Timothy Gandy has kept his lifetime's ambition secret for 40 years. Now, suddenly (if tragically) released from the hen-pecked tedium of his ordinary existence, he is unexpectedly free to realise his dreams. He will embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, following in the footsteps of the aristocrats of the 18th century. He anticipates high art, culture and pleasant weather. He never expected to encounter new friendships - and possibly even love - along...

1935. At 36, Bella Porter is dependent on her abusive cousin, acting as his 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. The house is on the edge of a slum and in a state of disrepair. As kind people help her find her feet, however, her confidence grows and when she meets struggling, widowed father-of-three...

For years, Nadezhda and Vera have had as little as possible to do with each other. But now they find they'd better learn how to get along, because since their mother's death their ageing father has been sliding into his second childhood, and an alarming new woman has just entered his life.

Melvin Mars awaits his fate on Death Row. He was one of America's most promising football stars until, aged twenty-years-old, he was arrested and convicted for the murder of his parents just as he was due to begin a very lucrative contract with the NFL. When Amos Decker, newly appointed special agent with the FBI, hears the news that Melvin was saved in the final seconds before his execution because someone has confessed to the killings, he persuades...