Following the death of her controlling husband, Margaret Routledge is no longer the downtrodden, church mouse she once was. Now she’s the talk of the Close frequenting seedy pubs and clubs where men gather to pick up good time girls. It seems Maragret is past redemption until she sees neighbour Jenny Crawford’s headstrong 16-year-old daughter Gloria on the arm of a man of ill repute and her motherly instincts return.
By contrast, Jenny eldest; land girl Tilly has a heart of gold but trouble brews when she helps a vulnerable mother and child hiding with a dangerous past.
A wayward daughter only adds fire to Jenny’s personal problems which she chooses to keep to herself in the hope that they will go away.
Meanwhile Thelma Dawson has landed herself a promotion, but will it conflict with her ongoing romance with Peter van Luntzen – and where is he? Will he come back and make good of his promise?
Books one to eight in the series. Free on Kindle Unlimited. £2.99 to buy. That’s not much more than 60 pence each! An out and out bargain.
The Honey Driver series is set in Bath, Somerset. It has all the detail of that world heritage city, complete with zany Honey Driver, Bath hotelier and Crime Liaison Officer for the Hotels Association.
Winter casts a long shadow, but hope springs eternal.
Somerset, 1932
In the dead of night, a young woman is abandoned on the steps of Orchard Cottage Hospital and a man is seen fleeing. Nobody knows their identities.
When the young woman dies, Doctor Frances Brakespeare is keen to solve the mystery of her identity and find those responsible for her fatal injuries.
With her mother’s failing health and a very patient admirer, the last thing Frances needs is a dream job offer from a top London hospital. Torn, Frances must decide what matters more to her; her career or remaining in a small town she’s become attached to surrounded by those who need and love her…
With the society wedding of the year fast approaching will Nurse Lucy Daniels be able to unburden her shattering news and will Devlin Compton-Dixon be honest with his feelings and anxieties?
As Christmas blossoms into Spring there are huge decisions to be made, honest truths to be told and long kept secrets to be revealed – let’s hope happiness doth prevail.
The war has come to Coronation Close. Rationing has taken hold. Thelma’s son is missing at sea and being Italian her daughter in law is experiencing bullying.
An incident on a bus leads to darker deeds, a new love for someone and death in a surprising form. Normal life might be resumed in time, but how to survive in the meantime. That is the concern of the residents of Coronation Close.
Doctor Frances Brakespeare has settled into her position at the Orchard Cottage Hospital and sets about introducing new ideas – principally regarding family planning. Not everyone embraces the new knowledge or that women should be able to choose the size of their families.
As if that’s not enough to contend with, the past comes closer than she’d ever expected along with legal threats from Izzy Brakespeare’s sister. It looks as if she’s going to have more than one battle on her hands.
And then there’s Nurse Lucy Daniels whose fallen in love with a man from a different class at a time when such an event was frowned on. Will she win through? Like some other things in the Somerset town of Norton Dene hope persists that fate will lend a hand.
The war is over and so much has happened since then. Rowena, a doctor in charge of a hospital catering for women, has high hopes. Hong Kong is safe now, or at least she thinks it is until a shadow of the past reemerges to threaten her happiness with Connor, the love of her life. Fearing both for her own safety and that of her child, she takes up a position in Korea – and unfortunately finds herself in another war.
It’s 1941 and Rowena, a doctor in Kowloon is having a night out although war threatens. That night she encounters more than she bargained for – a man she falls in love with and another man who collects beautiful things – and has her in mind.
At Christmas that year her world sets fire. She’s at a hospital where terrible atrocities occur, one in particular that will affect her for the rest of her life. There is also a danger that follows her into a prisoner of war camp.
Survival is a precious commodity that she holds onto with two hands and hopes to see the future.
Somerset, March 1930
Born in the workhouse and adopted by a former suffragette, Frances Brakespeare was encouraged from an early age to be strong, independent and to pursue a career as a doctor. The tragic loss of the love of her life in the Great War propels Frances to commit to her one true vocation.
Rebelling against the unfair treatment of female doctors Frances is dismissed from her London post and things continue to take a turn for the worse when Izzy, her benefactress dies and Frances finds herself homeless.
With no employment or roof over her head her future seems uncertain until she’s offered a residency at the Orchard Cottage Hospital in Norton Dene, Somerset. a town where quarrying and coal mining scar the land.
It’s a far cry from London and towns narrow minds are not so welcoming of a young, female Doctor, but she’s determined to win through.
At first sight the town seems quaintly old fashioned, a place where nothing much happens but there are secrets and sins bubbling beneath the surface plus a mystery she’s determined to solve.
There’s a stranger in Coronation Close. Why is he staring at Thelma’s house? When Jenny Crawford challenges him he dashes away.
Thelma is unsure who he might be and anyway she’s more concerned about her daughter Mary. she’s growing up and getting hard to handle.
Jenny herself has a problem when a postcard arrives from Roy, her estranged husband. How will he be? Will she be able to cope?
There are dark shadows for both the old friends and for Thelma especially the secrets of the past have come home to roost and Mary is at the heart of it.