Books like 'A Valley Wedding'
Readers who enjoyed A Valley Wedding by Anna Jacobs also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century drama family historical-fiction epic
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The Secrets of the Tea Garden by Janet MacLeod Trotter
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe’s gone in search of happy memories. But was her idyllic childhood in India an illusion? After the Second World War, Libby Robson leaves chilly England for India, and the childhood home where she left her heart—and her beloved father, James—fourteen years ago. At first Libby is intoxicated by India’s vibrant beauty: the bustle of Calcutta, the lush tea gardens of Assam... -
O Continente - Volume I by Erico Verissimo
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA vast sprawling period novel of the minor wars that wracked Brazil from the days when its European masters gambled with their colonists' affairs to the Civil Wars which turned family against family and set Republicans and Federalists at each others throats. Backgrounded by these wars, the story follows the history of the Terra-Cambaras, during 150 years, in the southern part of Brazil. The men . -
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... -
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As the Sun Breaks Through by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratings************** PRE-ORDER NOW: THE FIFTEENTH CLIFFEHAVEN NOVEL BY SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ELLIE DEAN A fabulous, heart-warming Second World War novel in Ellie Dean's bestselling Cliffehaven series (previously called the Beach View Boarding House series)... -
With Hope and Love by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCliffehaven, May 1945. The war in Europe is over, but for the residents of Beach View Boarding House its effects are still far reaching.Cockney evacuee Ivy and her sweetheart Andy are saving to get married and return to London. But when her sister and parents succumb to one of the last V-2 attacks, Ivy must make a heart-wrenching choice... -
The Velvet Ribbon by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this wonderful third Tarabeg novel, Mary Kate Malone finds that a secret life in the shadows with her great love, Dr Nicholas, brings heartache and sorrows. When disaster strikes unexpectedly, she turns to the only people she can trust, in the only place she feels safe – her Irish family and friends in the west coast village of Tarabeg. But back in Ireland, everything has changed... -
The Woman from Beaumont Farm by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the author of the bestselling The Slum AngelSequel to The Market Stall Girl 1914, West Yorkshire, England.Newly married to Noah Jackson, Beth is happily content working on her family’s market stall while Noah fulfills his dreams of being a teacher... -
Secrets of the Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSunderland 1941: As the war drags on, the shipyard girls find themselves facing their own battles.Gloria is over the moon with her bundle of joy, but Hope’s first weeks are bittersweet. Gloria’s love, Jack, is still missing at sea, and with their future as a family so uncertain, Gloria must lean on her girls to get her through... -
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 . . -
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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... -
All My Tomorrows by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe compelling new Second World War novel from the author of Always in My Heart.In defending herself against her brutal husband, eighteen-year-old Ruby Clark is forced to flee London.She has no idea where Cliffehaven is, or what she will find there, but she knows that she will never be able to return home again.At first it seems she’s fallen on her feet... -
Sealed With a Loving Kiss by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe gripping new Second World War novel from Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author of While We're Apart.After the death of her parents in a bombing raid, Mary Jones discovers a secret in the pages of father’s diaries. Her search for the truth brings her to Cliffehaven on the south coast... -
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London Calling by Helen Carey
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA poignant, warm-hearted and engaging saga of south London's women during the Second World War. It will take more than Hitler's Luftwaffe to break the spirit of the residents of Lavender Road. If courage, resilience and a shared sense of humour could win wars, the conflict would already be over. It's not all harmony, though... -
Cece by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe's the third sister, often overlooked and the last to know about anything that's happening in the family.Cece is gifted a cottage in the Scottish Highlands. She doesn't want a cottage or to go to Scotland. Her sisters' gifts were much more interesting... -
A Ration Book Christmas by Jean Fullerton
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt's 1940 and the German Luftwaffe have started their nightly reign of death and destruction over London's East End. The Brogan family is braced and ready to take on Hitler single-handed, if need be, but with rationing, air-raids and the threat of Nazi invasion hanging over this doughty family, their spirits are taking a bit of a battering.. -
