Since He Went Away

Polly married Harry Pilgrim out of love. A love, she believed, that would meet every test that life could make. But a girl in love cannot always see what the future will bring...She had never had an easy life. But then when it seemed that the worst must be over, Harry lost his job and was forced to move down south to look for work. Leaving Polly to discover that loneliness and poverty could drive her into the arms of another man...

They lived worlds apart. Jenny was the girl from the cat-meat shop, born into squalor and defeat. Paul Tunsatall was a soldier and a gentleman, arrogant and charming with his silver-light eyes and boyish smile. And yet from the moment they met there was a spark between them.

Despite air raids and rationing in wartime London, sisters Liz and Dora Beck find time for fun and laughter at the local ice rink. Then a handsome American serviceman catches their attention, and so begins heartache between the sisters. Dora is increasingly jealous of her sister's blossoming romance with Victor. But when Victor is killed in a bomb attack, Liz makes a shocking discovery that upsets her whole family. Forced out of her home, Liz finds support where she least expects it.

Sisters Margaret and Annie lost their mother years ago; they long for her every day. Their frightfully protective father keeps the girls close, but he can't protect them forever.... When a scandal rocks the family, the girls are forced to leave their home. The girls flee to Birmingham's jewellery quarter to stay with the one person they can rely on - Uncle Goldsmith. Annie takes up work at a nearby factory, where she learns to forge cutlery, and Margaret is employed as a chain maker.

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Sisters of Battle Road by J. M. Maloney, read by Annie Aldington. In 1939, Annie Jarman and her six young daughters were evacuated from their South London home and sent to the Sussex countryside to wait out the war. Little did they know what was in store for them or how their lives would change.