In Secrets at Bletchley Park by Margaret Dickinson, two young women from very different backgrounds meet in the Second World War and are plunged into a life where security and discretion are paramount. But both have secrets of their own to hide . . . In 1929, life for ten-year-old Mattie Price, born and raised in the back streets of Sheffield, is tough. With a petty thief for a father and a mother who turns to the bottle to cope with her husband's brutish ways, it is left to the young girl and her brother, Joe, to feed and care for their three younger siblings. But Mattie has others rooting for her too. The Spencer family, who live at the top of the same street, and Mattie's teachers recognize that the girl is clever beyond her years and they, and Joe, are determined that she shall have the opportunity in life she deserves. Victoria Hamilton, living in the opulence of London's Kensington, has all the material possessions that a young girl could want. But her mother, Grace, a widow from the Great War, is cold and distant, making no secret of the fact that she never wanted a child. Grace lives her life in the social whirl of upper-class society, leaving Victoria in the care of her governess and the servants. At eleven years old, Victoria is sent to boarding school where, for the first time in her young life, she is able to make friends of her own age. Mattie and Victoria are both set on a path that will bring them together at Bletchley Park in May 1940. An unlikely friendship between the two young women is born and together they will face the rest of the war keeping the nation's secrets and helping to win the fight. They can tell no one, not even their families, about their work or even where they are. But keeping secrets is second nature to both of them . . .

The final part in the sweeping Abbeyford Trilogy, Abbeyford Remembered is a tale of old grudges, new love and heart-warming drama, from the much-loved author Margaret Dickinson. The years have done nothing to dull Evan Smithson's cold fury against his father's family. Born the illegitimate son of Guy Trent, Evan has lived his life fuelled by the desire for vengeance, leaving little time for his daughter Carrie and her questions about their own family history. But Evan's grudge is old, and the new generation of Trents and Smithsons have their own agenda. Carrie turns to Jamie Trent, Guy Trent's grandson and heir, for answers and the pair fall in love. Evan stands between the lovers, convincing Carrie that Jamie has betrayed her. In desperation Carrie marries Lloyd Foster, only to discover that her father has deceived her. Carrie's new husband takes her to London, Paris and even India, but Carrie is unable to find true happiness while her thoughts keep turning towards Jamie Trent. How can she live in the present when her heart remains in the past?

Set twenty years after the dramatic events that unfolded in Abbeyford, Abbeyford Inheritance is the second volume in the moving and powerful saga from Margaret Dickinson. Lynwood felt a strange constriction in his chest. No! No - it wasn't possible! Caroline had come back . . . But this is 1815; Caroline had eloped in disgrace twenty years earlier, and the girl now standing before him speaks with a low husky drawl and an accent from America. Adelina Cole. Her daughter. Returned to Abbeyford in search of a grandfather she has never seen, and the estate which she, as closest living relative, has every right to inherit. Except that Lord Royston cannot bring himself to see Adelina - her disturbing beauty reminds too many people of the past. Reluctantly taken in by distant cousins, Adelina believes she has found an ally in Emily Langley and her betrothed, the handsome, ruthless Wallis Trent. A man with old scores to settle, Trent knows Lord Royston altered his will to make Emily the main beneficiary. But Adelina's return changes everything - perhaps now his hand may be more profitably played elsewhere? And there is Francis, Earl of Lynwood - the man who first discovered Adelina. He once adored her mother and now cannot forget the face which threatens his peace of mind again . . . Continue the popular Abbeyford Trilogy with Abbeyford Remembered.

The first in the Abbeyford Trilogy, Abbeyford is a heart-warming historical romance by Margaret Dickinson. Joseph Miller is a proud man, so when his daughter, Sarah, becomes lady's maid to Lady Caroline up at Abbeyford Grange, he is very resentful - just at the time when local landowners are planning to destroy the last vestiges of villagers' independence by enclosure of the common land. And when Sarah falls in love with the squire's son it seems that their romance can only end in a tragedy which will destroy the Miller family. Meanwhile, Lady Caroline's wilful nature leads her into a clandestine romance with gentle Thomas Cole. Nothing and no one must stand in her way, not even Lynwood, the fourteen-year-old boy who loves her devotedly. But, like Sarah, will she bow to the pressures of family and friends, or will she take what she wants, regardless of the consequences? Continue the popular Abbeyford Trilogy with Abbeyford Inheritance.

