Books like 'Better Days will Come'
Readers who enjoyed Better Days will Come by Pam Weaver also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical drama family historical-fiction epic
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Преспанските камбани by Димитър Талев
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"Из македонската земя се срещат малки, схлупени черквици, заровени дълбоко в земята. По външен вид те не се отличават от заобикалящите ги къщи. Но когато надникнем вътре, пред нас заблестяват с цялата си красота майсторските иконостаси, вдъхновени дърворезби, сътворени от прочутите майстори-поети на Дебърската школа.Такива са и героините на Талев... -
Coming Home to the Four Streets by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTrouble is coming to the four streets, especially for its redoubtable women, who've struggled through a bitter winter to put food on the table. The Dock Queen Carnival is only weeks away, but there's no money for the usual celebrations. No sign of a tramp ship with illicit cargo to be quietly siphoned off by the dockers... -
Moonlight and Ashes by Rosie Goodwin
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDespite being trapped in an abusive marriage, Maggie still feels blessed with her eight-year-old twins, Danny and Lizzie, and baby girl, Lucy. But when the Second World War begins it seems that her blessings may have run out.Although the war lets her escape her husband when he's sent to the front, she must also lose the twins, as they're evacuated to North Wales... -
The Ribbon Weaver by Rosie Goodwin
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOne winter’s night, Molly Ernshaw rescues a baby from the snow and changes two families for ever.The tiny girl grows into a gifted young woman. Although devoted to Molly, Amy has far-reaching ambitions – encouraged by her neighbour’s son, Toby, she longs to move beyond ribbon-weaving to designing the hats and clothes the ribbons adorn... -
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The Women of Mulberry Lane by Rosie Clarke
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLove and heartbreak, birth and death, joy amid hardship, are all here in the gripping fifth novel about the people of Mulberry Lane during World War Two. The war is nearly over – or is it? The women of Mulberry Lane anxiously wait for news... -
With a Kiss and a Prayer by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCliffehaven, May 1944 Peggy Reilly is enjoying a rare moment alone in the garden of her Beach View Boarding House. Against the now familiar backdrop of squadrons roaring overhead and the wireless humming, it seems both impossible that war continues, and yet inconceivable that it will ever come to an end... -
An Orphan's Journey by Rosie Goodwin
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratings1874.Growing up in extreme poverty in London, Pearl thinks life can get no worse. But when her parents discover there's yet another baby on the way, they have to tighten the belt even further. Pearl's mother decides to send her and her younger sister Eliza to the workhouse, where they are forced into a new life of hardship and struggle... -
The Winter Promise by Rosie Goodwin
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1850.When Opal Sharp finds herself and her younger siblings suddenly orphaned and destitute, she thinks things can get no worse.But soon three of them - including Opal - are struck down with the illness that took their father from them, and her brother Charlie is forced to make an impossible decision. Unable to afford a doctor, he knows the younger children will not survive... -
Beyond the Distant Hills by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Slum Angel.Beyond the Distant Hills is the sequel to A Distant Horizon.Australia 1853Settled in the colony, Ellen embarks on making a happy new life for her family and to forget the horrors of famine-struck Ireland... -
Shipyard Girls in Love by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratings'the author is one to watch' Sun'A riveting read is just what this is in more ways than one.' The Northern Echo'I enjoyed The Shipyard Girls very much indeed . . -
A Distant Horizon by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the author of The Slum Angel and The Kitty McKenzie series.1851 Ireland.After enduring years of a devastating potato famine, Ellen Kittrick is a survivor. Crop failures and a descent into poverty changes her from a happy wife and mother to a woman struggling to keep her children alive... -
Born to Trouble: All she wanted was a better life by Rita Bradshaw
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA compelling saga guaranteed to tug at the heartstrings.Born into the worst of families in Sunderland's filthy, crime-ridden East End, Pearl Croft's childhood is miserable. Shortly after her violent, drunken father is killed in a fight, Pearl's elder brothers are sent to prison leaving her, still a child herself, to care for her baby brothers... -
