Christine Mackie

The diary of Doreen Bates is a candid, spellbinding portrait of a gutsy young woman working in London in the years before and during the Second World War, as well as an extraordinary account of her long affair with an older, married colleague - one that brazenly challenged the strict conventions of the day.

When Tessa's best friend organises a surprise TV makeover, Tessa is horrified. It's the last thing she needs - her business is on the brink of collapse and her marriage is under strain. What's more, the 'Greenham Common angle' the TV producers have devised reopens some personal history Tessa has tried to hide away, and she's drawn back into her muddy past.