At the beginning of the twentieth century a female doctor was often treated with mistrust. In Margaret Dickinson's Brackenbeck, Doctor Katharine Harvey goes to the village of Brackenbeck to take over Doctor Anthony Stafford's practice, only to find the villagers resent her presence and will not acknowledge her as a fully qualified doctor. Katharine soon learns that the villagers follow the lead of Jim Kendrick, owner of Brackenbeck quarry, and Jim doesn't like women doctors. Katherine's destiny lies in his hands. When tragedy strikes the village, Jim and the people of Brackenbeck need her help - but will they change their minds?

Originally published under the name Everatt Jackson, The Road to Hell is an early thriller from Margaret Dickinson, who has since become a bestselling saga author. It seemed to Ben Winwood that all his life he had been second best to his twin brother. Jason Winwood had succeeded where Ben had failed, but when Jason is killed in a mysterious car crash, Ben begins to find that his brother's life was not so enviable after all. Ben becomes involved with Jason's widow, and his associates, and through them is ensnared in a web of crime. Is the powerful influence of Jason reaching his brother from beyond the grave, leading Ben along the same road he himself trod - the road to Hell . . . ?

Set in the turbulent period of the English Civil War, Margaret Dickinson's Beloved Enemy is a light romantic tale, from the author of the Fleethaven trilogy. Raised in a strict Puritan household, Charmian Radley is betrothed to her cousin Joshua Mason. But through the years of Cromwell's rule her memories are of the handsome Royalist, Campbell Denholm, now in exile. When the Royalists return, the marriage between Charmian and Joshua is hastily arranged. Arriving at the Mason's castle, the wedding party is surrounded by King's Men led by Sir Geoffrey Denholm and his son, Campbell. Is Charmian to know him only as an enemy?

Lifeboat! is the tense and dramatic story of the dangers faced by a rescue crew from Margaret Dickinson. In a holiday resort on the Lincolnshire coast at a Bank Holiday weekend the last thing Iain Macready, coxswain of the lifeboat, wants is a spate of hoax calls. But he and his crew have to deal with these just as they have to answer the genuine calls that inevitably come at holiday time. When a storm breaks over Saltershaven, Macready's own daughter is missing at sea in a sailing dinghy, whilst duty obliges Macready to set course away from the area where she may be to answer a distress call from a coaster.

Portrait of Jonathan is an early novel by Margaret Dickinson, author of Without Sin. Jonathan, Viscount Eldon, is absorbed in the business of building a steamship, but his quiet, reserved personality is in contrast to the wildness of his younger days. He has a great influence upon the lives of those around him and tries to curb the impetuosity of his young brother, Giles. Jonathan also shapes the future of Lavinia Kelvin, whose life is altered by him. Loving him in vain, she finds he is never far from her thoughts.

A historical romance, Pride of the Courtneys is Margaret Dickinson's first published novel. When Louella Lloyd arrives at Courtney Hall, she is greeted by Lady Courtney with undisguised hostility; Sir Hugh with pained bewilderment and Georgiana with pleasure. But perhaps the most disturbing personality at the Hall is Bassett Courtney. Louella soon realizes that Lady Courtney's hatred springs from the closely-guarded secret surrounding her mother's connection with the Courtney family some years before Louella's birth. Only the friendship of Georgiana and Charles Corby sustain Louella when, suspected of theft, she becomes a prisoner of her fear of Bassett, Master of Courtney.

Wartime Friends is a tale of unbreakable bonds in times of strife, by bestselling author Margaret Dickinson. As the storm clouds of war gather over Britain, two brave, young women will discover the value of true friendship as they deal with troubles of their own while the lives of those they love are put at risk. It is 1940's coastal Lincolnshire and Carolyn Holmes is keen to do what she can for the war effort. Raised on the family farm, she battles with her mother, Lilian, to further her education although nothing is too good for her brother, Tom. Phyllis Carter, a bitter widow from the Great War, lives close by with her son, Peter, who works on the farm. When Peter decides to volunteer, a distraught Phyllis blames Carolyn who leaves to join the ATS where she meets Beryl Morley who will become a lifelong friend. Carolyn and Beryl are posted to Beaumanor Hall in Leicestershire as 'listeners', the most difficult of signals intelligence gathering. As the war unfolds and their work becomes even more vital, Carolyn and Beryl's friendship deepens and in the dangerous times that follow, they support each other through some of the darkest days they will ever know.