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 Queen of Beauty by Petra Durst-Benning, Edwin Miles
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPetra Durst-Benning’s captivating historical novel pays homage to the trailblazing women of the early twentieth century—like Elizabeth Arden and Estée Lauder—who shaped culture, shattered convention, and strived to make the world around them more beautiful... -
The Children Of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe second book in the Lovely Lane series from Nadine Dorries. Lily hates the sound of children playing - the ceaseless shouting and laughter and kicking of balls to and fro in the street outside the rough Liverpool tenement where she lives... -
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... -
A Mother's Journey: Book 1 in the Yorkshire Blitz Trilogy by Donna Douglas
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratings*FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE NIGHTINGALE SERIES* A dramatic and heartwarming new saga series from the well-loved Donna Douglas, this will be one of Orion's biggest launches of 2020.Hull, 1940. Edie Copeland has just arrived on Jubilee Row, carrying a secret and a heavy suitcase... -
Gilding the Lily by Rita Bradshaw
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA heartrending tale of two sisters and their quest for a place to belong, from much-loved author Rita Bradshaw.Lily and Sarah Brown's childhood is an unhappy one. Sarah escapes by marrying Ralph Turner, a Sunderland dock worker, but Lily doesn't trust Ralph - a dark volatile man with a hidden cruel streak. When he tries to seduce Lily on his wedding day, her worst fears are confirmed... -
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Break of Dawn by Rita Bradshaw
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEach day brings a new beginning... Her mother's death in childbirth leaves Sophy Hutton at the mercy of her cruel aunt and uncle, and her childhood is brutal. At sixteen, Sophy learns the shocking truth behind her birth and escapes to London to pursue a career as an actress, determined to put the past behind her... -
High Street by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1845 Annie Gibson can finally leave Salem Street. Her dreams of being able to open an elegant dressmaking salon in the High Street of Bilsden, a Lancashire mill town, have come true. And she is going to take her father and his second family with her, away from poverty, away from the Rows. But Annie has not left trouble behind. Someone is trying to undermine her business... -
Twopenny Rainbows by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1863 the authorities send Irish orphans Ismay and Mara to Australia against their will. Worse, on arrival they're separated from one another... -
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 Waiting Hours by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSlapton Sands, Devon1943Carol Porter has had a difficult war. Less than a year ago she lost both her husband and baby, and with them her heart. Only recently has she’s found peace, working as a land girl at Coombe Farm. But Carol’s sanctuary, the whole local area in fact, is about to be disrupted.When Pauline Reilly learns of Carol’s situation she’s worried for her little sister... -
The Spitfire Girl: Over and Out by Fenella J. Miller
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAll's fair in love and war for First Officer Ellie as she takes to the skies yet again in the final instalment of Fenella Miller's Spitfire Girl series. 1943, White Waltham. As Italy surrenders and victory looms on the horizon, Ellie's doing what she does best – flying. And this time, she's rising to the sky in four-engined Halifaxes... -
One Special Village by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLancashire, 1932 Widower Harry Makepeace lives in Manchester with his sickly daughter Cathie, scrimping and saving to get by. But after she suffers a violent asthma attack, the doctors say she must move to the clean, fresh air of the countryside to have any hope of survival... -
The Midwives of Lark Lane by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn absolutely heartbreaking historical family saga All’s fair in love and war… but what happens when the war is over? After the heartbreak of World War Two, newlywed midwife Cathy hoped Liverpool life would offer some joy. But a terrible miscarriage and the escape of her abusive stepfather Jack from prison make happiness hard to find. Meanwhile, Cathy’s beloved granny is ailing... -
Lizzie's War by Rosie Clarke
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLONDON 1940. Another gritty, heart-warming and wholesome drama. A gripping sequel to LIZZIE'S SECRET. Perfect for the fans of Katie Flynn and Nadine Dorries. Against the devastating Blitz of London, normal life must continue for Lizzie Larch. With Sebastian returning to War, Lizzie, must, alone make a success of her business in order to survive and care for herself and her young child... -
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... -
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Hope for the Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe brand new Spring Railway Girls novel set in Manchester during WWII. Perfect for fans of Nancy Revell, Daisy Styles and Margaret Dickinson.___________________Manchester, 1942A new year brings new hope for the railway girls.Alison's romance with the charming Dr Maitland is blossoming, but then she is posted away from Manchester... -
Body and Soul by Frank Conroy
