Showing results for "The Bell" in 20th Century

July 1947. Britain is still gripped by rationing, even as the excitement of Princess Elizabeth’s engagement sweeps the nation. In the Woolworths’ canteen, Freda is still dreaming of meeting her own Prince Charming. So far she’s been unlucky in love. When she has an accident on her...

Brought to you by Penguin. They won't let the war stop them from finding happiness... Naomi is upset to find a nasty, anonymous letter land on her doorstep. Who could’ve sent something like this? Naomi, Bert and the Churchwood bookshop organising team are determined to figure out who it is...

Pretty seventeen-year-old Greta has never known a stable family life. With no father, and loathing her mother Ruby's latest boyfriend, Greta finds life hard at home and is happiest at work with her friends at the Cadbury factory in Birmingham where she is popular with the boys. Life takes a turn...

Liverpool, 1943. For Bella Rogers, life is looking up. She loves performing with The Bryant Sisters, the trio of singers who have become the country’s sweethearts, putting a smile on the faces of the brave boys fighting the Nazis. But then tragedy strikes when a telegram arrives: Bella’s beloved father has been killed in France.

Nurse Connie Byrne has lived and worked through the Second World War, has celebrated its ending with friends and patients in the East End of London and is now enjoying a fresh new chapter in her life and looking forward to her wedding. But, as many a young bride-to-be has proved, the path of true love never runs smooth.... Connie's busy professional life and the characters who are her patients serve to give her a much-needed sense of perspective.

January 1941. As the residents of Goodwill House feel the hard bite of winter, land girl Charlie Somiton is still glad of the warm friendships she has made there. Not just her fellow land girls, Daphne and Sal, but also dashing local G.P. Dr James Willoughby who looked after Charlie when she was injured at work. Charlie likes Dr Willoughby, but she fears that there can never be more between them than just friendship. Because despite her upper-class background, Charlie carries with her a terrible secret that she can never share with James.

Liverpool, 1938. It’s Christmas in the Courts, and single mother Rosheen Clarke and her mischievous twin daughters, April and May, have no idea of the cataclysmic events which will soon overtake them. When war is declared, April and May are evacuated to the countryside, and Rosheen joins the WAAF, where she befriends fellow Liverpudlian Cassie Valentine. While Rosheen worries about what trouble the twins will cause next, Cassie is fighting her love for her childhood friend, Andy.

Summer 1945. After victory in Europe, best friends Lily, Gladys and Beryl are looking to the future. But even with this happy news, their lives are far from simple. Despite Lily’s joyful summer wedding, she has doubts over what her heart wants now. As she adjusts to her role as young wife, could this signal the end of her position at Marlows? The return of Gladys’s husband, Bill, raises questions of their family life, as he struggles to find work after the navy, and for Beryl, big changes at her bridal shop are afoot.

Bluebell was sold to Victoria Knight, a well-known Storyville madam, at the tender age of eleven. Now at 19, Bell is numbed to her life - until an optimistic preacher named Teddy Sullivan comes to New Orleans, intent on saving the sinful souls of the South. Teddy is instantly drawn to the petite brunette with sad eyes and longs to rescue her. Bell, however, decides that saving her friends from selling themselves in the Storyville cribs is more important than saving herself.

What happens to a young couple when the first flush of love fades? Alice and Amos Bell marry in 1925, when flappers and jazz prosper. Alice and her sister are ardent suffragists who live by their own rules, while their world overflows with parties, music, and dancing. But their struggle increases with the Depression years, followed by the World War II. Amos Bell does not deal with the stormy relationships with his children or his wife. As Alice’s health declines Amos’ infidelity dramas explode, with the German bombs dropping on Yorkshire being the least of their troubles.