Wartime Friends is a tale of unbreakable bonds in times of strife, by bestselling author Margaret Dickinson. It is 1940s coastal Lincolnshire and Carolyn Holmes is keen to do what she can for the war effort. Raised on the family farm, she is prevented by her mother from going to secretarial college. Phyllis Carter, a widow from the Great War, lives close by with her son, Peter, who works on the farm. Peter and Carolyn are great friends but do not see a future together, although it is the dearest wish of both mothers to see them marry. After their home town is caught in an air raid, Peter decides to volunteer - to the distress of his mother - and Carolyn leaves to join the ATS, where she meets Beryl Morley, who will become a lifelong friend. Carolyn and Beryl are posted to Beaumanor Hall as 'listeners', the most difficult of signals intelligence gathering, intercepting enemy messages which are then sent to Bletchley Park for deciphering. As the war unfolds and their work becomes even more vital, Carolyn and Beryl's friendship strengthens and, in the dangerous times that follow, they will both need the support of the other as they face personal troubles of their own and the lives of those they love are put at risk.

Family and friendship mean everything under the darkening skies of wartime Britain. The Spitfire Sisters is the third book in Margaret Dickinson's moving Maitland trilogy. It is the 1930s and the Maitland family have spent the years following the Great War struggling to come to terms with its catastrophic aftermath, and their hopes now lie with the next generation. Their Lincolnshire village of Doddington suffered terrible loss and it has taken great courage for the bereaved families to rebuild their lives without their loved ones. When war is declared again, it is Daisy Maitland and her peers who must now take up the fight for freedom. Feisty and a daredevil like her beloved Aunt Pips, who spent World War One on the front line serving with a flying ambulance corps, Daisy had persuaded a family friend to teach her to fly as a young woman. Now her country is at war, she is determined to put her skills to good use, enlisting in the Air Transport Auxiliary. There she forges new friendships - but she never forgets her childhood friend and cousin, Luke, who has joined the RAF as a fighter pilot. As war rages in the skies and on the ground, Daisy, her friends and her family - at home and across the Channel - will find their bravery and strength tested to the very limits in their determination to save their country. And they have learned one of the most valuable lessons of all: true love will find a way.

‘I’m going to live in that house, Dad. One day I’ll be mistress of Thornsby Manor . . .’ It is 1910 in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Young Rosie Waterhouse lives with her father, Sam, well known as the local poacher, in a cottage on the Thornsby estate. The land is owned by William Ramsey, a harsh and heartless man who is determined his only son, Byron, should marry well and produce an heir. Rosie is quick to learn the tricks of her father’s trade and it’s when she’s poaching fish from the estate’s stream that she meets Byron. They continue to meet in secret over the coming months and, as their friendship blossoms, they recognize that, despite their vastly different backgrounds, they are destined to be together. When William learns of their bond, he stops at nothing to ensure that they never meet again. As the years pass and the threat of war becomes a reality, Sam is involved in a tragic incident that will affect both his and Rosie’s lives more than they could ever have imagined. Life will never be the same in Thornsby, but will Rosie find the happiness she yearns for?

‘I’m going to live in that house, Dad. One day I’ll be mistress of Thornsby Manor . . .’ It is 1910 in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Young Rosie Waterhouse lives with her father, Sam, well known as the local poacher, in a cottage on the Thornsby estate. The land is owned by William Ramsey, a harsh and heartless man who is determined his only son, Byron, should marry well and produce an heir. Rosie is quick to learn the tricks of her father’s trade and it’s when she’s poaching fish from the estate’s stream that she meets Byron. They continue to meet in secret over the coming months and, as their friendship blossoms, they recognize that, despite their vastly different backgrounds, they are destined to be together. When William learns of their bond, he stops at nothing to ensure that they never meet again. As the years pass and the threat of war becomes a reality, Sam is involved in a tragic incident that will affect both his and Rosie’s lives more than they could ever have imagined. Life will never be the same in Thornsby, but will Rosie find the happiness she yearns for?

