This author is characterized by an unusual writing style that focuses on deep psychological portraits and philosophical reflections. Her works often explore complex interpersonal relationships and moral dilemmas, while maintaining a unique and engaging voice. Readers appreciate her ability to delve into the human psyche and present unexpected perspectives. Her writing is thought-provoking and stylistically refined.
By the year 1949, life in Walworth has almost returned to normal. Sammy and Boots, now in a highly successful partnership, are rebuilding the old family firm. But an old enemy resurfaces—Mr. Ben Ford, who seems determined to ruin the various branches of this growing business.
The 1950s are in full swing, and the Adams family is blessed with many new additions. Chinese Lady now has so many grandchildren that even she can sometimes scarcely remember them all. Boots and Sammy are kept up-to-date by the Adams youngsters, some of whom are now working in the family business. But they also welcome newcomers, including the lovely Anneliese, whose German ancestry makes her less than popular with some of her South London neighbours, and Joe and Hortense, newly arrived from the West Indies and working hard for Matt and Rosie on their farm in Kent. Sammy, meanwhile, has trouble with the newly-formed trade union at his factory, and the shadows of the war continue to haunt the family when Felicity's hopes for an operation which will save her sight are threatened by an extraordinary revelation. But the Adams family is still full of hope and promise for the future.
When Sammy Adams hears about the supermarkets that are all the rage in the USA, he decides to find a suitable site in South London and open one. Memories of World War II are never far from the surface for the members of the Adams family, but now the younger ones are spreading their wings.
The Wartime Blitz Hits London - And The Adams Family
The war is only into its second year, but already it has claimed one victim from the Adams family. Emily, Boots' cherished wife, has died in an air-raid, and the whole family mourns her. But for Polly Simms the prospect of a new life dawns, while the members of the younger generation who are in uniform, and doing their bit for King and Country, have their own problems to contend with. Tim has been posted to Scotland, to train as a Commando, and has met the lovely young officer Felicity; Eloise, now a sergeant in the ATS, is enjoying her new job as driver to the formidable Major Lucas. And has Rosie, now commissioned, lost her heart at last? The Blitz all but destroys the factory in Shoreditch, but Sammy and Tommy Adams manage to find some alternative accommodation. And love is in the air - for young and old alike - as the Adams family refuse to let Hitler get the better of them.
Two compelling sagas, Gevouwen rug / Folded back, Band wat verkleurd / Discolouration / / English pockets / Engels / English / Anglais / Englisch / Pocket / Poche / Taschenbuch / 11 x 18 cm / 892 .pp /
A moving family drama set against the backdrop of one of London's poorest areas from multi-million copy seller Mary Jane Staples. Perfect for fans of Maggie Ford, Kitty Neale and Katie Flynn. READERS ARE LOVING THE LODGER! "This was such a great read....... priceless I loved it" - 5 STARS "Leave[s] you with a smile on your face..." - 5 STARS "Once you start, you can't put it down..." - 5 STARS "I absolutely loved this book" - 5 STARS "Great for lifting your spirits" - 5 STARS "A good book, keeps you in suspense until the end" - 5 STARS ************************************************ IN TIMES OF TROUBLE, CAN SHE KEEP HER FAMILY SAFE FROM HARM? London, 1908: For years now, Maggie Wilson has had to bring up her four daughters alone with barely enough money to get by. Local Constable Harry Bradshaw looks out for them as best he can but there isn't much he can do for Maggie's small family. When the opportunity to take in a lodger arises, Maggie can't resist the extra income. But there's something strange about the man Maggie has let into her home... what if he's more trouble than he's worth?
It is 1941 and the country stands alone with its troops against Nazi Germany. The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, induces a determination to endure in his people which is shared by the Adams family. Emma settles into married life, and Boots and his wife Polly have some unexpected news.
From autumn 1941 to the first months of 1942, the war continued to affect the lives of the Adams and Somers families. It was not so much the war, however, as a succession of tragic domestic events that brought a sad and lonely little girl called Phoebe into the care of Susie and Sammy Adams, reminding them of the entry of Rosie as a child into the lives of Boots and Emily. Much needed to be done to cure little Phoebe of her sadness, and it proved a difficult time for Susie and Sammy. Further shadows fell when news came that Tim was a prisoner of war, and that Japan had attacked the American fleet in Pearl Harbour and British bases in the Far East. But Boots' French-born daughter Eloise had her dearest wish come true when she married Colonel Lucas of the Commandos in Alexandria.
