Hodder & Stoughton One Quiet Woman Jacobs Anna

One Perfect Family . . . can bring a whole village together • Lancashire, 1934. When Tam Crawford is unexpectedly bequeathed some money, he can finally realise his dream of settling down in the beautiful village of Ellindale • Tam knows he can be impulsive - his nickname isn't Crazy Tam for nothing! - but this time he is determined not to be ruled by his big heart and hot head. Yet somehow, within just one day, he has taken on a fiancee and two children to keep them out of the poorhouse - or worse. Despite their unconventional start, as Tam and his new family get to know and love each other, they come to realise that his act of charity is the best thing that could have happened to all of them. But there are still problems and they struggle to find somewhere to live

One Special Village . . . can make the world a better place • Lancashire, 1932 • Widower Harry Makepeace lives in Manchester with his sickly daughter Cathie, scrimping and saving to get by. But after she suffers a violent asthma attack, the doctors say she must move to the clean, fresh air of the countryside to have any hope of survival. When Harry chances upon a patch of land for sale in Ellindale, and an advert for a disused railway carriage that can be made into a home, he snaps both up quickly • Harry swiftly becomes part of the community in Ellindale, making friends with the locals, and soon finds himself attracted to Nina, another newcomer to the village. Finally, he's found somewhere he and Cathie can build a new home • But their problems are far from over

Just one man can make all the difference • 1931, Lancashire • When Finn Carlisle loses his wife and unborn child, he spends a few years travelling to keep the sad memories at bay. Just as he's ready to settle down again, his great-uncle dies and leaves everything to him. This includes Heythorpe House in Ellindale just down the road from Leah Willcox and her little fizzy drink factory • Finn finds a village of people in dire need of jobs, a house that hasn't been cleaned or lived in for thirty years and Reggie, an eleven-year-old who's run away from the nearby orphanage and its brutal Director Buddle. When Finn sees the marks left by regular beatings, he decides Reggie will never go back there • But Buddle has other plans for the child, and will stop at nothing to get Reggie back in his cruel grasp

Can she find happiness in her new home? • 1935. At thirty-six, 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. The house is on the edge of a slum and in a state of disrepair, let out as flats. As kind people help her find her feet, however, her confidence grows and when she meets struggling, widowed father-of-three Ryan, she begins to hope she may find the happy family she's always dreamed of • She's offered partial help with her renovations by the local council who are planning to clear up the slums, but other landlords will do anything to avoid costly improvements and protect their profits

Lancashire, 1930s. When her mother dies, leaving her an old sewing box and a clue to her father's identity, 22-year-old Maisie Bassett is determined to make a fresh start • Changing her name and moving to the small town of Rivenshaw, she finds a respectable job in a grocery store. But unwanted attentions from a man at her new church make life increasingly difficult - until the shy, handsome Gabriel Harte comes to her rescue • Then she receives an inheritance from a distant relative and her world is turned upside down. The home she's always dreamed of may finally be hers - if she can keep it safe from a grasping slum landlord. With Gabriel's help, can Maisie untangle the secrets of her past and secure her future?

Gwynna had fallen from grace once, bearing a stillborn child out of wedlock. Determined to have a respectable future, she finds a position for herself as a nursemaid at Hungerton House • But just as she begins to find her feet, the secrets of her past are revealed. She is swiftly dismissed but not before she becomes the target of a lascivious groom. And even afterwards she is pursued by Hungerton, an evil old man who wishes to send her back to the gutters • She returns home to Hedderby, only to find the small Lancashire town reeling after the arson attack on the local pub and music hall, The Pride. Her only ally is a talented carpenter, also once employed by Hungerton. His former employer will stop at nothing, however, to bring him back to the estate

Carrie Preston is used to hard work - oldest of ten, with an incompetent mother and a drunken father, she struggles to find food for her siblings. But nothing could have prepared her for the day fate deals her family the cruellest of hands, rendering them more desperate than ever • In a harsh world, small acts of kindness can bring great hope -Eli Beckett's offer of a job at the Dragon pub promises a better future for Carrie, especially as Eli's uncle has offered his nephew some spare land to build a music room • With the great cities of England alive to the sound of music halls, the locals of Hedderby are soon looking forward to their own place of celebration and merriment. Yet not everyone in the town shares this excitement, and some will stop at nothing in the pursuit of selfish gain

Lancashire, 1936. With her son Gabriel finally married, and her youngest following his dreams of becoming a doctor, Gwynneth Harte finds herself with an empty nest - until a fire forces her to move in with Gabriel and his wife Maisie at their home on Daisy Street • Arthur Chapman has been at a low ebb ever since the death of his wife. Turning to drink in his grief, he lost both his job and contact with his grandchild, Beatie - but now the inheritance of a house from a distant relative is the fresh start he needs • When Beatie runs away from her cruel grandmother and takes refuge with Gwynneth, she and Arthur are thrown together - and find themselves growing closer. But trouble is brewing in the valley, from the ambitions of the bullying local landlord to rumours of a Fascist spy

The Great War opened up an exciting new career for Vi in London. But that was yesterday. Now, the war's over, her husband is dead and she needs to pick up the pieces of her life • On her way home she meets a man who needs her help. Recently demobbed, Joss Bentley has no job or home, and with his wife dead, there's a new baby to care for and it's not his • As he searches grimly for its real father, he runs up against people who will use any means necessary to conceal dark secrets . . . and Vi finds herself faced with conflicting loyalties. Whichever way she moves, it seems she'll hurt someone or they'll hurt her

Norah s husband was killed in the Great War, and she s struggling to provide a home for her daughter. Andrew s wife is dead and he wants to make a new life for his two sons • The Australian government is giving ex-servicemen a farm. But to join the group settlement scheme, Andrew must find a wife. Will a marriage of convenience give Andrew and Norah the chance they seek? Can two strangers be happy together? • In Australia they have to clear the forest to make their own farms. But they re both strong and willing to give it everything they ve got. Then nature intervenes and not only their farms but their lives are in danger. Will they survive? Can they still make their dreams come true?

In the untamed outback of Western Australia, the Blake sisters are together again despite what seemed like unsurmountable odds • For Cassandra - reunited again with the man she loves - the Swan River Colony is a refuge that seems like a miracle after her ordeals. And two of her sisters have fallen in love with their new way of life. But then a messenger arrives from faraway England, and it is the fourth sister, Pandora, who jumps at the chance to make her way back to the Lancashire moors that she misses so badly • The way home, though, will be even harder than the voyage to Australia. The only ship that can take her and her new protector back to England lies many days' journey away, across country that would daunt even a hardened explorer • And when she reaches Outham, a devious, dangerous enemy will do anything to prevent her from taking charge of her family's inheritance

Three Blake sisters remain in the Swan River Colony in 1866 and two are quite happy to forge new lives for themselves there • The third, Xanthe, yearns to see the world. But even if she could afford to travel, could she persuade her beloved twin to let her go Maia has fallen in love with their employer, and would surely be happiest staying behind with him • Xanthe's opportunity comes in the form of a handsome Irishman bringing some of the sisters' inheritance from England. But for Maia, the same man brings trouble in his wake - someone who has the power to make her life a misery • Both sisters' reserves of courage and endurance will be tested before they can finally find a home to call their own