The Slum Angel by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPerfect for the fans of Anna Jacobs and Dilly Court. Orphan, Victoria Carlton is brought up by her uncle, a banker, to be a lady and make a good marriage. Yet, she is drawn to help the poor families in the slums, much to her family’s disgust. When her uncle dies suddenly, her cousins blame Victoria, and she is thrown out of the house with nothing... -
Trust Me by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo young sisters sent far, far from home ...When tragedy deprives little Dulcie Taylor and her sister May of their parents, they are sent first to an orphanage and then shipped off to begin a new life in Australia. But the 'better life' the sisters are promised in this new and exciting country turns out to be a lie... -
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The Ballymara Road by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe final gripping instalment of the great trilogy, which began with THE FOUR STREETS and continued in HIDE HER NAME. On Christmas morning, in the unforgiving harshness of a convent in Galway, Kitty Doherty gives birth to her baby - who is immediately taken away for adoption in America... -
The Mothers of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Angels of Lovely Lane, The Four Streets and Ruby Flynn. Noleen Delaney is one of an army of night cleaners at St Angelus hospital in Liverpool. Since her husband was injured in the war, she has supported her five children. With help from her eldest, Bryan – a porter's lad – the family just about gets by... -
Calico Road: The Staley Family, Book 2 by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCalico Road runs through a tiny Lancashire hamlet up on the edge of the moors, miles from anywhere. Its folk are an independent breed -- and in 1827 they are a thorn in the side of the vicious mill owner in the valley below. Toby Fletcher's father ignored his bastard son while alive. Now Toby is the new owner of the rambling old inn, an unwitting keeper of its secrets... -
One Perfect Family by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLancashire, 1934. When Tam Crawford is unexpectedly bequeathed some money, he can finally realise his dream of settling down in the beautiful village of Ellindale. Tam knows he can be impulsive - his nickname isn't Crazy Tam for nothing! - but this time he is determined not to be ruled by his big heart and hot head... -
The Gracelin O'Malley Trilogy: Gracelin O'Malley, Leaving Ireland, and 'Til Morning Light by Ann Moore
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis “elegantly written” trilogy follows an unforgettable Irish heroine from the potato famine through immigrating to America (Eileen Goudge)... -
The Little Angel by Rosie Goodwin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom Sunday Times bestselling author of Mothering Sunday, Rosie Goodwin, comes the next in this heartwarming and heartbreaking Christmas treat.1896, Nuneaton.Left on the doorstep of Treetops Children's Home, young Kitty captures the heart of her guardian, Sunday Branning, who has never been blessed with a child of her own... -
Forsaken by Rosie Goodwin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBorn on a Friday, Sophie Winters has always been a loving and giving child, who'd do anything for her family. Yet her father, Bill, has always seemed to resent her. For her mother's sake, Sophie learns to live with Bill's animosity - until the night he drunkenly forces himself upon her.Left pregnant and ashamed at seventeen, Sophie doesn't know where to turn... -
The Orphan's Mother by Marion Kummerow
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1945, the German-Polish border: With Nazis on one side and Soviet forces approaching on the other, a mother and her little boy are torn apart, and so begins an unforgettable tale of courage, heartbreak and motherhood in wartime.“If you ever get lost, Jacob, you need to stay where you are and wait, because I’ll come looking for you. And I’ll always find you... -
Shipyard Girls at War by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1941: It takes strength to work on the docks, but the war demands all hands on deck and the women are doing their best to fill the gap. Rosie is flourishing in her role as head-welder while still keeping her double life a secret. But a dashing detective is forcing Rosie to choose between love and her duty... -
The Nightingale Sisters by Donna Douglas
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTo the student nurses at The Nightingale hospital, the ward sisters are heartless and frightening, with impossibly high standards. But the sisters have troubles of their own...VioletThe new night sister is not all that she seems. Who is she and what dark secret is she hiding? As the mystery deepens, Sister Wren is determined to find out the truth... -
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Lancashire Legacy by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAt eighteen Cathie longs for more than life as a settler in the Australian bush. She accepts her uncle's offer to send her to England and runs away from her family, not realising he is using her to get revenge on his sister Liza. Attacked at the docks in Liverpool, Cathie takes refuge with the man who saved her, a man who has his own troubles... -
