Lesley Pearse is a master storyteller, weaving gripping narratives that captivate readers from beginning to end. Her novels transcend easy genre classification, exploring crime, historical adventure, and passionately emotive themes that fully engage the reader. A recurring element in her work delves into the emotional impact of childhood experiences, reflecting her own early life. Pearse skillfully marries the pain and unhappiness of her formative years with a unique gift for storytelling, creating unforgettable characters.
Charity Stratton's bleak 1960s childhood in Greenwich is changed for ever when both her parents are killed in a fire. Sent out to work as a skivvy at a boys' boarding school, she becomes pregnant, and runs away to London, determined to be reunited with her siblings and begins to forge a new life.
Set against a background of post-wartime deprivation, glittering showgirls and seedy provincial boarding houses, this is the story of two young girls from different backgrounds. The girls form a strong friendship as they both follow their ambitions to make a living for themselves on the stage.
Can good come from evil?Will Rosie ever escape from her brutal brothers?As a child Rosie Parker spent the war years battling her brutish half-brothers Seth and Norman on the farm under the less-than-watchful eye of her father Cole. But when housekeeper Heather Farley arrives, Rosie finds a mother - and a friend - to look after her.Several years later, Thomas Farley comes to find his sister. Rosie can only tell him that she disappeared in mysterious circumstances, abandoning her small son Alan. Determined to get young Alan and Rosie out of the clutches of Cole and his sons, Thomas helps unearth a terrible truth about the family. A truth that forces Rosie away from the farm and out into a cruel world where she must somehow come to terms with her shocking past. Is it possible that the man who brought ruin on her family might also bring happiness to Rosie?
Her existence would be the ruin of her mother... Baby Hope, the unfortunate proof of Lady Harvey's adultery, is smuggled out of a privileged aristocratic household to a nearby village. There, her true identity a secret, she grows up in the arms of the poor, but loving, Renton family. But the day comes when Hope must pay her way.
The memoir recounts the tumultuous life of a woman who faced profound loss and hardship from a young age, beginning with the tragic death of her mother during World War II. After being placed in an orphanage, she navigated a challenging adolescence in 1960s London, where a significant personal tragedy unfolded with the loss of her child. Despite these struggles, she persevered, eventually fulfilling her dream of becoming a bestselling author at 48, sharing stories of resilience and hope. Her journey is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
One of the world's favourite storytellers tells the extraordinary story of her life. Lesley Pearse didn't publish her first novel until she was 48. Now she has sold over ten million books around the world and is a constant presence on the bestseller chart. A writer of heart-stopping stories, Lesley's books are filled with heroines struggling to make it in a difficult world. Yet this description could apply to Lesley herself. In this, her first ever autobiography, she tells of growing up in an orphanage after her mother's death, her racy twenties in London during the swinging sixties and working as a bunny girl and dressmaker. Packed full of Lesley's signature warmth, wit and poignancy, this is the story of a woman and a writer fighting against the odds to achieve her dreams.
She committed the ultimate betrayal. Now someone knows the truth . . . Discover the gripping and page-turning new novel from Sunday Times bestseller Lesley Pearse 'An engrossing read' WOMAN'S WEEKLY ___________ Eve should never have married Don Hathaway. Yes, he gave her two beautiful children - Olly and Tabitha - but he is a bully. Worse than that, he hurts her. But, after one drunken rage too many, she has the courage to leave him. Eve is warned that it's a difficult path, yet she needs to give her children hope for the future. Don, however, is bitter. And getting away from him entirely proves impossible. Until the day Eve tries to teach him a lesson - and it all goes horribly wrong . . . Eve loves her children, but now she carries a terrible burden that she dares not share. Can she protect her family from the truth? Or has she betrayed their trust forever? ___________ PRAISE FOR LESLEY PEARSE: 'Storytelling at its very best' Daily Mail 'Gripping and suspenseful' Daily Express 'A twisting and intense read' Woman's Own
Can truth stay hidden for ever?Set in the 1930's, the classic novel from bestselling author Lesley Pearse tells the story of one girl's struggle against cruelty and, her quest for love.Twelve-year-old Adele Talbot's unhappy mother Rose succumbs to madness after a family tragedy and Adele is placed in a bleak children's home. But when her trust is betrayed she runs away - hoping to find her grandmother in Sussex.By the time she does so, Adele is desperately ill and has to be nursed back to health among the beautiful Rye Marshes. And then she meets the wonderful Michael Bailey.As friendship blossoms into love and they come of age together - Adele becoming a nurse and Michael joining the RAF - she believes she can put her troubled past behind her. But with the outbreak of war and the sudden appearance of Rose, bearing shocking family secrets, suddenly all of Adele's hopes appear impossibly fragile ...
A story of the loves, danger and self-discovery of Camellia Norton, orphaned at fifteen when her mother’s body is fished from a river in rural Sussex. After discovering a cache of letters, she runs away to London where eventually she begins the long journey towards uncovering the truth about her background, and also, ultimately, about herself.
