The Queen of Storytellers is back — with a triumphant tale of one woman's struggle over adversity. In 1786, a fisherman's daughter from Cornwall called Mary Broad was sentenced to be hung for theft. But her sentence was commuted, and she was transported to Australia, one of the first convicts to arrive there. How Mary escaped the harsh existence of the colony and found true love, and how she was captured and taken back to London in chains, only to be released after a trial where she was defended by no less than James Boswell, is one of the most gripping and moving stories of human endeavour (based on an amazing true story) you will ever read.

When Fifi moves to London with her bricklayer boyfriend Dan, her mother is outraged. Despite initial feelings of horror at her new surroundings, Fifi finds the freedom from her middle-class family background exhilarating. Insatiably inquisitive, Fifi is fascinated by her new neighbours and wants to know what goes on behind all those shabby front doors. Why is Yvette, the French dressmaker, such a hermit? Why doesn't widower Frank join his daughter and grandchildren in Australia? And why doesn't the formidable and well-bred Miss Diamond move somewhere smarter? But most of all she is ghoulishly fascinated by the Muckles who live opposite in terrible squalor. She listens to their violent quarrels, watches their ill-treated and wretchedly unhappy children, and is appalled by all she sees. When Fifi tries to help the Muckles' youngest child, who has been physically abused by her father, Fifi unwittingly unleashes a chain of events which will not only bring heart ache to her and Dan, but terrible danger to all the inhabitants of Dale Street...

1995, Scotland — The prison of Cornton Vale. Laura Brannigan is in jail for murder. For two years she's been battling for justic — insisting that she didn't kill her best friend, Jackie. Yet with her spirits at their lowest ebb, she receives a letter that takes her back to a different time and memory of an old love ...Twenty years ago was a heady time for Laura: she'd escaped an abusive home and together with new best friend Jackie she'd made a fresh start. The pair had sworn to be sisters for ever. And Stuart had come into their lives — giving Laura a brilliant summer of love. So what went wrong in the intervening years? And why is Stuart writing to Laura now? Does he have faith in her innocence? And can he help free Laura from prison — and her past?

Ellie is a sweet-natured brunette, generous of heart with a sparkling smile and an accent which reveals her East End background. Bonny is beautiful and spoilt, with cascades of blonde hair, the brightest pair of blue eyes and a mouth like Cupid's bow. The two girls meet in London at the end of the war when, seduced by two American airmen, they pool their wits and resources and set off to make a living on the stage. Set against the hardship and austerity of post-war Britain, and the glamour and ruthlessness of life in variety theatre, their story is one of sacrifice and burning ambition. But most of all of a powerful friendship that lasts against all odds.

From the seedy backstreets of London's Soho in the 60s to the tough, sexy world of international rock-stardom in the 70s, Georgia sees it all-When nine-year-old orphan Georgia James is unexpectedly fostered by the kindly Celia and her bank manager husband she can hardly believe her luck. But then — on her fifteenth birthday — she suffers the cruellest betrayal of all at the hands of her foster father and is forced to run away, leaving everything she loves behind her. Penniless, sleeping rough, Georgia is soon introduced to the sleazy Soho world of brassy strippers, sweat shops, camaraderie and hardship. Fired by a fierce ambition, blessed with an extraordinary voice, her long struggle for fame and fortune begins. But even when she reaches the top she finds that the scars of the past can open up to ruin her-Steeped in atmosphere and raw emotion, Georgia is the story of a determination to succeed against all the odds and of a burning first love.

When Daisy Buchan is 25, her beloved mother dies, and as she is reeling from this trauma, she is shocked to be told by her father that she is adopted — that her real mother was a poor young teenager from Cornwall. She does not know who her father is. Eventually Daisy finds out more about her mother, Ellen Pengelly, a farmer's daughter from a remote Cornish village, and as the layers of her family history are stripped away Daisy is horrified by what she learns. She is taken on a journey back to the past, a journey that uncovers a gripping story of innocence corrupted, and a family torn apart by greed and misery ...

Rosie Parker is no more than a child when her mother dies during the war. Left to the less-than-tender mercies of her father Cole and her brutish step-brothers Seth and Norman, she sees the arrival of housekeeper Heather Farley as a possible replacement mother and her salvation. But when Thomas Farley comes looking for his sister several years later, he discovers Heather has left the Parkers in mysterious circumstances, abandoning her small son. As the terrible truth about Heather's disappearance comes to light, Rosie is compelled to leave the farm and make her own way in the world. And if that means being exposed as the daughter of a murderer, that's a risk she'll have to take ... Rosie is the compelling story of how love and tenderness can grow, like wild roses, out of the most barren ground.