A Valley Wedding by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe third novel in the brand new Backshaw Moss series by beloved million-copy bestselling author Anna JacobsLancashire, 1936. With her son Gabriel finally married, and her youngest following his dreams of becoming a doctor, Gwynneth Harte finds herself with an empty nest - until a fire forces her to move in with Gabriel and his wife Maisie at their home on Daisy Street... -
The Mother’s Day Club by Rosie Hendry
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPregnant Marianne Archer is evacuated from London to the beautiful Norfolk countryside - but the villagers are expecting to house children! Thea wants to welcome more people to Rookery House - the rambling five-bedroom farmhouse is too big for just herself, especially in wartime. But when Marianne arrives, Thea quickly realises that she has her own secrets... -
No One's Girl by Rosie Goodwin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJane Reynolds' father dominates her life. Though she seems a devoted daughter, his cruelty has left her afraid to love. After his sudden death she becomes a virtual recluse, leaving her small farm only to sell the fruit and vegetables she grows.But everything changes on a dark, cold night when she finds a young runaway hiding near her cottage... -
Camellia by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHow far would you go to discover your true identity? Camellia Norton is orphaned at fifteen when her mother's body is fished from a river in rural Sussex. And when she discovers a cache of letters amongst her mother's effects she realises that the past she has always been so sure of has been built on a tissue of lies... -
The Frozen Heart by Almudena Grandes
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn a small town on the outskirts of Madrid, a funeral is taking place. Julio Carrion Gonzalez, a man of tremendous wealth and influence in Madrid, has come home to be buried. But as the family stand by the graveside, his son Alvaro notices the arrival of an attractive stranger—no one appears to know who she is, or why she is there... -
Belle of the Back Streets by Glenda Young
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA dramatically powerful and romantic saga of tragedy and triumph, perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin... -
The Colours of Love by Rita Bradshaw
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCan love survive when all is lost? England is at war, but nothing can dim land girl Esther Wynford's happiness at marrying the love of her life - fighter pilot Monty Grant. Their short honeymoon results in a baby, but on the birth of her daughter, Joy, Esther's world falls apart... -
The Tuppenny Child by Glenda Young
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratings'Real sagas with female characters right at the heart' Woman's HourIf you love Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, you'll LOVE Glenda Young's 'amazing novels!' (ITV's This Morning presenter Sharon Marshall)'In the world of historical saga writers, there's a brand new voice' My WeeklyWhat readers are saying about Glenda's dramatically powerful saga of secrets, friendship, motherhood, love and... -
Lancashire Lass by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Liza is happy working as a lady's maid - until her employers decide to emigrate and her father makes up his mind that she is to wed an older widower whom she detests... -
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Fear by Anatoli Rybakov
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom Publishers WeeklyIn this sequel to his international bestseller Children of the Arbat , Rybakov picks up the story of Sasha Pankratov and his friends from Moscow's fashionable Arbat district as Josef Stalin launches the reign of terror that saw millions of Soviet citizens arrested, exiled or shot for counterrevolutionary activities... -
One Quiet Woman: Book 1 in the heartwarming Ellindale Saga by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1930, Lancashire: Leah Turner's father has been killed in an accident at the laundry, and since her mother died years ago it falls to her to become sole provider for her little sister. But women's wages are half those of men and pawning the few belongings she has left will only keep their vicious rent collector at bay for a few weeks, so even if she finds a job, they'll lose their home... -
Jessie's Promise by Rosie Clarke
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of LIZZIE'S SECRET and LIZZIE'S WAR, a story about resilient, strong women surviving adversity post World War 1. DEVON 1918. When Jessie Hale loses her nursing job at the end of the First World War, she leaves London to become the nursemaid to the Kendle family in Devon. On arrival she finds the family in disarray... -
The Liverpool Matchgirl by Lyn Andrews
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTHE LIVERPOOL MATCHGIRL is a nostalgic and poignant saga of Liverpool in the years before the First World War from bestselling author Lyn Andrews, not to be missed by readers of Donna Douglas and Dilly Court. Liverpool, 1901. The Tempest family is all but destitute, barely able to put food on the table... -
