AustLit

'Gideon, recently discharged from the Army, has just arrived in Hedderby, only to discover that another man has stolen his name and inheritance - and he can’t prove who he is. Would it be fair to court Dora when he can offer her so little? Despite his anger, he patiently bides his time, working in the markets until he can reclaim what is his.

'The little dog Dora has rescued proves to be extremely intelligent and suddenly she can see a chance to go on the stage with it. But Gideon and her family all disapprove.

'With the town’s new orphanage vandalized, the music hall not yet rebuilt, and the impostor prepared to kill to keep what he has stolen, trouble is brewing on several fronts. Gideon and Dora’s lives are threatened. And even if they survive, how will they find a future together?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Keara Michaels doesn’t want to leave her family in Ireland, but fate sends her first to Lancashire, where she works for the Mullanes, then later across the sea to Australia. And Theo Mullane, the man who loves her, is married with an ailing baby son, so cannot follow her as he longs to.

'Mark Gibson left Lancashire to avoid marriage, but found gold-prospecting in Australia a dangerous pursuit. When he settles in a country town, his gentle young wife dies in childbirth and his father-in-law kidnaps the baby. So Mark runs away again, this time to Western Australia, where he employs Keara in his country inn.

'But danger threatens them all, even Keara’s sisters in Ireland. Theo is eventually free to come looking for the woman he loves, and Mark at last confronts his past.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Rachel Smedling is not like other women in her isolated Pennine village: she is taller, stronger and weaves cloth like a man. Without her, the household would fall apart, for her mother is ailing and her vicious drunkard father seems to hate her so much he would happily offer money to any man who would wed her.

'When her mother dies, Rachel is at the mercy of her increasingly violent father. Her only escape is by marrying a kindly man with whom she finds happiness, if not passion, and with the birth of her son, her life seems complete. Rachel's growing prosperity infuriates her father and his cronies, however, and they will stop at nothing to see her destroyed. It begins to seem as though she will lose everything - but other people's lives cross hers, bringing pain and hope and uncovering a long-buried secret.' (Publisher's blurb)

Jessie tastes that freedom when she meets Jared Wilde, an ambitious young navvy newly arrived in Yorkshire. The attraction between them is overwhelming. He introduces her to the primitive, colorful shanty towns that spring up around the railway works. But in spite of the hardness of life there, she finds happiness with Jared. Until another navvy becomes determined to destroy their future together...' (Publisher's blurb)

'Gemma Lincoln wakes up one morning to find her clothes horribly slashed at the throat and crotch. Similar but increasingly sinister incidents are also reported. As the owner of a security and surveillance business, Gemma joins with the police to track down the psychopath. At the same time she is trying to prove that her father is innocent of a crime he has served 30 years in gaol for - the murder of his wife. Gemma's older sister, Kit, believes their father is guilty. As the violence escalates, Gemma discovers that the past and the present collide in a trap where she must fight for her life.' (Publication summary)

'Lizzie Kershaw is an independent spirit. At twelve she loses her father and her happy family life ends as her mother grows to resent her. Then circumstances push Lizzie into an early marriage, where she finds her mother's petty cruelties replaced by her husband's frequent beatings.

'But she is a survivor. When World War I breaks out, Lizzie husband is forced to join up and she seizes the opportunity to run away. She finds independence and friendship in a munitions factory - plus the promise of a new love. But as war ends, the shadow of her husband looms again. Can she break free of him and find happiness?

'This is a vivid and engrossing tale of endurance, set in Lancashire from 1909 - 1914. Anna Jacobs has once again created characters so real you laugh and weep with them - and you will never forget Our Lizzie.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Spinners Lake starts in 1860 in Bilsden, the Lancashire mill town, where Frederick Hallam is dying. But as he weakens, he makes secret plans to smooth the future path for his beloved wife Annie. Her sister, Joanie, is fed up with life until a dashing new admirer crosses her path. But a spurned suitor is determined that Joanie will be his, whatever the cost. And he is not the only one who wants to harm the Gibson family.

Meanwhile the Civil War in America cuts off cotton supplies, so that times are hard in Lancashire and unemployment is rife in the small town of Bilsden. Annie has to rebuild her life after her husband's death and plans to build Spinners Lake, an extraordinary project that will keep her workers from destitution.

Tian Gilchrist, who fell in love with Annie in the previous book, Hallam Square, goes to visit America and gets caught up in the war there, nearly losing his life. Injured, he fights his way back to Bilsden, to Annie, whom he has never forgotten.

And the plans that Frederick made for Annie gradually change her life in unforeseen ways, bringing her hope and happiness once again...(Publisher's blurb)

'Ridge Hill starts in 1848, when preparations are under way for Annie Gibson's wedding to Bilsden's wealthy millowner, Frederick Hallam. But not everyone is as pleased as Annie and Frederick about the match.

Frederick's daughter, Beatrice, is horrified at the prospect of an attractive young stepmother arriving at the house on Ridge Hill. Even Annie's own family feels threatened by Frederick's wealth and position. The only person who seems pleased by the match is Tom, Annie's brother, who's afraid of no one.

Soon, however, real troubles begin to pile up for the Gibsons. Tom's happiness is jeopardised by the news that he is father to a child he never knew about. Annie's son William, is devastated to find out that his real father is not the man who brought him up. And even Annie's joy is not untarnished, because someone has uncovered the secrets she has fought so hard to keep hidden.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Hallam Square starts in 1858 when Annie Hallam has at last found complete happiness. She has three healthy children and adores her husband Frederick. After years of struggling to make a living in the small Lancashire town of Bilsden, Annie knows she deserves to sit back and enjoy her life - after all, she's not yet forty, still in her prime.

'But worries - at first faint clouds on the horizon - are imminent. Frederick has been looking pale and ill lately. Her brother Tom hasn't moved on after the death of his young wife. Rebecca, her half-sister, is longing for something more than her work at the salon. And William, her son, isn't happy at university. In spite of Frederick's gentle urging not to take the burdens of the entire Gibson family on her shoulders, Annie can't help feeling concerned.

'And something much more dangerous is looming - a threat not only to Annie's peace of mind, but to her life as well... ' (Publisher's blurb)