When 17-year-old Mary O'Connor collapses one Sunday in church she is taken to live with Dr Roberts and his wife in a beautiful Yorkshire village for her health. Though initially employed as a maid, Mary soon becomes the daughter the couple were never able to have. With Britain at war, unable to remain idle, Mary finds employment in the local steel works but when her fiancé Tom Downing is killed in action Mary is convinced it is retribution for their night of sin during Tom's Christmas leave.

Charlotte Dean enjoys nothing more than the solitude of her London flat and the monotonous days of her work at a travel bookshop. But when her younger sister unceremoniously bursts into her quiet life one afternoon, Charlotte's world turns topsy-turvy. Beloved author D. E. Stevenson captures the intricacies of post-World War I England with a light, comic touch that perfectly embodies the spirit of the time. Alternatively heartbreaking and witty, The Young Clementina is a touching tale of love, loss and redemption through friendship.

From peaceful Scotland to war-ravaged Europe, two female doctors from very different backgrounds fight to succeed and survive. Upper-class Lucy Graham is expected simply to marry well. Poverty-stricken Rosie Nesbitt struggles just to get by. Both girls share the unlikely dream to become a doctor, and each will do anything to succeed. When their paths cross at a party filled with eligible bachelors, it soon becomes clear that their chosen career isn't the only desire they share.

With the help of her old diaries, Sarah Morris recounts her life story. The daughter of an English vicar, she begins by telling of her happy childhood with her brothers and sister in their country village. As a teenager, Sarah’s brother brings home a friend - Charles, a charming Austrian to whom she quickly becomes close. Over the years they fall in love, but when war breaks out Charles must return to Austria. While she awaits his return, Sarah quietly continues working hard and caring for her family. But she can’t stop wondering if she will ever see her sweetheart again…

Antonia and her sister Louise grow up as thick as thieves, in a world apart from their detached parents. Tonia is a dreamer, slipping away into her "listening place" when life is becoming too much for her. When the more adventurous Lou elopes, Tonia is left on her own. Hope comes in the form of Mr Norman, a caring older man who teaches Tonia how to live for herself. They marry and move to London, but when tragedy strikes Tonia is left to build her own life. She returns to Scotland, in search of a new happiness - although there are some obstacles in her way....

Now in her 50s and a grandmother, Rose Hamilton has much to be thankful for in the steady love of her husband, John, and their relative prosperity. But she is concerned for her children, especially Sarah. As world events impinge on the family, they face new challenges and tragedies in their daily lives. But it is events in Ireland that make the greatest demands on both women when Sarah becomes involved in the Easter Rising of 1916.

November 1920. Russia may have endured the Revolution, but a brutal war still rages. Distant relatives of the Romanovs, the Kirilov family is closer to danger than most. When tragedy strikes, four-year-old Lydia is separated from her family. Struck by the child's plight, the diplomat Sir Edward Stoneleigh brings her to England, where she grows up well-educated, wealthy and surrounded by a loving family.

Summer, 1939. The de Lacey family believe they are ready for the changes the war will bring. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, is due to return home from her grandparents’ farm in France and is expected to marry Captain Max Coburn. But when Grandpère suffers a stroke, her future is changed. Instead of returning home, Elizabeth chooses to stay and help her grandparents. Max is also stationed in France – but will the war threaten to separate them for ever? Meanwhile, in the village of Nayton, Lucy Storey dutifully cares for her father the stationmaster.

There was no money, the family was scattered, and Lucille, who had mothered them all since she was 16, was going to be married. So the house must be sold; Lucille knew that was the only sensible things to do, but the family had other ideas. Home they came by whatever way they could, penniless and bedraggled but with certain newfound friends who were to help them to upset Lucille's plans - all her plans for a calm, settled, and sensible life.

Mary Doyle arrives in Dublin in 1913, doomed, she fears, to a life of domestic service. Instead, however, she finds herself deeply affected by the social and political turmoil of a fledgling nation struggling for independence. Suddenly, all that was once inevitable is no longer a certainty as she is embroiled in the very heart of the Easter Rising.

Bringing the Keep Fit movement vividly to life in 1940s' London, Pam Evans' family saga will inspire and enthral anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better life. In the middle of a party to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, in 1935, Mollie Fisher's good-for-nothing husband walks out on his wife and baby girl. Luckily, Mollie has a loving family to turn to for help. Mollie's mother, Marge, is delighted to look after baby Esme while Mollie goes out to work.

1920, Durham. Since she was a child, Lucy Charlton has dreamed of working with her father in the family solicitor's firm. But a scandal shatters her dreams and, when her father disowns her, she finds herself on the streets, fighting for survival. Joe Hardy has returned to London after the Great War to find his life in tatters - his father is dead and his pregnant fiancée has disappeared. Then Joe learns he's unexpectedly inherited an old river house in Durham from a stranger called Margaret Lee.

It is 1919 and Great Britain is still struggling to its feet after the First World War. Progress is slow, even in quiet spots like the village of Broughton Underhill. But moving on is impossible when former police sergeant Herbert Reardon returns to the village, determined to finally find out what happened the night that his daughter was found drowned. However, as Reardon begins to investigate, it becomes clear that secrets still abound.

It's the late 1950s and change is in the air. For the Napier family, up at the big house, the old ways are shifting. Hilary must discover if reaching out for a chance of happiness must mean breaking away from the life expected of her, while Patsy, their young housekeeper's help, is facing motherhood without her own family around her. Down the hill from the Napiers, villagers young and old are setting out on adventures.

Lizzie has always had bad luck. Losing her heart to her boss leads to her losing her job, and with no money in the bank Lizzie finds herself forced to move back home with her parents. Now in her 90s, Mrs Dallimore is also coming to terms with her situation. Old age is finally catching up with her. As they form the bond of unexpected friendship, Lizzie begins to realise that she's not the only person to attract bad luck and that sometimes life has a way of surprising you....