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the dim light of a basement apartment, six-year-old Claude Rawlings sits at an old white piano, picking out the sounds he has heard on the radio and shutting out the reality of his lonely world.The setting is 1940s New York, a city that is "long gone, replaced by another city of the same name... -
A Daughter's Sorrow by Cathy Sharp
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHeartache and hardship in London’s East End, from the bestselling author of The Orphans of Halfpenny StreetBridget has always been the one to take on the responsibility for looking after her family... -
Snowflakes in the Wind by Rita Bradshaw
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSnowflakes in the Wind is a heartwarming story of triumph over adversity by Rita Bradshaw, author of the number one bestselling Dancing in the Moonlight. It's Christmas Eve 1920 when nine-year-old Abby Kirby's family is ripped apart by a terrible tragedy. Leaving everything she's ever known, Abby takes her younger brother and runs away to the tough existence of the Border farming community... -
Our Polly by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLittle Billy is the light of Polly's life -- it's for her son's sake that she puts up with an unkind mother-in-law and an isolated farm. Then Billy is knocked down by a car, his father killed attempting to save his life, and Polly, cast off by her husband's family, is left with a child who may never walk or talk again... -
Liverpool Daughter by Katie Flynn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA brand new novel from the bestselling author Katie Flynn. This is book one in her brilliant series about a young girl trying to make her way in war-torn Liverpool. Liverpool, August 1940 As the Luftwaffe turns its attention to Liverpool, Shane Quinn decides to move his family back to the safety of Ireland. But his only child, the beautiful Dana, refuses point blank... -
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... -
Telegrams and Teacakes by Amy Miller
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTelegrams and Teacakes is a romantic wartime saga full of heartbreak and hope, perfect for fans of Diney Costeloe, Nadine Dorries and Sheila Newberry. ‘There was no denying it, being cheerful was a challenge. You just had to be grateful for small mercies: a sunny day, a night without an air raid, an extra rasher of bacon from the butcher... -
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... -
The Street of Broken Dreams by Tania Crosse
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA poignant story which will tear at your heart strings. Perfect for the fans of Elaine Everest and Daisy Styles. Summer 1945. The nation rejoices as the Second World War comes to an end but Banbury Street matriarch, Eva Parker, foresees trouble ahead... -
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The Girls from the Local by Rosie Archer
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGosport, Hampshire 1943, and even in the middle of war the local pub provides a warm welcome, thanks to its trio of barmaids. Ruby has been living and working at the Point of No Return pub since her parents were killed by a bomb. She loves the bustle of the pub; it helps take her mind off worrying about her fiance, Joe, away fighting in France... -
A Time for Renewal by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the wake of World War Two, the whole country is desperate for houses, with very little money available to rebuild. In the town of Rivenshaw in Lancashire, Mayne Esher has no choice but to turn Esherwood, the war-damaged stately home which has been in his family for generations, into flats... -
Counting Chimneys: A novel of love, heartbreak and romance in 1960s Brighton by Sandy Taylor
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBrighton 1969: Dottie Perks steps off the train and breathes in the sea air, the smell of fish and chips, and the precious childhood memories of a friend and place she’ll never forget. Dottie Perks has forged a new life for herself in London, a new job and sweet boyfriend Joe to keep her warm at night. She’s safe, happy and loved... -
The Forgotten Family of Liverpool: A gritty postwar family saga novel that will break your heart by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe war is over – but are their troubles just beginning? It’s 1951 and rationing is finally coming to an end. But while Liverpool is recovering from the ferocity of war, a family is about to be torn apart… Dora Rodgers is adjusting to a new life in Liverpool with her young daughters Carol and Jackie... -
The Liverpool Girls: A heartbreaking family saga with a tragic romance by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWill tragedy tear them apart – once and for all? It’s 1966 and in Liverpool two sisters are about to have their lives turned upside down… Sisters Carol and Jackie haven’t had the easiest of childhoods, but as they grow up and begin their own lives both hope for happier times ahead... -
Elm Tree Road by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter being driven from home by their brutal father, the Willitt sisters, Mattie, Nell and Renie, find themselves facing greater heartache in the wider world. Nell has left home to be with her lover, Cliff, fearing what reprisals might come from marrying against her father’s wishes.After parting ways with Mattie the couple take youngest sister Renie and head for Lancashire...
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