The heart-warming tale of a wartime childhood. It's 1939 and little Dot May Dun is playing with her brothers in the quiet lanes of their Derbyshire village. The grown-ups' talk of war means very little to Dot but things are starting to change in the village, for good. When a prisoner of war camp is built close to Dot's village, and a Yankee base is stationed nearby, Dot makes friends with the most unlikely of soldiers. But her friendships are threatened when telegrams start to arrive in the village and the real impact of war bears heavily on this close-knit mining community. From little lives spring great tales. Dot's childhood memoir shares the universals of innocence, love, loss and friendships. THE VILLAGE will move and entertain in equal measures.

The compelling and heartwarming story of a young nurse's life and work in 1950s England from the SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author. "Three small children peep out, their eyes watching me from beneath tousled but clean hair. Their clothes seem to have been put on their bodies to cover them rather than to fit them, none wears shoes. Two older girls stand by a table, the only piece of furniture I have seen in the house, apart from a rickety pram, which now stands in the doorway. The crumbling remains of a loaf of bread are being coated with jam, and eager fingers await them..." It's the end of the 1950s and Britain is changing. The war's long shadow is fading and while the country gets ready for the swinging sixties, Dot is embarking on an adventure of her own. After qualifying as a midwife, young Dot has taken a job as a health visitor in the back streets of Birmingham. There, she's not just responsible for the babies brought into this world, but an army of toddlers, tykes and tots who all need a helping hand. For Dot it will be a heartrending journey - trying to help families with next to nothing, sharing the struggles of young mums and discovering how the spirit of the community can overcome the toughest of circumstances.

A young midwife's account of her training in the Midlands in the 1950s. A SUNDAY TIMES bestseller. It's 1957, and in a shattered post-war world, life goes on. Dot, a pupil midwife, negotiates the streets on her trusty old bicycle - come rain or shine - to help women in need. Living and working under the supervision of the strict Mrs O'Reilly, she must complete her training with twelve deliveries: there's Mrs Wardle who lives in a seedy slum; the eighth Clarke baby, born in an unusual place; the superstitious Wests, desperate for a boy; baby Murphy who is received with laughter; and brothel-worker Mrs Maloney. Amid lectures, textbooks and university dances, Dot must saddle up at any time of the day and night to attend deliveries. But just when she thinks she's got the measure of the job, fate deals her an unexpected hand...

Dot May Dunn grew up in Derbyshire, the daughter of a miner, during the wartime years. In 1951 she joined the NHS as an early recruit and went on to train as a nurse. Dot's books are full of wonderful anecdotal insight into the life that she has experienced, written with warmth, humour and vivid accounts of her surroundings - from deprivation, health problems and poverty, to personal determination, the surprises faced by midwives and the social history of the pre- and post-war years. Dot draws upon her wealth of experience and shares her life with her readers, provoking both laughter and tears along the way. Centred on Christmas during war-time, this book will focus on community spirit and the sense of coming together and suporting each other, which Dunn captures so well.