Elizabeth Jeffrey

August, 1914. The silver wedding celebrations of Sir George Barsham, MP, and his wife, Lady Adelaide, are overshadowed by the declaration of war with Germany. Over the following months, as the male estate workers head for the Front and the maids disappear to work in the newly-opened munitions factory, the Barsham family's comfortable, aristocratic lifestyle is set to change forever.

Could she compete with a memory? After her fiance's death, Rachel had gone to Scotland to try to pick up the threads of her life. Once there, however, her life became tangled with the lives of two others--an elfin-faced child who refused to speak after the tragic loss of her mother; and the ill-fated husband who must have truly adored his wife. As governess, Rachel thought she could help Melanie. But there was nothing she could do for Richard Duncan, except fall in love with him!

Rachel Gardner's family life is far from a happy one. Her father, Stanhope, is cold and remote and her mother Nellie seems to care for nothing but housework. Then, one day, Stanhope collapses in the street and dies - and the facade he had built up carefully for so many years is revealed as a sham. Sad and confused, Rachel leaves home and flees to the one place she has known parental kindness: the home of the rector's daughter Angela, her school friend. As her feelings for Angela's elder brother David deepen into romance, Rachel believes she has everything she ever desired. But after the outbreak of the Second World War, David joins the RAF and returns horribly injured, refusing to see her. Fate, however, gives Rachel another chance at love. And just as the pieces of her once-shattered life are falling into place, a new disaster threatens everything she holds dear.

Broughton House, an old English country estate set along the Wiltshire/Dorset border in England, is the inanimate protagonist of Penny Jordan's lengthy exploration into the human drama. Three couples view the house as the answer to their personal problems. Eleanor, with her new husband, two sons from a previous marriage and troubled teenaged stepdaughter, hopes the house will help them bond as a family. Hotel manager Zoe, who dreams of turning Broughton House into a bed-and-breakfast in order to her lover, Ben, from the demands of his dysfunctional family. Finally, there is Fern, trapped in an emotionally abusive marriage to Nick. She's hopelessly in love with Nick's stepbrother Adam, with whom she once had an affair and who is now involved in the sale of Broughton House. Fern is the most interesting of the lot as she comes to realize that she is a battered wife - sans the bruises - and slowly emerges as a self-possessed woman.

A historical saga full of scandal and intrigue. Bethany and her mother are left destitute following the scandalous death of her father. Forced to leave their beloved home with little more than the clothes they are wearing, their last hope is to prevail upon their only living relative, Bethany's great aunt Sarah, who runs a coaching inn and reluctantly agrees to let them stay. Bethany impresses Sarah with her attitude to hard work and soon manages to convince her to build up the business again. As trade at the inn improves, their future begins to look secure. But trouble lies ahead, not only in the rumors of a planned railway, but also in the form of Zachary Brown, an itinerant laborer who takes a shine to Bethany, but who is not all he seems.

Domestic fiction. Abandoned as a baby, Joanna was brought up by the cruel farmer who found her and put to work on his land as soon as she could walk. Despite such hardship, Jo still keeps her spirits up, strengthened by the knowledge that she was discovered in a luxurious blue velvet cloak--evidence that her true mother must have been a fine lady. When successful factory owner Abraham Silkin decides that she has the potential to make him a good wife, Jo believes that her dreams of living in splendour are finally coming true. But she hasn't bargained on her forbidden attraction to Abraham's godson. Nor does she realise that the truth about her family lurks just around the corner--and is getting ready to reveal itself on the most important day of her life.

Unwanted thirteenth child Jemima is brought up in poverty in 1890s East Anglia, whilst her twin Sophie is taken to live with a kind aunt. Sophie grows up spoiled, disliking her clever sister. Jemima dreams of training to be a teacher. Meanwhile, she takes a job at a shop, where she becomes friends with Richard, the reluctant heir to the business. Then Sophie comes to seek Jemima's help and Jemima faces a dilemma. Should she sacrifice her dreams for her twin's sake?

Since they were pupils in the village school, it had been obvious that Becca the ploughman's daughter and George the blacksmith's son would one day marry. But Becca's scheming younger sister, Ellen, upsets their plans with a shocking announcement: she is pregnant with George's child. Shock and disillusionment sour Becca's good nature, but it is partly restored when Jethro, newly returned to the district, begins to pay her attention and eventually proposes marriage. He has inherited a nearby cottage from his aunt, and has plans to build a business specialising in furniture. While Becca and Jethro run their thriving business, Ellen and George have too many children and not enough money. The needy Ellen is forced to accept the charity that Becca offers, but it seems the two sisters will not be true friends again. Especially as George remains convinced he married the wrong sister.

The discovery of two old photographs, one of a large house, the other of three teenage girls in Edwardian dress, puzzles twenty-year-old Lucy Armitage and sends her off on a quest with antique dealer Ben Manton to find their origins. Because although she is sure it can have nothing to do with her, one of the girls in the photograph is uncannily like Lucy herself.

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An escape from an arranged marriage leads to deeper troubles still. When Anna hears her father's plans to marry her off to an old widower, she is determined to escape. Gathering together everything they own, Anna and her childhood sweetheart Jan board a boat from Holland to England. Heading for Colchester, the hub of the thriving cloth trade, life is not easy for the young lovers--Jan falls terribly ill on their journey and they are shocked to find seething tensions between the English and the Dutch. On the advice of the local church minister, Jan finds work in very poor conditions. Faring better, Anna is offered a place in the minister's house. But when lecherous motives behind Minister Archer's generosity are revealed, Anna flees her new home. But with no money and nowhere to live, the future looks perilous for Jan and Anna.