WRNS to do her bit for the war effort. Sent to work in a decoding unit she meets the dangerously exhilarating young aristocrat, Nicholas Cowan, who sweeps her off her feet.

It was on the boar hunt that the Lady Joanna injured her arm – saving a nine-year-old page from the charging beast. And there – in the forest – there was no one to help her…other than the Hermit…He was like no other hermit she had ever seen – he was young, strong and dark – and vowed to silence. His name was Keren, but he was always called the Hermit…

For 16-year-old Joyce, the college building she was about to enter represented privilege, wealth, a life she'd never live. As a bedder, Joyce would be making the beds of the male students, sweeping floors, dusting desks. She never expected to also find herself mothering, chastising and sometimes even covering up for 'her boys'. The Staircase Girls takes us into the lives of Joyce and other bedders, like Nance, Maud, Rose and Audrey.

At the beginning of the Second World War, medical experts predicted epidemics of physical and mental illness on the home front. Rationing would decimate the nation's health, they warned; drugs, blood and medical resources would be in short supply; air raid shelters and evacuation would spread diseases; and the psychological effects of bombing raids would leave mental hospitals overflowing. Yet, astonishingly, Britain ended the war in better health than ever before.

Beautiful, young nurse Christie Paige knows what it means to long for someone and to have that longing crushed. She goes to the children's clinic in the Austrian Alps to work at the side of Dr. Phillip Vereker, the man she plans to marry. Then her dream is shattered when Phillip marries one of his patients. After a painful interlude, the silent grandeur of the mountains, the brilliant star-jewelled sky - it all begins to work its magic. And inspired by powerful Maxwell Grant, the clinic's founder, her arduous work becomes a wonderful cure for misery.

Shortly before Christmas, Professor James Lowell is found brutally attacked in his rooms at Walsingham College, where Anna Hopkins works as an administrator. Baffled as to why anyone would wish to harm such a gentle, scholarly man, Anna discovers that Lowell had a connection with her fellow dogwalker Isadora Salzman, who knew him as an undergraduate in the 1960s, a comember of the so-called Oxford Six. It turns out that Isadora has been keeping a surprising secret all these years.

When Juliet Montague's husband disappears, so does she. As far as the conservative Jewish community in which she lives is concerned, she is invisible. She does her best to conform to their rules, but then on her thirtieth birthday she does something unexpected. Instead of the fridge she has scrimped for, she impulsively spends her savings on a portrait of herself.It is the first in a series of portraits that punctuate Juliet's adult life as she joins London's lively post-war art scene and proves to be an astute spotter of talent.

For generations, the Barthélemy family tended to the olive trees of Restanques, a sprawling property in Cotignac whose olive oil and almonds were as incredible as the countryside that produced them. But all that changed when war came to France. Robert Barthélemy never returned from the trenches, and without him the farm is beginning to die. His widow has lost the will to live, and only the fierce efforts of their daughter, Jeanne, have kept the creditors at bay.

When the family castle is besieged by an ancient enemy, Ursula rides for help to Aylmer, who has asked for her hand in marriage. Ursula admires and respects Aylmer, who is much older than she. He loves her dearly and promises to help lift the siege. Aylmer offers the services of Benedict de Huste, a young man with a tragic past whom Aylmer regards as an adopted son. Together Ursula and Benedict fight a double battle.

Forbidden by her father to work on their farm, Celia Raines takes a job at the local printing works. When war comes, Celia hopes to achieve her ambition of being a farmer. But her boss has taken on sensitive work for the Ministry of Information and Celia is forced to stay. Romance blossoms between Celia and Matthew Dangerfield, an RAF friend of her brother, Edgar. Both men are engaged on bombing missions but Edgar is beginning to have doubts.

Laura Hardy is recovering from a traumatic car crash. The incident proved fatal for her mother, and whilst Laura's life was spared, she is left injured, weak and grieving for her loss. Her brother, Edward, resolves that accommodating Laura at his family home, Four Winds, will provide the respite she so desperately needs. But as soon as she steps foot over the threshold, she is assailed by feelings of choking and terror, engulfed by a sense of despair.

Max Persault loves his seafaring life. When his cousin Alistair, the newly elevated Duke of Haslingfield, appeals for his help, he finds himself masquerading as the duke and on his way to Cromer while Alistair sets off undercover to France. Max's talents do not lend themselves to acting, however, and before even arriving at his destination, he has aroused the suspicions of Miss Constance Church. At first dismissing him, Constance soon begins to suspect that there may be more to him than meets the eye.

With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls's boarding school in the small town of Villette. There, she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, a headmistress who spies on her staff, and her own complex feelings: first for the school's English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor, Paul Emmanuel.

Rose has it all - the gorgeous children, the husband, the beautiful home. But then her best friend, Polly, comes to stay. Very soon Rose's cosy world starts to fall apart at the seams - her baby falls dangerously ill, her husband is distracted.... Is Polly behind it all? It appears that once you invite Polly into your home, it's very difficult to get her out again.

Raven-haired Sophia knew him as Philip Rich, a poor relative of the Earl of Rame. And she knew that he awakened in her a craving that her betrothed, Sir John Bladen, could not satisfy. But she was pledged to wealthy Sir John in order to save her beloved Tarrant Hall. So she scorned Philip’s love only to discover, to her horror, that he was, in reality, the famous Earl himself. And now the Earl has vowed to humble Sophia and to avenge his honour.