Showing results by narrator "Patience Tomlinson" in All Categories

Norfolk, 1944. Phylly is a Land Girl on Catchetts Farm. She and her friend Gracie are doing their bit to support the war effort. But times are changing at Catchetts—there's an evacuee and two P.O.Ws on their way.... And then Phylly meets an American airman from the base up the road. As the war rages on the continent, Phylly and Gracie's world will be changed forever.

December, 1962. Desperate to create a happy Christmas for her young daughter, Franny, after a disastrous year, Malorie rents a remote house on the Norfolk coast. But once there, the strained silence between them feels louder than ever. As Malorie digs for decorations in the attic, she comes across the notebooks of the teenaged Rosemary, who lived in the house 30 years before. Trapped inside by a blizzard, and with long days and nights ahead of her, Malorie begins to read. Though she knows she needs to focus on the present, she finds herself inexorably drawn into the past.

Norfolk, 1940. As war rages on, sisters Prue and Thea, along with the wider community of Great Plumstead, are doing all they can to help the war effort, from running the mobile canteen for the Women's Voluntary Service to organising clothing drives and collecting salvage. When, Anna, a young German girl who fled her country, seeks refuge at the local hall, Thea opens up her home, Rookery House, and invites Anna into their growing family. But while many in the village welcome Anna with open arms, others are suspicious of the new arrival.

You Never Know is former WAAF officer and best-selling novelist Claire Lorrimer's autobiography, containing a graphic description of the six years she spent doing vitally secret work as a WAAF in the Fighter Command Filter Rooms in World War Two. It is the fascinating story of a life overflowing with adventure, humour, tragedy, love, joy and disasters. Claire paints vivid images of her childhood when her mother, the famous author Denise Robins, entertained pre- and post-war literati at her weekend country house parties.

Christmas 1917, and as the Lilley family gathers at the Rectory in the Sussex village of Ashden, the mood is far from festive. But while the sisters face heartache and the new year brings fresh tragedy, the Rectory opens its doors to a new world, its inhabitants strengthened by the grief and happiness shared during the long years of war.

By the summer of 1916, there is still no end to the war in sight and in the Sussex village of Ashden, optimism has given way to stoicism. While George Lilley leaves the Rectory to join the Royal Flying Corps, each of his four sisters finds her own way of contributing to the war effort. Gradually coming to terms with her broken engagement, Caroline Lilley numbly continues with her agricultural work at home, until tragedy forces her into leaving Ashden.

1812. Clever, strong-willed Vivienne Fox is unexpectedly endowed with riches beyond her wildest dreams when a distant cousin dies, leaving her his fortune. Unwed at 24, Vivienne still hopes the right man is out there, but she despairs of ever finding him, and she is determined that rumours of her new-found wealth be quashed, lest she be courted for her purse rather than her heart. Renowned rake Lord Alex LeSayres comes to an unpleasant decision after the death of his father.

I used to love the rattle and whoosh of my grandma's buttons as they scattered from their Quality Street tin. An inlaid wooden chest the size of a shoe box holds Lynn Knight's button collection. A collection that has been passed down through three generations of women: a chunky '60s-era toggle from a favourite coat, three tiny pearl buttons from her mother's first dress after she was adopted as a baby, a jet button from a time of Victorian mourning. Each button tells a story.

In the spring of 1939, with the Second World War looming, two determined 24-year-olds, Heather Jenner and Mary Oliver, decided to open a marriage bureau. They found a tiny office on London's Bond Street and set about the delicate business of matchmaking. Drawing on the bureau's extensive archives, Penrose Halson - who many years later found herself the proprietor of the bureau - tells their story and the stories of their clients. We meet a remarkable cross section of British society in the 1940s.

Only a generation or two ago, illegitimacy was one of the most shameful things that could happen in a family. Today the concept of illegitimacy no longer exists in law, and babies' parents are as likely to be unmarried as married. This revolution in public opinion makes it easy to forget what it was really like to give birth or be born out of wedlock. In the Family Way tells secrets kept for entire lifetimes and rescues from the shadows an important part of all our family histories.

