Rita Bradshaw

As the Depression hits the north of England, Hannah Casey's life is turned upside down. Since her father's death, Hannah and her mother Miriam have lived with her aunt and uncle - but as Hannah's beauty develops, she catches her uncle's roaming eye. Escaping to her friend Naomi's house whenever she can, Hannah is always made to feel welcome, and she begins to court Naomi's handsome brother Adam. But when she finally flees from home, it is the taciturn Jake, Naomi's older half-brother, who shines through as her protector...

It's 1939 and Abigail Vickers, meets James Benson and they both fall completely in love, but her dominant and selfish mother, Nora, is jealous of Abby's beauty and success. When war breaks out, all their lives change forever. Abby begins to wonder if she will ever find happiness. Only time will tell if there are better days ahead...

When her beloved parents are tragically killed, fifteen-year-old Angeline is given into the care of her uncle. Naive and innocent, Angeline is easy prey for the handsome and ruthless Oswald Golding. But on her wedding night, Angeline enters a nightmare from which there is no awakening. On learning she is expecting a child, Angeline makes plans to run away, but then tragedy takes over . . .

Following a mining accident, Eve and her sisters are left orphaned and homeless. After nights of sleeping rough, they arrive at Gateshead for the Michaelmas fair. When all seems lost, Caleb Travis, a young innkeeper, takes pity on them. Eve works tirelessly at the inn to repay Caleb's kindness. She finds herself falling in love with Caleb, but he only has eyes for Mary. When tragic events force her to leave the inn and make a new life for herself, Caleb realises that the woman he has loved all along may be lost to him forever

It's 1925, and when Carrie's sister Renee marries Walter Sutton, Carrie is delighted, for the two families have always been close. But an incident on the eve of the wedding leaves Carrie pregnant and desperately ashamed of the secret she now carries. When Harry Sutton, who has always loved Carrie, discovers her plight, he volunteers to marry her. But their secret will inevitably come out and there is much heartache ahead before Carrie can finally be happy and content with the man she loves.

Connie Bell, newly orphaned, is taken on at the laundry in Sunderland's grim workhouse. Although she's little more than a child, the events of her past have forged a driving determination to rise above her beginnings. Connie gets work as assistant housekeeper at the Grand Hotel and starts saving hard for her own business. When her path crosses Dan Stewart's, though, everything Connie's ever dreamed of is threatened. There's a dark and terrible history between the Bells and the Stewarts, and Dan's mother will do anything to keep them apart.

Rosie Ferry is scarcely more than a child when her father and brothers are killed in a pit disaster. Although life tests Rosie to the limit, she is a fighter and won't give up until she has found happiness.

Hope is just a child when she's orphaned, and as she grows up her dream is always to have a family of her own. When she meets and falls in love with Daniel Fallow, son of a successful businessman, she's quick to accept his proposal of marriage. But tragedy is just around the corner, and worse is to come when war is declared in 1939.

When nine-year-old Abby Kirby's family is ripped apart by a terrible tragedy, Abby takes her younger brother and runs away to the tough existence of the Border farming community. Years pass and when the Second World War breaks out, Abby volunteers as a QA nurse and is sent overseas. It is then that Abby realizes that whatever has gone before is nothing compared to what lies ahead . . .

Growing up on a small, struggling farm on the outskirts of Sunderland in the early 1900s, Polly Farrow has a tough life, but she has gifts money can't buy - a joyful disposition and a loving heart. And her heart belongs to her beloved cousin, Michael. Polly knows that one day they'll be man and wife. But a terrible secret is to change everything: Michael is her half-brother, the fruit of an incestuous relationship between her father and his own sister - Michael's mother. The lovers are rent apart and Polly is left to bear the responsibility of the farm alone - for her father kills himself, unable to live with his shame. Life is now a battle for survival, and Polly wonders if she will ever find happiness. But the answer to her prayers is closer than she thinks...

In 1890's Sunderland, Josie Burns and her siblings often beg on the streets, but soon Josie's beautiful voice earns them enough money. When their father decides to make little Gertie work the streets, she and Josie flee to Newcastle. A career in music hall brings Josie fame and fortune, but she must still fight for her beliefs.

When tragedy strikes, Amy Shawe joins the WAAF at the start of WWII. She falls in love with a Spitfire pilot, Nick, but her chance of happiness with him seems to be blighted. However her suffering has not, in the end, been in vain, and Nick will be waiting when the time is right.