One dismal day in 1857, Maria Mundy arrives at Hatter's Hall, the local mental asylum, not as an inmate but as a worker. Here,

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Gloria & Joe were the golden couple, until tragedy left them with nothing. Yet even great poverty could not spoil the joy when their son Ben was born. Resolving to do the best for him, they decide to start again in London. Before long, World War Two is raging, & Joe labours on the docks by day & fights fires by night. Every moment is fraught with danger for the small family. When Joe s terribly injured in one dreadful fire, once more Gloria decides to leave everything behind. She will take Joe home to his brother's farm in Irel&, his only hope of recovery, & where Ben can be safe. Gloria's always had more spirit than most, & she's needed it. But in the remote countryside, she faces her greatest challenge yet... ...

Minnie Maddox cares deeply for mothers & their babies
- she makes a living by taking in unwanted children & finding them good

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Since the untimely death of her husb&, young mother Effie Grey has been forced to live on a narrowboat owned by her tyrannical

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When Eloise Cribb receives the news that her husband's ship has been lost at sea she wonders how she is ever going to manage. With two young children, the rent overdue & almost nothing to live on, she has no alternative but to turn to his estranged family for help. She sets off on the long & arduous journey to Yorkshire, but is met with hostility & soon realises she has little choice but to return to London. Virtually destitute & desperate, Eloise is faced with her worst nightmare: she must either go to the workhouse, or abandon her children at the Foundling Hospital. But she is determined to keep them safe & under her protective wing at all costs. ...

When Hetty Huggins made a promise to her dying mother that she would look after her younger sister & brothers, little did she know how difficult this would be. But despite the threat of being turned out onto the streets by the unscrupulous tallyman & the never-ending struggle just to exist, Hetty is determined her family will never starve or want for a roof over their heads. Longing for something better out of life than the daily grind of making matchboxes for a pittance, she dreams of setting up her own business. With the help of friends she sells hot potatoes on the streets & things begin to look up for them all. But when the tallyman comes calling, they are faced once more with a future full of hardship & despair. ...

Destitute. Quinta Haig is struggling to make ends meet at Top Field with her ailing mother, Laura. Their small Yorkshire farm is run-down & isolated & when the only way to take their goods to market is lost, Quinta is prepared to sacrifice almost anything for both of them to survive. Coveted. Noah Bilton, a wealthy neighbour, has designs on Top Field as well as ideas for the future of Laura & her daughter. He offers an uneasy solution to keep them out of the workhouse, but Laura Haig will have nothing to do with it, or him. When strangers appear at Top Field looking for shelter, Quinta's hopes are renewed
- but Noah is resolved to take what he wants by fair means or foul. Deserted. Quinta finds love against all odds, but is deserted at her most vulnerable. The hardships that follow give her a steely determination to seek retribution from the man who has wronged her
- but can revenge ever bring back her happiness?

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Quinta Haig is struggling to make ends meet at Top Field with her ailing mother, Laura.

Their small Yorkshire farm is

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Finding a soul-mate for a mother who deserves to be loved! Meg's teenage daughter, Lindsey, had the nerve to place a personal ad on her behalf
- ' Wanted: Perfect Partner. I'm dating-shy, divorced & seeking a man with marriage in mind.' Worse, Steve Conlan, who answered the ad, was perfect, according to Lindsey. Did a teenage matchmaker get it right? Robin Masterton's young son, Jeff, thinks he needs a dog more than anything in the world. & there just happens to be one next door! But the friendly black Lab belongs to Cole Camden, the unfriendliest man in the neighbourhood. Still, Jeff persists
- & ropes his mum in as the persuader. Perhaps there's a chance he'll have a dog, & a dad in time for Father's Day... Make time for friends. Make time for Debbie Macomber.

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Throughout the East there runs a legend of a great mountain at the centre of the world, where four rivers have their source. Charles Allen traces this legend to Western Tibet where there stands Kailas, worshipped by Hindus & Buddhists alike as the home of their gods & the navel of the world. Close by are the sources of four mighty rivers: the sacred Ganges, the Indus, the Sutlej & Tsangpo-Brahmaputra. For centuries Kailas remained an enigma to the outside world. Then a succession of remarkable men took up the challenge of penetrating the hostile, frozen wastelands beyond the Western Himalayas, culminating in the great age of discovery, the final years of the Victorian era. A Mountain in Tibet is an extraordinary story of exploration & high adventure, full of the excitement & colour. ...