Life for Elsie is difficult as she struggles to cope with her alcoholic mother. Caring for her siblings and working long hours at Swift's jam factory in London’s Bermondsey is exhausting. Thankfully her lifelong friendship with Dot helps to smooth over life’s rough edges. When Elsie and Dot meet Millie Swift, they are nervous to be in the presence of the bosses’ daughter. Over time, they are surprised to feel so drawn to her, but should two East End girls be socialising in such circles?

Accused of killing her brother, Rachel Cade is sent to the workhouse to await trial. There, handsome landowner Jared Lytton comes to her rescue. Despite being vindicated, Rachel is forced to leave the village. She meets the widow Beulah Thomas and her son, William. Working on their farm, she is treated with kindness, and when William asks for her hand in marriage, she agrees. But Rachel cannot forget Jared Lytton, whose path seems destined to cross hers. 

Abandoned by their parents and left to fight for themselves, headstrong Rosalind Carey has no choice but to take charge of her younger brothers and sister in Devonshire’s grand Rockwood Castle. But their once much-loved home is crumbling like the family that lives within it. Living hand to mouth and desperate to provide for the estate that depends on them, the Carey family are one debt away from ruin. Until the day comes when the dashing Piers Blanchard appears on their doorstep from Cornwall, claiming he is Rosalind’s distant cousin and that Rockwood Castle is his.

Banished from her father's home, wheelchair-bound Esther Kerral is horrified when he forces her into an arranged marriage with Morgan Cosmore, the son of a local factory owner. Both fathers hope the union will save their ailing businesses; little do they know that each is as bankrupt as the other. Poor Esther must struggle as best she can not only to survive a loveless marriage, but also to build up a business of her own in a man's world.

Emma Price is only a pit bank wench, but she wins the love of Paul Felton, younger brother of the colliery owner. Carver Felton has no intention of seeing his brother throw away his future and rapes Emma, leaving her pregnant. Emma is taken in by butcher Samuel Hollington and his wife and gives birth to her son. Once Carver Felton has achieved his business ambitions, he turns his attentions to finding an heir to the Felton fortune.

It is 1937, and Alice, Edith and Marg continue to face hardships every day, growing up on one of the poorest streets in Blackpool. Penniless, their friendship has helped them survive this far, but it'll take more than that to see them through the dark days ahead. Alice is coping with a violent father. Marg is left reeling after a dark secret about her birth comes to light and threatens to destroy the life she knows, and Edith is fighting to protect her alcoholic mother from the shame of their neighbours and keep her brother on the straight and narrow. 

Robbed of marriage to the man she loved, Leah Bryce rears his daughter Miriam as her own. But her desire for vengeance lead her to treat the girl with extreme cruelty. Leah's son Ralph has always loved the girl he believes to be his sister, and fights to subdue feelings that are more than brotherly. Only when Leah's malign influence is removed for ever can Miriam overcome the horrors of her girlhood to find love and joy at last. 

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.

Elsie’s worked her way up at Swift’s Jam Factory from the shop floor to the top, and now it’s her time to shine. But when she’s involved in an incident involving her half-sister, Millie’s, new husband, she is forced to keep it secret - the truth could threaten their sisterly bond. Dot is dogged by fear, coming to terms with her mother’s rejection of her. She should be enjoying the happiness she craves with her beloved Cess; instead, she’s trapped in an asylum, haunted by the horrifying cries of inmates.

London, 1910. Lily is 10 years old when she realises her grandmother, a washerwoman, is seriously ill. She's determined to do what she can to help and keep her grandmother's illness a secret - even from her beloved twin, Artie. When tragedy strikes and the twins are faced with the prospect of a workhouse or an orphanage, a benefactor offers to take Artie in and educate him. All Artie's needs will be taken care of - but the gentleman has no use for a girl. As the orphan twins grow up and take different paths, their new lives are beyond anything they could have imagined. 

Dorset, 1876. When young Beatrice Cullen shows up in the local church with her illegitimate child in her arms, Reverend Michael Redfern takes it upon himself to help her. He finds her daughter, Lily, a home with a kindly couple. But when, at the age of nine, Lily loses her adopted parents, she is forced to live with her awful aunt, Doris, and cousin, Jez, who treat her no better than a slave. Lily can only seek solace in her dream of one day escaping her aunt and becoming a seamstress.

Phoebe Parsons is destitute, disgraced and alone. After her mistress tragically dies, Phoebe is forced back onto the poverty-ridden streets of Manchester by her unforgiving new master. Desperately searching for work as a domestic maid, Phoebe soon discovers her reputation is in ruins. Fearing for her future and haunted by the harshness of her abandonment, Phoebe finds herself living with thieves and drunks in the smog and squalor - until she meets Victor Hayes. 

1850: Beatrix Fawcett is just 18 when her father tells her she is to marry a stranger. Hesitant, but with little choice, she agrees to the match - with hope for a good husband in Charles and the surprising delight of a lovely Yorkshire house in which they are to live. As Beatrix sets to making the house a home, she falls in love with it and the countryside nearby. But she does not fall in love with her husband.... It's clear Charles has chosen her simply to meet the requirements of his inheritance and has little interest in his young wife.

It’s Christmas 1880 in London’s East End, and a dying Irish girl leaves her baby in the care of the Sisters of Clemency. The nuns raise little Ettie O’Reilly as their own. But the lives of the nuns and orphans are soon crushed by an unexpected turn of events. Ettie is at her lowest ebb when she is betrayed by the boy who has promised his undying love and loyalty. She is faced with the revelation of a heart-wrenching secret. 

Spring, 1941. The families of Jubilee Row are still reeling from the loss of one of their own, and as the Blitz on Hull intensifies, it seems as if there will be more tragedies to come. As the street braces itself, capable mum Ruby Maguire takes charge as usual, bolstering spirits and lending a hand, as well as keeping her flighty sister Pearl on the straight and narrow. But the unexpected appearance of a face from her past threatens Ruby's future far more than Hitler's bombs. Meanwhile, the other inhabitants of Jubilee Row are finding love - and hope - in the most unexpected places.