Harry Lilian

It is 1943 and the quiet of Harrowbeer, in Devon, is disrupted by increased activity at the nearly airfield, built at the beginning of the War. Amongst the squadrons moving in are pilots from Britain, Canada and Poland. The airfield, with its noise and its population, has a massive impact on the peaceful villages nearby - an impact that will affect some inhabitants for the rest of their lives. Alison, married to a pilot and newly pregnant, soon makes friends with the locals, particularly with May, who finds herself caught up in the life of the RAF, watching and waiting as the pilots and crew carry out their dangerous missions. Then, on the night when Alison's baby is born, her husband is reported missing and Alison and May find themselves facing a dilemma all too familiar to the wives and sweethearts of those who flew the Spitfires, Hurricanes and other aircraft to protect their country during this time of war.

The War is over at last and in Plymouth and Portsmouth, two of Britain's greatest seaports, the task of rebuilding must begin. But it is not only streets, businesses and homes that have been laid waste. Lives, too, have been devastated. Marriages have been disrupted, family life shattered, and now the inhabitants must find their own way back to normality - if they can remember what that is. Lucy Pengelly is just one woman whose life has been torn apart by the War. What will happen when her husband returns from the POW camp in the Far East? And what of the growing friendship between Lucy and her friend David, who played such an important part in their lives during the Blitz?

When Thursday Tilford returns to Haslar Hospital after two years serving as a VAD in Egypt, she finds many changes. With the town packed with troops waiting to leave for the Normandy beaches, and Haslar on standby for the wounded, Thursday's thoughts go to the two men who are vying for her heart - Connor Kirkpatrick, the naval doctor she met at Haslar in 1940, and army doctor Mark Sangster who travelled on the troopship to Egypt with her. Although she longs to keep her promise to Connor, Thursday's feelings for Mark force her to consider the nature of promises and even, in the end, the nature of love itself. It is only as the war ends and she is presented with an ultimatum that she understands the truth about love, about promises - and about herself. Lilian Harry's new novel will delight her fans with the warmth and authenticity that she brings when describing the courage and sacrifice of wartime.

Hilary Napier is upset and angry when her father, Colonel Napier, brings in a new manager for the family estate which she has been running for the past year. Even though she cannot help liking Travis Kellaway, she resents his presence. But when her defences are broken down by the illness of her brother's much-loved horse, Major, she realizes Travis's strength and compassion. It isn't long before their relationship moves to a new footing. Meanwhile, life in the Devon village of Burracombe is enlivened by the new Drama Club, formed by energetic young curate Felix Copley. Almost the entire village becomes involved in the pantomime he decides to organise, with sometimes hilarious results. The leading lights in the production are bossy Joyce Warren, young schoolteacher Stella Simmons and Shirley Culliford, the little girl from the poorest cottage in Burracombe. But tragedy strikes when Travis catches Shirley and her father, Arthur Culliford, poaching in the estate woods. Shirley is injured in the ensuing skirmish and it seems that not only the pantomime, but her very life is threatened.

During just nine days in the early summer of 1940, nearly 800 "little ships," from lifeboats and passenger steamers to small private yachts and dinghies, set off across the English Channel to rescue almost half a million men trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. As each boat ferries exhausted men from the beaches to the waiting ships, under incessant fire from enemy aircraft and in a sea awash with debris and bodies, the men are unknowingly united by a powerful driving force--the urgent need to find one man, brother or son, who matters more to them than anyone else. Each of these missing men has a family, a wife or a sweetheart at home who is anxiously waiting for news--and one sweetheart in particular is determined to play her own part in the rescue.

When cousins Jo and Phyl decide to become Lyons Corner House waitresses, or 'Nippies', as they are known for their speedy service, they have no idea how their lives are about to change. They are whisked from family life in Woolwich to digs in London; they are transported from a factory and a grocer's shop to the wonderful dining rooms of Lyons, Marble Arch, and they swap their old overalls for the smart uniforms of the Corner House girls.Jo and Phyl settle in and make friends with both waitresses and customers. There are boyfriends, lovers and fiancés, friendship and romance, but as the Second World War becomes increasingly imminent, the future of these men and women seems more and more uncertain.

When Stella Simmons comes to the Devonshire village of Burracombe to start her teaching career, she is alone in the world. Orphaned as child and brought up in a children's home, she was separated from her sister Muriel and has never been able to trace her.Stella is soon caught up in the life of the village, and especially in the plans for celebrating the Festival of Britain. As headmistress Miss Kemp and vicar Basil Harvey try to keep the peace between villagers, who all have their own ideas for the proposed pageant and fair, Stella tries, with the help of artist Luke Ferris, to find her sister. But Luke has his own troubles...THE BELLS OF BURRACOMBE begins the story of life in a Devonshire village in the 1950s and shows us a picture of Britain coming to terms with the aftermath of the Second World War and entering a new decade.