With the death of her first love in the Great War, independent-minded Eglantine Thorpe decides to devote herself to school teaching. Rejecting a proposal of marriage, she weathers the storms ahead alone, until young Nell enters her life. Bright, fearless, and outspoken, Nell becomes the daughter Eglantine never had.

Summer, 1939. The de Lacey family believe they are ready for the changes the war will bring. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, is due to return home from her grandparents’ farm in France and is expected to marry Captain Max Coburn. But when Grandpère suffers a stroke, her future is changed. Instead of returning home, Elizabeth chooses to stay and help her grandparents. Max is also stationed in France – but will the war threaten to separate them for ever? Meanwhile, in the village of Nayton, Lucy Storey dutifully cares for her father the stationmaster.

November 1920. Russia may have endured the Revolution, but a brutal war still rages. Distant relatives of the Romanovs, the Kirilov family is closer to danger than most. When tragedy strikes, four-year-old Lydia is separated from her family. Struck by the child's plight, the diplomat Sir Edward Stoneleigh brings her to England, where she grows up well-educated, wealthy and surrounded by a loving family.

Julie Monday enjoys a rare moment of happiness when at the age of eight she visits the Essex seaside and meets eleven-year-old Harry Walker. Ten years later, they meet again. Fated to be together, they marry just before the outbreak of the Second World War. But it’s now 1939, Harry has enlisted, and Julie must face the blitz alone with their son. Travelling back from work one day, Julie is caught in the chaos of a direct hit.

From peaceful Scotland to war-ravaged Europe, two female doctors from very different backgrounds fight to succeed and survive. Upper-class Lucy Graham is expected simply to marry well. Poverty-stricken Rosie Nesbitt struggles just to get by. Both girls share the unlikely dream to become a doctor, and each will do anything to succeed. When their paths cross at a party filled with eligible bachelors, it soon becomes clear that their chosen career isn't the only desire they share.

London, 1940. Sheila Phipps is orphaned after a devastating air raid claims her family and her home. She is evacuated to Bletchley to live with her aunt Constance, where she forms an unlikely friendship with Prudence Le Strange, who is working in the code breaking unit at Bletchley. As their friendship grows stronger, the war subjects Sheila and Prue to fresh tragedies as, one by one, those they love are called away to distant battlefields, only to join the growing ranks of the missing, the captured and the dead.

Brenda Stuart returns to her late husband's home devastated by his loss only to find herself accused of bestowing favours upon the Germans. Life has been difficult for her over the war, having been held in an internment camp in France simply because of her nationality. Thankful that her son at least was safe in the care of his grandmother, she now finds that she has lost him, too, and her life is in turmoil. Prue, her beloved sister-in-law, is also a war widow but has now fallen in love with an Italian POW.

Mary Doyle arrives in Dublin in 1913, doomed, she fears, to a life of domestic service. Instead, however, she finds herself deeply affected by the social and political turmoil of a fledgling nation struggling for independence. Suddenly, all that was once inevitable is no longer a certainty as she is embroiled in the very heart of the Easter Rising.

In 1914, Britain faces a new kind of war. For Edward and Beatrice Hunter, their children, servants and neighbours, life will never be the same again. For David, the eldest, war means a chance to do something noble; but enlisting will break his mother's heart. His sister Diana, nineteen and beautiful, longs for marriage. She has her heart set on Charles Wroughton, son of Earl Wroughton, but Charles will never be allowed to marry a banker's daughter.

Bringing the Keep Fit movement vividly to life in 1940s' London, Pam Evans' family saga will inspire and enthral anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better life. In the middle of a party to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, in 1935, Mollie Fisher's good-for-nothing husband walks out on his wife and baby girl. Luckily, Mollie has a loving family to turn to for help. Mollie's mother, Marge, is delighted to look after baby Esme while Mollie goes out to work.

It's a time of turmoil for the village of Turnham Malpas.... Peter and Caroline Harris live a comfortable life at the rectory, but their cosy world is shaken up when Caroline's old flame, Morgan Jefferson, appears. He's intent on convincing her to pursue a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - in America. Plus, it looks like Caroline's career isn't the only thing Morgan is interested in.

Victory Girls is the sixth poignant saga in Helen Carey's much-loved Lavender Road series, set in south London during the Second World War. Not to be missed by fans of Katie Flynn, Annie Murray and Lilian Harry. August 1944. Allied troops are fighting their way across Europe. But rocket attacks on London are a chilling reminder that the war is far from over. Helen knows all too well how dangerous it is in war-torn France. But it's a long time since she heard from her French fiancé, Andre, and nothing is going to stop her going back to track him down before he is lost to her forever.

A heartbreaking tale of love and loss in a time of war, perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Annie Groves. Jenny O'Leary is devastated one morning in 1940 when she receives a telegram giving her the dreadful news that one of her brothers has been killed in action. Grief threatens to engulf her, but as an ARP warden, tending to Birmingham's injured after the nightly raids, she is well-used to the suffering that thousands are enduring every day.

Summer 1939: After touring an unsettled Europe to promote her latest book, Romily Temple returns home to Island House and the love of her life, Jack Devereux. But when Jack falls ill, his estranged family are called to his bedside. With war now declared, each member of the family is reluctantly forced to accept their new stepmother and confront their own shortcomings. But can Romily cope with the life that has been so unexpectedly thrust upon her?

War would change them forever. When World War II broke out, no one could predict the impact it would have on their lives. As the conflict begins to take its toll, the lives of four families become entwined. The Duchamps, the Spurgeons, the Sowersbys, and the Tooleys are all faced with personal struggles while the world around them is torn apart. Families become fragmented, love is found, and the young are forced to grow up too quickly - but all are determined to remain defiant and united against the upheaval.