Tara by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCan you ever be free from the past?In the East End, twelve-year-old Tara witnesses her villain of a father almost kill her mother. She forges a determination then and there to change her life.This is the story of three beautiful and talented women... -
Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie by Jean Fullerton
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEast End saga queen Jean Fullerton returns with a delightful new novel in the Nurse Connie series It's 1948 and the nurses of the East End of London are making the most of life post-war. For Connie in particular, things are looking rosy as she looks forward to planning a future with her sweetheart, Malcolm... -
Hide Her Name: The Four Streets Trilogy by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis gripping follow on from The Four Streets finds the community alive with rumours and gossip after the murder which rocked it to the core... -
The Fire Blossom by Sarah Lark
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe bestselling author of the Sea of Freedom Trilogy returns with a sweeping family saga of two women in nineteenth-century New Zealand and their epic journey to survive in a world of their own making. It’s 1837, and immigrating to a small New Zealand fishing village is an opportunity for Ida Lange’s family to build a better future... -
Yesterday's Girl by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Great War opened up an exciting new career for Vi in London. But that was yesterday. Now, the war's over, her husband is dead and she needs to pick up the pieces of her life. On her way home she meets a man who needs her help. Recently demobbed, Joss Bentley has no job or home, and with his wife dead, there's a new baby to care for -- and it's not his... -
Down Weaver's Lane by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEmmy Carter's mother is a prostitute - and her life has made Emmy determined to avoid the same fate. But Emmy is beautiful, so attracts unwanted attention; her mother's protector has his eye on her, as does evil Marcus Armistead, her employer's nephew. Marcus is excited by Emmy's virginity and has her kidnapped, but Emmy hits him over the head and escapes... -
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Heart of the Town by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDora Preston has guts but it will take more than that for her to break free from Hedderby and make a life for herself on the stage. Then she meets Gideon - and pursuing her ambitions becomes even harder. Gideon has returned from the fighting in India only to discover that an impostor has stolen his inheritance. He has vowed he will claim his birthright but his enemies are ruthless and desperate... -
A Valley Secret by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe second book in the brand new Backshaw Moss series from million-copy bestseller Anna JacobsLancashire, 1930s. When her mother dies, leaving her an old sewing box and a clue to her father's identity, 22-year-old Maisie Bassett is determined to make a fresh start.Changing her name and moving to the small town of Rivenshaw, she finds a respectable job in a grocery store... -
Return to Sarah's Valley: Sequel to Sarah's Valley by Sharon Mierke
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsReturn to Sarah's Valley is a follow-up story to Sarah's Valley, which was published in 2012 by the same author, Sharon Mierke. In Sarah's Valley, Patrick Smithson meets Frank Lawdry. Frank, who prefers his Abenaki name, Winnipesaukee, spends the night recalling his life story. He and his sister, Sarah, were left orphans when everyone on a wagon train died in a horrific tragedy... -
We'll Meet Again by Rosie Archer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsGosport, 1941. The Bluebird Girls - Rainey Bird, Bea Herron and Ivy Sparrow - are on their way to stardom. From working mens' clubs to the glamour of the Savoy Hotel, fame and fortune beckon as the south coast's favourite singing trio work to charm their way into the hearts of the nation.But the war rages on, and reaching the top of their game will not be easy... -
Yew Tree Gardens: The touching conclusion to the Wiltshire Girls series by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSisters Mattie, Nell and Renie have all managed to escape from their oppressive and bullying father, but are now separated. They must draw upon their strength and courage to build new lives for themselves. Renie, the youngest sister, is living with the newly married Nell. Renie is happy in her waitressing job at the local Rathleigh hotel... -
The Orphan's Scandal by Jessica Weir
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWill the sins of the mother condemn the daughter to a life of loss?Heartwarming saga romance FREE on Kindle Unlimited. London, 1879. At just 13 years old, Florence Smith's life will change forever. Losing almost everything, she must grow up quickly and hope that a secret scandal does not come back to haunt her...
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