Young Maisie Gibbs is a conscientious young woman, though life is harder since both her parents passed away. She is relieved when she finds a position as a housemaid in Kensington, under the watchful eyes of the formidable housekeeper, Mrs Carpenter, and she quickly settles in. When she meets a handsome young soldier, she is tempted to give him his marching orders. But gradually Corporal Daniel Adams starts to win her over. When tragedy strikes the Fairfax household, Maisie is lucky she has Daniel to rely on - a good sign of things to come? A delight for fans of the Adams family - the heartwarming story of Daniel and Chinese Lady.
"It was 1940, and many of the younger members of the Adams family were caught up in the war in France. Boots, now a Major and on the staff of General Sir Henry Simms, was one of the thousands of British troops trying to escape in the armada of little boats from Dunkirk. His son Tim and nephew Bobby were also struggling to reach the coast and safety, while Eloise was with the ATS awaiting the homecoming soldiers at Portsmouth with a comforting cup of tea and a ticket home. Boots and Tim both made it safely back, but of Bobby there was no sign, and the family all feared the worst. In a farm some miles from Dunkirk, however, Bobby was alive but injured, and trapped by the advancing Germans. The farmer and his wife offered him refuge but Helene, the farmer's independent-minded daughter, was scathing about the retreating British army and gave the brave, joking young sergeant a hard time. Working in the fields, dodging the German soldiers, Bobby was desperately looking for a way to escape and Helene, despite her hostility, found herself increasingly anxious to help the Englishman to get back home. Their adventures were to thrill the Adams family when they came to hear about it."
When Jamie Blair took lodgings at Larcom Street, he had no idea he was walking into a trap. The house was owned by Henry Mullins, who made life hell for his four stepchildren, especially seventeen-year-old Kitty, who took the brunt while trying to protect her siblings. When Mullins suddenly died, Kitty realized the authorities would split the family up. She wasn't having that, and Jamie Blair was the one to save them. Soon Jamie found himself with a ready-made family and a stubborn and fiery young termagant called Kitty who was determined not to let him go.
There was a new family in Browning Street, Walworth - the Harrisons. Respectable and well-behaved, the only thing unusual about them was that Mr Harrison was never there. He was a sailor, said Ma Harrison, away fighting pirates in the China Seas. Actually, 'Knocker' Harrison was in Marsham Gaol - he had unfortunately burgled a lady's suite when she happened to be there. Pa wasn't really a very good burglar. When young Nick Harrison, eldest son and heir of Ma and Knocker, met Annabelle Somers he found himself in a very difficult situation. For seventeen-year-old Annabelle was a peach of a girl, was related to the highly respectable Adams family, and was really quite keen on Nick, very interested in him and in his family. What with keeping Annabelle at arm's length in case she found out about Pa, and with the problems of running the Browning Street Rovers football team (the ball was owned by Chrissie Evans who laid down her own rules about the team) Nick sometimes wondered if his life would ever be sorted out.
It is 1946, and most members of the Adams family who had been serving with the forces begin to come home. But grandson Daniel is still serving in an army unit out of Palestine and his fiancee, Patsy, is counting the days until his return.
Horace was ten, Ethel seven, when Jim Cooper, home from the trenches, minus an arm and just about managing on his own, found them huddled in a doorway on a wet night in Walworth. Several days after taking them in he, somehow, became their unnofficial guardian. He now has to look for fresh lodgings for all of them.
It is 1953 - Coronation year - and like all of Cockney London the members of the Adams family are looking forward to the celebrations. Chinese Lady, now Lady Finch, worries that her friends will think she is too grand to mingle with them . But her husband has a more pressing worry - the sudden appearance of the lovely but mysterious Katje Galicia, who knows more than she should about his own chequered past. Young Jimmy Adams, meanwhile, is enjoying working at the family clothing factory, where at the retirement party for two of the oldest employees, Bert and Gertie Roper, he meets their lively granddaughter Clare. Before long he has offered her a job on the switchboard, and has hopes of seeing her after working hours as well. And brave Felicity, blinded in the blitz, thinks she notices a glimmer of light appearing in her dark world - but dare not tell her husband, in case it is just her imagination... With the young Queen now on the throne, times are changing for the Adams family.
