Charlie Sanderson

1874. Growing up in extreme poverty in London, Pearl thinks life can get no worse. But when her parents discover there's yet another baby on the way, they have to tighten the belt even further. Pearl's mother decides to send her and her younger sister Eliza to the workhouse, where they are forced into a new life of hardship and struggle. Pearl's hopes are raised when the workhouse offers the sisters a new life in Canada and they board an orphan ship...

1865, Nuneaton. Nessie Carson will do anything to keep her family together after her mother is killed, her father abandons them and they are evicted from their cosy little Nuneaton home. She and her brothers and sisters take on jobs as live-in assistants to a local undertaker. She is soon entwined in fortunes of her employer, Andre, who is forced to live a lie, and the local doctor - someone she's attracted to but can never have. But even in the darkest...

Nuneaton, 1911. When Holly Farthing's overbearing grandfather tries to force her to marry a dowdy widower twice her age she finally says no. Refusing to support her any longer, Holly flees to London, bringing her best friend and maid, Ivy, with her. In the big smoke, Holly searches for the father she's never met and begins nurse training in the local hospital where she meets the dashing Doctor Parkin. Kind and compassionate, he is everything that...

London's most glamorous glossy magazine is in trouble. Advertising revenues are non existent, and if editor Laura Lake can't pick them up, she's out of a job. According to those in the know, Scotland is having a fashion moment. Haggis tempura is on Michelin-starred menus, smart spas are offering porridge facials, and a chain of eco-hotels is offering celebrity bagpipe lessons. So Laura's off to a baronial estate in the Scottish Highlands to get a...

Orphaned at birth, Eliza lives with her beloved grandparents in a waterlogged Somerset cottage surrounded by willow beds where she ekes out a living making laundry baskets and eel traps. Although poor she is content, until childhood friend Clem, regales her with tales of his adventures along the river and she begins to wonder what life is like beyond the Droves. When fate brings handsome, wealthy Theo to her workshop she is instantly attracted and...

Ten years ago, Jen's cousin Meg killed herself after failing to escape an abusive relationship. Now, Meg's ex is back and Jen's domestic abuse helpline has started getting frightening calls from a girl who knows things about Meg - details that only the dead girl or the man who hurt her could have known. As Jen starts to uncover the past, someone is determined to stop her. Can she save this young woman from Meg's fate? Or is history about to repeat...

Lucia went home from school with her new friend Josie for a playdate. Later that evening, Lucia's mother dropped her overnight things round and kissed her little girl goodnight. That was the last time she saw her daughter.