The famous swimming Ladies of Hampstead ponds bring us their favourite walks with a dip in London and south east England, all accessible by train. Featuring secret lakes, river meadows and sandy seaside beaches, this is the perfect way to escape the city and leave the car at home this summer.

Concluding the Fleethaven Trilogy, in Reap the Harvest, Margaret Dickinson brings the 1950s vividly to life with a story of secrets and love, buried under years of pride and misunderstanding. Following the disastrous floods of 1953, Ella Hilton is compelled to live at Brumbys' Farm with her grandmother, Esther, and is soon acutely aware of the mysterious surrounding her family's past. As Ella grows up and falls in love herself, the story of three generations of women - Esther, Kate and Ella - comes full circle and history seems destined to repeat itself in tragedy.

In Secrets at Bletchley Park by Margaret Dickinson, two young women from very different backgrounds meet in the Second World War and are plunged into a life where security and discretion are paramount. But both have secrets of their own to hide . . . In 1929, life for ten-year-old Mattie Price, born and raised in the back streets of Sheffield, is tough. With a petty thief for a father and a mother who turns to the bottle to cope with her husband's brutish ways, it is left to the young girl and her brother, Joe, to feed and care for their three younger siblings. But Mattie has others rooting for her too. The Spencer family, who live at the top of the same street, and Mattie's teachers recognize that the girl is clever beyond her years and they, and Joe, are determined that she shall have the opportunity in life she deserves. Victoria Hamilton, living in the opulence of London's Kensington, has all the material possessions that a young girl could want. But her mother, Grace, a widow from the Great War, is cold and distant, making no secret of the fact that she never wanted a child. Grace lives her life in the social whirl of upper-class society, leaving Victoria in the care of her governess and the servants. At eleven years old, Victoria is sent to boarding school where, for the first time in her young life, she is able to make friends of her own age. Mattie and Victoria are both set on a path that will bring them together at Bletchley Park in May 1940. An unlikely friendship between the two young women is born and together they will face the rest of the war keeping the nation's secrets and helping to win the fight. They can tell no one, not even their families, about their work or even where they are. But keeping secrets is second nature to both of them . . .

The first in her much-loved Fleethaven Trilogy, Margaret Dickinson's Plough the Furrow begins the story of Esther, and her determination and dedication to the Lincolnshire farm land. Lincolnshire, 1910. Shunned by her own family, desperate for work and a place to stay, Esther Everatt walks through the night to Sam Brumby's farm, seeking the chance to earn her keep. Reluctantly, the old man takes her on. Able to work alongside any man, Esther soon earns Sam's grudging respect and affection, and at last feels she has found a home she can call her own. But her peace and security are cruelly shattered when old Sam dies: as a woman, she has no right to inherit the lease on the farm. Believing that her passion lies solely with the land and a place of her own, Esther prepares to risk everything to secure her future - seeking marriage with a local farmhand. But as war arrives to dash the hopes of a generation, Esther begins to discover that it is only the truest of love that can survive the passing of the seasons . . . Continue the tale of love in Lincolnshire with Sow the Seed and Reap the Harvest.

Family and friendship mean everything under the darkening skies of wartime Britain, by Sunday Times bestselling author Margaret Dickinson. It is the 1930s and the Maitland family have spent the years following the Great War struggling to come to terms with its catastrophic aftermath, and their hopes now lie with the next generation. Their Lincolnshire village of Doddington suffered terrible loss and it has taken great courage for the bereaved families to rebuild their lives without their loved ones. When war is declared again, it is Daisy Maitland and her peers who must now take up the fight for freedom. Feisty and a daredevil like her beloved Aunt Pips, who spent World War One on the front line serving with a flying ambulance corps, Daisy had persuaded a family friend to teach her to fly as a young woman. Now her country is at war, she is determined to put her skills to good use, enlisting in the Air Transport Auxiliary. There she forges new friendships - but she never forgets her childhood friend and cousin, Luke, who has joined the RAF as a fighter pilot. As war rages in the skies and on the ground, Daisy, her friends and her family - at home and across the Channel - will find their bravery and strength tested to the very limits in their determination to save their country. And they have learned one of the most valuable lessons of all: true love will find a way.

