Search results for ""Author Millie Gray""

The streets in Leith are rife with news of the war raging in Europe and the Glass family is struggling to make ends meet. With father Tam taken captive by the Germans, his wife Dinah and his children are left to fear the worst. While Dinah seeks comfort in the arms of visiting G.I.s, the children, including the headstrong Crystal, must learn to cope with the hardships of war, especially when they are forced to evacuate their beloved home. When, miraculously, Tam returns alive, the family realises that only by facing the consequences of the past can they hope to build a more promising future in post-war Scotland. Bestselling author Millie Gray returns to wartime Leith to weave another tale full of warmth and humour, hardship and survival.

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Sally, who married young to escape her appalling childhood, is often left to bitterly reflect on the hand she has been dealt. She is, on the whole, happy caring for her handsome husband, his mother, her own three children, one of whom has a disability, and her Walter Mitty sister. Then suddenly her world comes crashing down when her husband leaves her with no warning. She is helped unexpectedly by a friend whose advice stands her in good stead and by hard work and sheer determination she soon turns around a Leith pub which has a shocking reputation as a house of ill-repute. During all her trials she still finds time to care for her ever increasing family and, having been a victim of abuse, she is always on hand to assist her many, some dubious, friends to realise their potential. But as Sally is to discover, there is no escape from the past and when it comes back to haunt her she is astounded when a family friend supplies some answers to awkward questions which have troubled her all her life. Bestselling author Millie Gray returns to post-war Leith to weave in her own inimitable way a tale of struggle, hardship and intrigue.

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Based in the shipyards of Leith, Silver Linings follows the ups and downs of the Anderson family through the darkest days of the Second World War as they struggle to survive. When war breaks out in 1939 the Anderson family ready themselves for the worst, but nothing can prepare them for the death of matriarch Sandra while giving birth to surprise baby Rosebud. Promising her mother that she will take care of her newborn sister, pampered fifteen-year-old Kitty must abandon her dreams of a career to become the family drudge. And Sandra’s heartbroken husband, Johnny, swears never to remarry and instead finds solace in his work, becoming a respected trade union activist in the shipyards. Yet with the help of Johnny’s domineering mother Jenny and spinster sister Kate, the family find the strength to carry on. And when life throws new opportunities at them, Kitty and Johnny are sorely tempted to pursue happiness where they can find it. But can they live with the guilt of breaking the solemn promises they made to Sandra on her deathbed?

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The prequel to the Campbell family saga. Anna Campbell, a Leith 'worthy' in the full sense of the word, never turns anyone away from her door. The condemned tenement is the home to many families in dire poverty and Anna, known as a 'wise-woman', hatches and despatches and treats all minor ailments for her friends. She dedicates her life to raising six children, four boys and two girls who are not her own. The girls, Rachel and Bella, remain with her into adulthood and despite her care she is horrified when fifteen-year-old Bella becomes pregnant by Gus, someone she had given shelter to in his hour of need. Gus skips the country and is hotly pursued across the world and made to return to marry Bella. The bane of Anna's life is the ne'er-do-weel Gabby, Rachel's father. Little does she realise that her continuing desire for revenge against him will have such a devastating effect on Rachel and also the rest of the family. The story covers an eighteen-year period from 1908. The families struggle to cope with daily life but there are bigger tragedies in store. The sinking of the Titanic, the First World War, the Gretna Rail Disaster, the Spanish flu - all have serious repercussions on the lives of the families involved, and Anna, as ever, is there to help them come to terms with them. The story highlights the amazing Leith community spirit of all concerned who lived through this period.

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