Judith Barrow Knihy

When war takes Jessie’s love away, she must fight for her own survival1914 - and everything changes for Jessie on a day trip to Blackpool. She realises her true feelings for her childhood friend, Arthur, then just as they are travelling home from this rare treat, war is declared.Arthur lies about his age to join his Pals’ Regiment. Jessie’s widowed mother is so frightened of the future, she agrees to marry the vicious Amos Morgan, making Jessie’s home an unsafe place for her. Before he leaves, Arthur and Jessie admit their feelings and promise to wait for each other. Arthur gives Jessie a heart-shaped stone to remember him. But with Arthur far away, their love leaves Jessie with a secret that will see her thrown from her home and terribly abused when she can hide the truth no longer. Faced with a desperate choice between love and safety, Jessie must fight for survival, whatever the cost.

Lil and Irene are bound together by the ghost of Rose, a dark-haired girl with a snub nose and an extra chromosome. This is the story of the last 24 hours of Lil's life, the 40 years that Irene has been an only child, and Rose's sudden death. After a life-time of blame and lies, the truth about Rose is finally revealed and the tragedy of Irene's lifelong devotion and her long dead grandmother's deceit brought into the open.

"May 1950, Britain is struggling with the hardships of rationing and the aftermath of the Second World War. Peter Schormann, a German ex-prisoner of war, has left his home country to be with Mary Howarth, matron of a small hospital in Wales. The two met when Mary was a nurse at the POW camp hospital. They intend to marry, but the memory of Frank Shuttleworth, an ex-boyfriend of Mary's, continues to haunt them and there are many obstacles in the way of their happiness, not the least of which is Mary's troubled family. When tragedy strikes, Mary hopes it will unite her siblings, but it is only when a dhild disappears that the whole family pulls together to save one of their own from a common enemy"--back cover.

Mary is a nursing sister at a Lancashire prison camp for the housing and treatment of German POWs. Life at work is difficult but fulfilling; life at home a constant round of arguments—often prompted by her fly-by-night sister, Ellen, the apple of her short-tempered father's eye. Then Frank turns up at the house one night—a guard at the camp, he's been watching Mary for weeks—and won't leave until she agrees to walk out with him. Frank Shuttleworth is a difficult man to love and it's not long before Mary gives him his marching orders. But Shuttleworth won't take no for an answer and the gossips are eager for their next victim, and for the slightest hint of fraternization with the enemy. Suddently, not only Mary's happiness but her very life is threatened by the most dangerous of wartime secrets.

In this the final title in Judith Barrow's WWII trilogy chronicling the lives of civilians' humdrum existence in an ordinary welsh village, Victoria finds herself attracted to the lifestyle and vices of the local gang of hippies.

Winifred is a determined young woman eager for new experiences, for a life beyond the grocer's shop counter ruled over by her domineering mother. Bill Howarth's troubled childhood echoes through his early adult life and the scars linger, affecting his work, his relationships and his health. The only light in his life comes from a chance meeting with Winifred, the daughter of a Lancashire grocer.

An accident and a terrible lie tear a family apart. When sixteen year old Angie blames her younger sister for their brother's death, she changes their lives forever. Lisa is sent away, Angie spirals into self destruction and they don't speak for thirteen years. Returning in 1983 for their mother's funeral, Lisa quickly realises her sister is trapped in a dangerous marriage. What does Lisa owe to the family that betrayed her? And if she tries to help, will she make things more dangerous for them all?