Helen Lloyd

Molly has moved from London to Herefordshire chasing 'The Good Life', but when her husband David dies and she’s left an inheritance of a London townhouse, she dares to consider chucking it all in. Then a face appears from her past, and Molly is more confused than ever.

During the Second World War, in the iconic Bryant & May match factory, Annie, Rose, Pearl and Millie carry on making matches for the British Army, with bombs raining down around them. Inspired by the Dig for Victory campaign, Annie persuades the owners to start an allotment in the factory grounds. In the darkest of times, the girls find their allotment a tranquil, happy escape and they bring about a powerful change, not just in the factory, but their own lives.

1944, Hampshire: Her face still bearing the scars from the explosion at the factory, Rita Brown nonetheless manages to keep calm and carry on with a little help from her friends. But when she discovers someone there has been leaking secrets to the Germans, Rita must work out who she can rely on - and fast.

Christmas time is fast approaching at Mary Vale and newcomer Libby is ready to start a fresh chapter working alongside the Wartime Midwives. When she discovers that the local primary school is struggling, Libby rallies the midwives to band together and work with the local community. With the help of midwife Ada and teacher Margaret, Libby has a plan to save Christmas. But not everyone likes what Libby is doing, and local landlord Thorpe is hiding something...

Autumn 1941, and as female conscription looms, three women arrive at the Bell Works Factory in Hucknall to work on the Spitfire production line.

Lily soon realises her real dream is to pilot the planes; Edna longs to be reunited with her evacuee daughter, but soon discovers she has a much bigger problem; and Jeannie fears the worst after weeks of no news from her fiancé.

Despite all the heartache, with a bit of festive cheer and 'can do' attitude, The Engine Girls will pull together and do all they can to ensure Britain's safe for the New Year.

When Ella's beloved grandmother dies, she returns to the beautiful Cornish coast to heal her heart. There she finds her home again and discovers a new life, and new love. But she also opens a treasure trove of secrets. Sennen left Cornwall a young single mum but unable to cope. She left her children, her family and part of her. Now it's time to come back. To face her mistakes. To hope for a future with her daughter.

Autumn, 1944. Doodlebugs are the latest threat to war-battered southern England but at Priddy's munitions factory, Em Earle is about to suffer a threat from much nearer home. Local crook Samuel Golden is up to his old tricks, trying to find ways to exploit people's hardship for his own gain.

When Vee Smith starts work on Gosport's ferries, she soon makes friends with the other girls. But Vee has a secret: her real name is Violetta Schmidt, and she is half-German. If her true nationality is discovered, she and her mother could find themselves interned as enemy aliens...

The war is drawing to a close, but the munitions girls are still hard at work in the factory. An act of kindness towards a homeless teenager, provides Gladys with a new friend and lodger. But Goldie has run away from her dangerous family - can Gladys keep both of them safe while dealing with her own unexpected pregnancy?

June 1940. Tucked on the edge of the Lake District lies Mary Vale, a Mother and Baby Home open to unmarried women and their children. But tensions arise when three very different mums-to-be walk through the doors. 

Plucky shipyard worker Gracie must overcome her shame when her lover turns out to be married. Newly engaged Diana's fiancé tragically goes missing in action days before the wedding, while isolated and bedraggled Zelda turns heads when she arrives from the ghettos of Germany. 

At Mary Vale, unity is key as the bombs keep falling. But can these very different women put their differences aside to fight a common foe?

Book 2 in the Wartime Midwives series.

Lake District, 1942. The women at Mary Vale Mother and Baby Home must pull together during their darkest hour . . .But Sybil would rather be anywhere else. She hoped to spend the season in London when an unexpected pregnancy soon put an end to those plans. While poor Rosie arrives with her two children in tow - their lives torn apart after their house was bombed. And when new midwife Edith joins it's clear she has her own secrets to hide. Then one day Mary Vale faces the ultimate threat - requisition by the army - and the mothers and midwives must find comfort and friendship in one another. But can they also find the strength to fight for their Home?

Penelope Lively has always been a keen gardener. This is partly a memoir of her own life in gardens, such as her grandmother's garden in Somerset and the urban garden in the North London home she lives in today. It is also an engaging exploration of gardens in literature, from Paradise Lost to Alice in Wonderland, amongst others.

Three mothers. Three very different backgrounds, and a bond they will never forget

The Lake District, 1944, and spring is in the air for the women at Mary Vale Mother and Baby Home . . .

Beautiful Stella, the head-turning cook of a munitions factory, has been swept off her feet by a handsome GI. He proposes when she falls pregnant, but soon his letters stop arriving . . .

Then there is Lillian, who is deeply unimpressed when she is conscripted as a Land Girl miles from her home, but then she meets a charming, married vet . . .

Meanwhile, midwife Ada is getting used to being back at work after the birth of her own beautiful baby girl. But she faces the biggest challenge of her life when the home is engulfed in an outbreak of whooping cough.

Though each woman is from a different walk of life only together can they help Mary Vale come through this crisis . . .

Meet Eve, who has departed from her thirty-year career to become a Free Spirit; Sally, who has waved goodbye to her indifferent husband and two grown-up children; and Anastasia: defiantly independent narrowboat-dweller, suddenly vulnerable as she awaits a life-saving operation. Inexperienced and ill-equipped, Sally and Eve embark upon a journey through the canals of England, guided by the remote and unsympathetic Anastasia. As they glide gently - and not so gently - through the countryside, the eccentricities and challenges of canalboat life draw them inexorably together, and a tender and unforgettable story unfolds.