Showing results by narrator "Julia Franklin" in All Categories

Germany 1939, and Christa Sommer boards the Kindertransport, unsure that she'll ever see her beloved mother and father again. Once in England she is taken in by elderly Mrs Pelling, who grows to love Christa as the daughter she never had. But in 1945 Mrs Pelling dies. While her will cannot be found, her money-grabbing niece appears out of the blue to claim her inheritance and turfs Christa out, with only a suitcase to her name. The prejudice against Germans still runs high in England, and Christa is unable to secure a job or a place to stay.

After a stray bomb scored a direct hit on his childhood home in Hertfordshire, the only thing that has kept Francis Brady going while he works day and night salvaging what he can from the rubble is the thought that soon he'll be joining wartime friends Mayne, Daniel and Victor as electrician in their new dream building firm in Lancashire. But things are not going to plan: Mayne isn't answering any of his letters; Francis' wife is having a change of heart about moving up north - and her parents seem set on destroying his reputation....

After losing all her family in the Great War, Nell is grateful to marry Stan Hibbert. However, five years on, she is just another backstreet housewife, making every penny do the work of tuppence and performing miracles with scrag-end. When she discovers that Stan is leading a double life, she runs away to make a fresh start. Two years later, Nell has carved out a fulfilling new life for herself and her young children in Manchester, where her neighbours believe she is a respectable widow. But the past is hard to run from, and Nell must fight to protect the life she has made for herself and her children.

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.

Prunella Pearce, Bree, and the other ladies of the Winterbottom Women's Institute are planning to spend Halloween at the Montgomery Hall Hotel murder-mystery weekend—just as the historical venue's past comes back to haunt it. The hotel is now in the incapable hands of Tarragon Montgomery, with its faltering finances overseen by elderly matriarch Cecily. Meanwhile, the local actress hired to play Psychic Selma for the weekend has been replaced by an impostor. But who is she, and what is her agenda?

Set in the picturesque town of Askham, near Ullswater, the story opens with the funeral of Humphrey Craig, the builder who converted Simmy's new house in Hartsop. The following day, when Simmy goes back to look at the grave and the flowers on it, she meets two women, Lindsay Wilson, an academic in her late twenties who is writing a thesis on Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, and Pauline Parsons, a local matriarch aged 90. Just 24 hours later, Mrs Parsons is found dead on Askham Fell and Simmy is summoned to Penrith police station.

Bristol - 1953. It’s Coronation Year. A new beginning in the aftermath of war, but there are still battles to be fought and secrets to be kept. Charlotte Hennessey-White copes with the shortcomings of her marriage and throws herself into helping refugees unwelcome by some and exploited by others. Edna Burbage has three beautiful children and considers herself lucky until the advent of a deadly twentieth century disease makes her think otherwise. Polly Chandler still hopes for a better life, but there are too many obstacles standing in her way.

Mabel has finally put the past behind her, and her relationship with the dashing Harry is stronger than ever. That is, until an old flame shows up, leaving Mabel questioning her future. Meanwhile Joan has made amends with Bob - if only she could do the same with Gran. And there's still that family mystery she wants answer to, isn't there? As a mother and grandmother, Dot Green has always put her family first. Her job as a parcels porter has brought new purpose to her life, so is it finally time to start following her heart.

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.

Lancashire 1934. Three years after her husband's sudden death, Stella comes into some money unexpectedly and decides to make a new start in the country. She settles on Ellin Valley, where she quickly begins to make friends. She falls in love with a cottage in Birch End. Life has changed drastically for local handyman Wilf Pollard as well. When tragedy strikes, Wilf is left as the only support of his two young children. But his friends rally round to help so that he can pull his life together.

Lottie Carlyle faces a bittersweet romantic dilemma in Jill Mansell's engaging best seller, Making Your Mind Up - not to be missed by fans of Lucy Diamond and Milly Johnson. Lottie Carlyle isn't looking for love when she meets her new boss, Tyler Klein. Living in a beautiful cottage with her two adorable - sometimes - kids in an idyllic village in the Cotswolds, on good terms with her ex-husband and with friends all around, she's happy enough with her lot.

Pru Plum is the owner of a famous Mayfair bakery. She wears Chanel and her hair is expensively cut. Few would believe that she turned sixty-six last year. But Pru is not the confident, successful businesswoman she appears. She has done shameful things to get to where she is today. And she will do anything to protect the secrets of her past - especially now she has finally fallen in love...

Ellie Quicke, although comfortably re-married, is still inclined to act hastily. But when she took in a young rape victim, she didn’t expect it to become an invitation to murder. When she was released from the hospital, Mia had nowhere to go. Mia is threatened by violent deaths which dog her every move . . . and Ellie’s. But who is responsible for these terrifying “accidents”? Ellie has other things on her mind as well, after being asked to help organise the weddings of both her best friend and her daughter.

Fen works in a bookshop and is devoted to her young son, Connor, but she keeps herself to herself. Haunted by guilt and a terrible secret, Fen lives a compromised life, isolated from her family, far from home and too afraid of the past to risk becoming close to anyone. She is constantly looking over her shoulder, knowing that one day the truth will catch up with her. Sean, on the other hand, is enjoying a seemingly perfect life.

Nina Cattermole had an unusual death: headbutted by a horse as she protested against the local hunt. The official verdict is that it was a freak accident. But for the Cattermoles it is merely the start of their troubles. On the day of the funeral a family friend, himself a hunt saboteur, is found dead in a ditch. Local CID Detective Den Cooper is sent to investigate. It soon becomes clear that this is not another accident....

The war has ended; the men are returning home to their loved ones, but for some, things have changed. Charlotte Hennessey-White's husband, David, is no longer the gentle loving man he once was and Charlotte, so independent during the war, is devastated. Edna Burbage's strong fiancée, Colin, has suffered appalling physical injuries. He won’t hold her to her promise of marriage, but she insists her feelings are unchanged. But is that true? And Polly Chandler's sweetheart, Gavin, who’d she’d planned her whole future around, hasn’t come home at all.

Summer has come to Windermere, where Persimmon "Simmy" Brown runs her own florist shop. But the shop is struggling for money, so a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in Hawkshead couldn't have arrived at a better moment. However Simmy's association with the hotel soon turns sinister when she finds a body in the lake. To make matters worse, her friend, Ben Harkness, is now missing and thought to be kidnapped.

Returning from a much-needed holiday, Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown discovers that life in the Lake District is, as ever, far from relaxing. Before she can enjoy the idea of being the future Mrs Chris Henderson, her fiancé discovers the body of his friend, antique dealer Jonathan Woolley, brutally strangled in a house in Grasmere. Enlisting the help of her friends and amateur detectives Ben and Bonnie, the investigation appears to ask more questions than it answers as historical grudges against the dead man are revealed. It seems that many people had a reason for wanting him dead.

The railway girls have survived unsettling times, and while the bombings might have eased, their own turmoil has only just begun. With Christmas fast approaching, will their wishes come true?

Erica Wright lives a quiet, lonely life in her two-bed end of terrace. Her front door hasn't been graffitied in more than a year, but that's soon about to change - her son, Craig, is being released from prison. Local journalist Luke Harding is determined to warn the public. As the person who covered the arrest and trial all those years ago, he knows the kind of predator Craig really is. When Luke's worst fears are realised after a woman is attacked days after Craig's release, he becomes obsessed with trying to prove that Craig was behind it.