The Poppy Girls is the first title in The Maitland Trilogy, by bestselling author Margaret Dickinson. Even amidst the horror of the trenches, friendship will survive . . . Thwarted in her desire to become a doctor like her brother Robert, Pips Maitland rebels against her mother's wishes that she settle down and raise children. However, when Robert brings home a friend from medical school, Giles Kendall, it seems perhaps Pips might fall in love with an acceptable suitor after all. But the year is 1914 and the future is uncertain. Hearing that her father's friend, Dr John Hazelwood, is forming a flying ambulance corps to take to the front lines, Pips is determined to become one of its nurses and asks Alice Dawson, her maid, to go with her. Robert and Giles offer their services as doctors, and Alice's brother William joins them as a stretcher bearer. Nothing could have prepared them for the horrific sights they encounter. Moving their unit close to the fighting to offer first aid as quickly as possible puts them all in constant danger. But even amidst the barrage of shelling and gunfire, the unending stream of injured being brought to their post, the love between Pips and Giles survives and blossoms just like the poppies of Flanders fields. Fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin will love The Poppy Girls. Continue the story of the Maitland family with The Brooklands Girls.

Tangled Threads is a gripping romantic saga from Margaret Dickinson. For Eveleen Hardcastle life gets no better than growing up on Pear Tree Farm in the Lincolnshire countryside. Her family works hard for the Dunsmore estate and Eveleen finds it impossible to resist the charms of their employer's son, Stephen Dunsmore. But Jimmy, ever quick to antagonize, ensures that his sister's clandestine trysts do not remain so for long. Mary Hardcastle reacts to the news of her daughter's affair with a shocking ferocity, which seems to be born more of bitterness than maternal protectiveness. But what is it that fuels Mary's resentment towards her daughter? Unable to ignore her own feelings, Eveleen continues to meet Stephen in secret. But deception has a cruel price to pay when her beloved father is found dead from a heart attack. And worse yet, Stephen, far from providing Eveleen with the comfort she craves, deserts her in her hour of need and callously evicts the Hardcastles from the farm. Suddenly homeless, Eveleen is left to take the family reins and she fights to make a new life for her family in Nottinghamshire. And then she makes a stunning discovery about her mother's past which changes all their lives for ever . . . Continue the story of the Hardcastle family with the sequel Twisted Strands.

There are some things which even the closest friendship cannot survive . . . Welcome Home is an enthralling and moving drama from bestselling author Margaret Dickinson, set during the Second World War. Neighbours Edie Kelsey and Lil Horton have been friends for over twenty years, sharing the joys and sorrows of a tough life as the wives of fishermen in Grimsby. So it was no surprise that their children were close and that Edie's son, Frank, and Lil's daughter, Irene, would fall in love and marry at a young age. But the declaration of war in 1939 changed everything. Frank went off to fight, and Irene and baby, Tommy, along with Edie's youngest son are sent to the countryside for safety. With Edie's husband, Archie, fishing the dangerous waters in the North Sea and daughter Beth in London doing 'important war work', Edie's family is torn apart. Friendship sustains Edie and Lil, but tragedy follows and there's also concern that Beth seems to have disappeared. But it is Irene's return, during the VE day celebrations, that sends shock waves through the family and threatens to tear Edie and Lil's friendship apart forever.

The second part of the Fleethaven Trilogy, Sow the Seed is a moving and evocative wartime saga from Margaret Dickinson. Lincolnshire, 1926. Kate Hilton is devastated when her mother tells her she is to be sent away to boarding school. For the more Esther tries to keep her from her childhood sweetheart, Danny, the more determined she is to marry him. It isn't until she is eighteen, and finally told the bitter truth about her family's past, that Kate is forced to see why she and Danny can never marry. Torn apart by these revelations, Kate finds unexpected release with the outbreak of war, when she leaves Fleethaven Point to become a driver in the WAAF. In the chaos and destruction of the war years, Kate will witness many things. For as well as all the pain, suffering and loss, she will experience her first taste of a love that finally allows her to leave the past behind . . . The Fleethaven Trilogy concludes with Reap the Harvest.