In 1955 Scotland Road residents fear for their futures when government plans threaten to demolish their road. Polly’s Parlour café is the centre for action, where strategies are formed to fight back. But when local priest Father Brennan attacks little Billy Blunt, minds are instead turned to vengeance. Frank Charleson, business entrepreneur turned local hero after saving Billy’s life, finds himself increasingly fond of Polly Kennedy. Polly has a hard enough life as it is.

The Chandlers had been making candles in Bolton for 500 years, and had given their name to the village of Chandlers Green. The dynasty, now in decline and ruled by Richard Chandler, is reduced to an unhappy household and a few tenanted properties. But Richard continues to behave as though he were lord of the manor.

Kate Owen is a woman fleeing from the past. Leaving a rewarding job in London, she’s uprooted her life and given away her daughter to keep them both safe. Damaged from a traumatic event that broke her family apart, she attempts to find peace in Liverpool. There she meets the seemingly eligible Alex Price, who offers her a glimpse of a happy future. But there are those in London who can never forget what she did and believe she holds the key to the unfinished business she left behind in the capital.

Now that her family is grown, content in the knowledge that she loves them, Lucy Henshaw decides she is free to leave. She secretly purchases a beautiful house overlooking the Mersey, and there she plans to start afresh. Within hours, she has met some characters: her new neighbour Moira, who is dying, and sees Lucy as the ideal new companion for her husband; Shirley Bishop, cleaner extraordinaire; and Dr David Vincent, who is grieving for the loss of his young son.

Andrew Sanderson, brilliant surgeon and renowned musician, is still grieving the death of his wife Mary when his younger daughter turns up on the doorstep having left her philandering husband. It’s not long before the house is overrun with daughters, grandchildren, sons-in-law and a boisterous stray dog called Storm. At Andrew's time of life, is this really what he needs? One thing is sure, home is a lot more interesting than it once was, and things have certainly changed from when he was a boy.

Liverpool, 1935. Monica Savage is delighted when new neighbours move in next door and she and Joan Copperfield quickly become firm friends. While Monica's father has a good job as a guard on the railway, Joan's family are harder up, with her sailor dad Billy mostly off at sea and restless when he's home - Mersey View is no substitute for the exotic places he sails to. 

What possible connections might exist between an aged man who used to sell shoes, some ladies of the night, a serial killer, Lime Street Station and a mansion in Southport? The answer lies in love, friendship and the determination to endure all the way to the winning post. Eve, owner and madam at Meadowbank Farm, is keen to secure a deal that keeps her in pocket. But is she a match for Babs, a 'Baby Girl' in this house of ill repute?

Headmaster Theodore Quinn has lived in Liverpool since coming over from America to fight for Britain in the 1940s. Over ten years later, he is harbouring two secrets and scars that are both physical and emotional. Where women are concerned, he and his secrets are a closed shop, until Tia Bellamy walks into his life. Tia cuts through Theo’s reserve, and the first of his secrets is shared with her.

In the backstreets of Liverpool, Eileen Watson lives with her mother Nellie, daughter Mel and her three tearaway sons. Life isn’t great, but they have each other, and family can get you through anything. Or can it? Then Britain declares war on Germany and their lives change forever. The children have to be evacuated, but Mel refuses to go, and so Eileen says goodbye to her mother and sons, moves away from the street they love and faces a future without her precious family.

The O'Neils, who have lost brothers and sons into the bowels of London's East End, keep watch over their one remaining young male, Seamus. Meanwhile, Rosh Allen mourns the loss of her husband. Aided and impeded by her mother, she struggles to raise three fatherless children. With the help of a kind-hearted neighbour, her wounds begin to heal. Tess and Don Compton are on the verge of separation. But what really lies behind her desire to live on the posh side of the street? Behind the three families, two men are at work.

London 1964. Patsy Kent, now a mother, grandmother, and even great-grandmother, is discovering that it is her family who give her the most pleasure in life, but also the most pain. Her children, Ellen and David, are both going through difficult times with their marriages. The next generation is also giving Patsy cause for concern: Frances, her only granddaughter, may be enjoying the nightlife of the swinging 60s, but it is about to land her in a whole heap of tragedy and trouble.

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.

It is New Year's Eve 1936 when Wesley Battersby leaves his pretty wife Amy to go and live with Clara Marsden. Ashamed and frightened, Amy struggles with loneliness and hardship while Wesley is spending his money on buying the love of the flighty Clara. But Amy's warmth and vitality win her friends who give her renewed courage and confidence.

Johnny Harvey is disillusioned and restless – injured in the war, older than the pilots he trained and disturbed at the changing of society, he watches his friends marry as life seems to pass him by. Sixteen-year-old Tess Viant, crippled with polio and abandoned by her heartless family, is befriended by Jill Harvey. Jill is delighted to be pregnant after four years of marriage to Tom – but when complications arise, it’s Tess who has to help

Cathy is glad to have her husband back now the Great War is over. Struggling to keep the peace, Cathy has her work cut out for her, as the pair seem unable to see eye-to-eye. Surviving with four children on Greg’s meagre wages is hard enough without their rows. When Cathy’s sister, Mary, comes back into her life, her heart is filled with hope. But the storm clouds of war are gathering once more on the horizon....