Dora Preston has guts, but it will take more than that for her to break free from Hedderby and make a life for herself on the stage. Then she meets Gideon - and pursuing her ambitions becomes even harder. Gideon has returned from the fighting in India only to discover that an impostor has stolen his inheritance. He has vowed he will claim his birthright, but his enemies are ruthless and desperate. Arson attacks, crime and drunkenness have beset the Lancashire mill town, but the forces of goodness are rallying and are determined to prevail, whatever it takes. 

Marjorie is the pretty one of the Preston sisters. So pretty that when a performer at her sister's music room breaks her leg, Marjorie is asked to fill in as the assistant to the singer Denby Sinclair. He offers to take her with him, away from Lancashire and into London theatres. It seems as if her dreams will come true, but Denby is not what he seems. He has a dangerous secret which, if it were to be revealed, would ruin her. Marjorie, however, is reckless and will take any risk for a chance to work on the stage. 

Carrie Preston is used to hard work - oldest of 10, with an incompetent mother and a drunken father, she struggles to find food for her siblings. But nothing could have prepared her for the day fate deals her family the cruellest of hands, rendering them more desperate than ever. In a harsh world, small acts of kindness can bring great hope - Eli Beckett's offer of a job at the Dragon pub promises a better future for Carrie, especially as Eli's uncle has offered his nephew some spare land to build a music room.

It's 1848, and preparations are underway for Annie Gibson's wedding to Bilsden's wealthy millowner, Frederick Hallam. But not everyone is as pleased as they are. Frederick's daughter, Beatrice, is horrified at the prospect of a new attractive stepmother arriving at the house on Ridge Hill. Even Annie's own family feels threatened. The only person who seems pleased is Tom, Annie's brother. Soon, however, real troubles begin to pile up for the Gibsons.

1866. Three Blake sisters remain in the Swan River Colony and two are quite happy to forge new lives for themselves there. The third, Xanthe, yearns to see the world. But even if she could afford to travel, could she persuade her beloved twin to let her go? Maia has fallen in love with their employer, and would surely be happiest staying behind with him. Xanthe's opportunity comes in the form of a handsome Irishman bringing some of the sisters' inheritance from England. But for Maia, the same man brings trouble in his wake: someone who has the power to make her life a misery. 

In the untamed outback of Western Australia, the Blake sisters are together again despite what seemed like unsurmountable odds. For Cassandra, reunited again with the man she loves, the Swan River Colony is a refuge that seems like a miracle after all her ordeals. And two of her sisters have fallen in love with their new way of life. But then a messenger arrives from faraway England, and it is the fourth sister, Pandora, who jumps at the chance to make her way back to the Lancashire moors that she misses so badly. The way home, though, will be even harder than the voyage to Australia.

The first book in Anna Jacobs' wonderful Backshaw Moss series. 1935. At 36, Bella Porter is dependent on her abusive cousin, acting as an unpaid servant. When a kind relative leaves her a house in the village of Backshaw Moss, Thomas tries to take it from her, but she defies him and grasps this chance of a new start in Lancashire. It is not going to be easy, though.

Bram Deagan dreams of bringing his family from Ireland to join him in Australia, where he now runs a successful trading business. But when a typhus epidemic strikes Ireland, it leaves the Deagan family decimated. And, with other family members scattered round the world, it is left to Maura Deagan to look after her orphaned nieces and nephew. Forced to abandon her own ambitions, and unsure whether she is ready to become a mother-figure to three young children, Maura recognises that their only hope is to join Bram in far away Australia.

In 1845 Annie Gibson can finally leave Salem Street. Her dreams of being able to open an elegant dressmaking salon in the High Street of Bilsden, a Lancashire mill town, have come true. And she is going to take her father and his second family with her, away from poverty, away from the Rows. But Annie has not left trouble behind. Someone is trying to undermine her business. Her family have their own ideas about what they want to do with their lives. 

Bram Deagan has a thriving trading business, a growing family - and a gift for matchmaking. His dearest wish is to see his friends Dougal and Mitchell happily married, too. In England, Eleanor Prescott has been widowed and often thinks of Dougal McBride, the ship's captain who was a true friend to her. Does she dare return to Western Australia to find him? Jacinta Blacklea is also a widow, desperate to protect her young son. When she hears of a man in Australia looking for a wife, she determines to grasp Mitchell Nash's invitation with both hands. 

The Great War opened up an exciting new career for Vi in London. But that was yesterday. Now the war's over, her husband is dead and she needs to pick up the pieces of her life. On her way home from work she meets a man who is in huge need of her help. Recently demobbed, Joss Bentley has no job or home and, with his wife dead, there's a new baby to care for - and, what's more, it's not his. As he searches grimly for its real father, he runs up against people who will use any means necessary to conceal dark secrets, and Vi finds herself faced with conflicting loyalties. 

Singapore in the 1860s is exotic and yet terrifying for a penniless Englishwoman, alone and vulnerable after her mother's death. Too pretty to obtain a governess' job, Isabella Saunders accepts an offer from Singapore merchant Mr Lee to teach him English and live with his family. Two years later Bram Deagan arrives in Singapore, determined to make his fortune as a trader. Mr Lee sees a way to expand his business connections and persuades Isabella to marry Bram. Bravely, she sets sail for a new land and life. 

Ellen Dawson is glad when the Great War ends but sad that Lady Bingram's aides are to be disbanded. She can't bear to go back into service again after working as a driver and mechanic in London. But she is forced by her mother's illness to accept her old position as housemaid in order to stay in the small Lancashire town, and her stepfather will stop at nothing to get her under his control again. Meanwhile, Seth Talbot is also facing difficulties when he takes over as local policeman in a town where the law has been flouted for years.... 

In 1858 Annie Hallam has at last found complete happiness. She has three healthy babies 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 40, and still in her prime.   

As the only female cabinet maker in the valley in 1935, Frankie Redfern is unusual. She faces prejudice even from her own mother. But she's content working for her father and is unwilling to give up her independence or the work she loves for marriage. When her husband falls gravely ill, Frankie's mother takes over, causing serious trouble for her daughter. And her cousin, an unscrupulous local builder, starts to help her for his own reasons.