From best-selling author, broadcaster, journalist and Book Club champion Judy Finnigan comes an unputdownable and wonderfully moving story of the enduring power of a mother's love. Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there; I do not sleep. Five years ago, Molly Gabriel lost her 20-year-old son, Joey, to a terrible sailing accident. His empty boat was found washed ashore on the rocks - but his body was never found. Now, Molly has returned to the sands of Cornwall haunted by his death, unable to accept he is gone.

For Eveleen Hardcastle life gets no better than growing up on Pear Tree Farm in the Lincolnshire countryside. Her family works hard for the Dunsmore estate and Eveleen finds it impossible to resist the charms of their employer's son, Stephen Dunsmore. But Jimmy, ever quick to antagonize, ensures that his sister's clandestine trysts do not remain so for long. Mary Hardcastle reacts to the news of her daughter's affair with a shocking ferocity, which seems to be borm more of bitterness than maternal protectiveness.

The outbreak of war brings mixed feelings for Judy Truman and it is a relief to get away from the East End and her disastrous marriage. With her two small daughters, she is evacuated to Norfolk, and billeted on kindly Maggie and Bill Hurst. The children flourish and Judy's confidence returns. But when husband Sid comes home on leave, his violent jealousy frightens Judy and shocks Maggie and Bill. A meeting with a young airman, Pete Gresham, teaches her that men can be gentle and loving. She falls in love but living her life with Pete seems an impossible dream.

Hampshire, 1850. Under the watchful eyes of her guardian, Lord Edward Sharland, and an excellent estate manager, Beth Langton has been running her large family estate. After a week away, terrible news is waiting for her. The father of her best friend, Lady Helen Denton, has shot himself, leaving Helen destitute. Beth persuades Helen to live with her, although too proud to take charity, Helen insists she work as a paid companion. The girls soon settle happily together, but further tragedy awaits.

For nearly four years Blake Templeton had left his wife, Jaime, and their daughter, Fern, strictly alone. So why had he now decided to re-enter their lives? Was it just chance that his arrival coincided with the proposed sale of the Abbey - and the attacks on Jaime to stop her from joining the campaign against its sale? And just what was his involvement with the beautiful Caroline Travers - the owner of the Abbey? Jaime just could not believe that her husband had changed so much, but all the evidence was there, plain to see. Or was it?

After travelling the world with her parents, Lisa yearned for stability, roots and tradition. Marriage to solid, dependable Henry would help her achieve this ambition, but first she had to meet his parents! Christmas in the snow-bound Yorkshire Dales should have been a joyous occasion, but Henry’s family home was as cold and chill as his mother was aloof and unbending. Rescue came in the unlikely guise of the exasperating Oliver Davenport.

Having sent his last wife to the block, the tyrannical Henry VIII sets his lustful sights upon an innocent and unworldly gentlewoman, the recently widowed, Katherine Parr. In mourning for her late husband, and yet desperately in love with another, Katherine is forced to choose between the man she loves and a crown of despair. In the years that follow, as Henry's terrified sixth wife and queen, she battles to contain her fear and revulsion of her bloated and monstrous new husband.

All was quiet in the Bodle home in Plumstead village on the morning of 2 November 1833. In the large ten bedroom farmhouse, the maid Sophia Taylor began preparing breakfast while, at the cottage down the track, Mary Higgins came down to set the fire. But all was not as it seemed that morning... When the local doctor was summoned several hours later he found four women suffering from severe vomiting and stomach pains whilst the master of the house was delirious with pain.

Life wasn’t easy as a single parent, but somehow Win had managed to raise a child that any parent could be proud of. And now Charlie’s father was back on the scene and demanding a share in his son. Was a share all he wanted, or did he intend to take Charlie away from her? All Win knew was that in the space of a few days James had managed to turn her from a calm, self-assured adult into an insecure bundle of nerves. But was her concern all for Charlie?

Poppy Carlton: Cousin to the groom. She is devastated when Chris falls in love and marries someone else. She will never love again. James Carlton: The groom’s older brother – and best man. Mocking and cynical, he is the exact opposite of fun-loving Chris. James taunts Poppy that she should find herself a real man and leave her adolescent fantasies behind. He is not adverse to showing her just what real passion is about. But how can he be sure that her response is for him?