It is summer, 1941, and the country is still at war. In the Devon village of Ashleigh, however, evacuees from the London blitz are living in an atmosphere of rural peacefulness, although Daisy Ricketts of Bermondsey isn't sure if she'll ever get on with carping Mrs Mumford, the subject of whispers because of her husband's mysterious disappearance. David, the elder son of Tommy and Vi Adams, meets Kate Trimble, a cockney girl from Camberwell who has just arrived in Ashleigh with her aunt. Kate is imaginative and precocious, while David is happy-go-lucky, and as the war is directly affecting the lives of so many other members of the Adams family, Kate and David establish a friendship in the summer sunshine of Devon. But as their friendship develops some exciting undercurrents, an incident occurs which brings home to them the darker intrigues of wartime and provides a devastating shock to everyone.
Will she learn to love again? An impetous decision to marry has left the young Lady Caroline widowed and with two estates in her name. She is now in a position to live her life to the full, socialising with London’s finest aristocracy, but her unhappy experience has put her off marrying again. Her younger sister, Annabelle, on the other hand, is falling in love with a man who is notoriously unfaithful. Annabelle refuses to believe these negative views, so Caroline knows she must intervene before she sees her sister fall victim to the same miserable fate she experienced. And so she hires the charming Captain Burnside, a retired British Army officer, to distract her. An adventurer who is both charming and witty, he seems the perfect man to tear Annabelle away from her infatuation. But things don'’t go quite according to Caroline’'s plan….
Romance set in the south of England during World War II.
It was June 1916 when Sergeant Boots Adams of the Royal West Kents, together with his men, was billeted on the Descartes farm in Northern France. It was a short break from the turmoil and horror of the trenches, and Boots and his men, in return for their free billeting, were to help the farmer in his fields. It came as something of a surprise to discover that the land was being managed by a young French war widow, Cecile Lacoste and, to the distant sound of guns, a brief wartime friendship flared between Boots and Cecile. The friendship was cut brutally short when, once more, the West Kents were called back to the trenches and Boots suffered an injury that was to take him home to London, to Sammy and Chinese Lady, and all the valiant cockney friends of Walworth who were to help him through the darkest period of his life. It was to be many years before Boots' friend, Miss Polly Simms, visiting the old battle haunts of France, stumbled once more upon the Descartes farm, and the memories of the past were rekindled.
A must read for fans of Katie Flynn, Fiona Valpy and Kristin Hannah - this is an enthralling and gripping romantic adventure from the multi-million copy seller Mary Jane Staples. READERS ARE LOVING LOVE FOR A SOLDIER!
It is 1918; the Kaiser's empire is about to fall and Captain Harry Phillips, a prisoner of war in a Romanian hospital, has had a very hard time of it. Then, out of the blue, comes an offer he can't refuse, a ticket home to his beloved England and to the arms of his much missed fiancée Elizabeth. But this ticket comes with a heavy price to pay; Harry must marry beautiful, headstrong Princess Irena of Moldova, who's only hope of survival is to leave the country and he must risk both their lives by escorting her back to England. As they set off on their long and treacherous journey with enemies at every turn, Harry begins to realise that Irena is not only dangerous but extremely precious cargo.Will he sacrifice everything for this wartime marriage?
Baroness Sophie von Korvacs meets British painter James Fraser in Vienna, sparking an instant attraction. Their whirlwind romance unfolds against the backdrop of the emperor's final days, culminating in James's proposal, which promises a magical conclusion to their enchanting summer.
The seemingly endless war was at last coming to a conclusion. But for the country and for the Adams family, there were still many tribulations to be overcome. Flying bombs - the deadly V1 buzzbombs - appeared over London, causing dreadful destruction, and the struggle continued to overcome the most powerful war machine the world had ever known. But amongst the Cockney community there were lighter moments, too. For Felicity, Eloise and Lizzy Somers there was the happiness of knowing that their menfolk were safe and well. Daniel Adams and his American girlfriend even had a brief meeting with Winston Churchill himself. And as the Third Reich began to show signs of collapse, the scent of victory was in the air.
It is 1944, and the Adams family, along with the rest of the people of the United Kingdom, are beginning to weary of the seemingly never-ending war against Hitler's Germany. Bobby Somers and Helene, living dangerously in the French countryside with a group of Resistance fighters, find themselves in great peril.
As the 1950s progress, several unexpected happenings ruffle the usually calm atmosphere of Adams family life. Sammy and Boots are troubled by the first stirrings of industrial unrest, as the unions start to flex their muscles and old loyalties change, while an attractive new employee causes Sammy some troubles of a different kind.The older generation are more than a little surprised at what they see around them as society moves on and the lives of the youngsters are being taken over by rock 'n' roll. Young Emily, still only thirteen but old beyond her years, catches the eye of a teddy boy, while Linda is pursued by a smooth-talking young man. But good sense and good luck prevail, and the Adams family find the strength to cope with these challenging times.
