Search results for ""author lilian harry""

The beginning of the beloved village series from Sunday Times bestselling author Lilian Harry.When Stella Simmons comes to the Devonshire village of Burracombe to start her teaching career, she is alone in the world. Orphaned as child and brought up in a children's home, she was separated from her sister Muriel and has never been able to trace her. Stella is soon caught up in the life of the village, and especially in the plans for celebrating the Festival of Britain. As headmistress Miss Kemp and vicar Basil Harvey try to keep the peace between villagers, who all have their own ideas for the proposed pageant and fair, Stella tries, with the help of artist Luke Ferris, to find her sister. But Luke has his own troubles...THE BELLS OF BURRACOMBE begins the story of life in a Devonshire village in the 1950s and shows us a picture of Britain coming to terms with the aftermath of the Second World War and entering a new decade.

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Hilary Napier has had enough of secrets. Her engagement party is a chance for her and David to finally celebrate their good news. But with obstacles springing up on all sides, there may be more than the dress and venue to arrange before she can consider walking down the aisle. Frances and James are doing their best to ignore their feelings for each other as they organise the school play. Can Frances find a way to let herself love again?Amid all the drama, old friends are always on hand, and when Dottie falls ill, a familiar face comes back to Burracombe to lift her spirits and perhaps change her life.With surprises around every corner, life is never dull in this beautiful Devonshire village . . .

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Come home to Burracombe - the village where life is full of surprises...A seemingly sleepy Devonshire village, Burracombe is in fact full of intrigue and drama. Family secrets, budding romance, cruel twists of fate and amazing friendships all play out against the backdrop of the beautiful countryside.It's autumn 1953. The village is delighted when Joe Tozer - who left Burracombe as a young man in 1919 - returns to visit his family. His life since emigrating to the States has been a world away from rural Devon, but coming home, he falls in love with the place (and one particular person) all over again. With him is his eldest son, Russell. He sets hearts fluttering in the village - but will there be anyone on his arm when he catches the boat back to America?

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Set in a Lyons Corner House in London, this is the third compelling novel in the series set against the backdrop of the Second World War.The war is progressing for the Nippies, the girls who work at the Lyons Corner House in Marble Arch. With the air raids, rationing and blackouts, life no longer has the carefree attitude it used to have. But new pain and pleasure await as everyone decides what effort they can make towards victory. Jo yearns for Nick, but the burns he sustained when he was shot down are life-changing and need the new procedure of plastic surgery. Will their marriage ever go ahead? And does Jo want it to? She loses herself in her new role as lumberjill, one of the women hewing timber for the war effort. Meanwhile, Phyl has been selected, along with some other trusted Nippies, for secret work. Far from family and friends, she works with munitions and tries to forget her desire to be a Wren. Her husband is far away but she never loses faith that one day they will be reunited...

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The day that Hilary and David have been waiting for has finally arrived and as the church bells ring out for the arrival of the bride, everyone's fingers are crossed for the day to go without a hitch. The festivities set the tone for the year ahead and there's more love in the air in Burracombe as planning continues for both Dottie and Joe's and Frances and James's nuptials. There's nothing like a wedding to bring the village together.Times are changing in Burracombe and as young and old embark on new adventures it's time to say goodbye. But with friends like these, a goodbye is rarely for ever, so instead we'll say a very fond farewell.Return to Burracombe in Lilian's next book, A Child in Burracombe, a prequel to the series that will show you where it all began...

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A heart-warming visit to the village of Burracombe where, whatever life might throw at you - strangers, surprises, love, change - you can always rely upon your neighbours and friends.Devon, 1954. The villagers of Burracombe pull together to help each other through the tough times but now it's summer, and a time to celebrate love and new life. Even so, there are still a few surprises to come...At Burracombe Barton, Hilary Napier is doing her best to keep the estate ticking along, all the while longing for a man she cannot have. She welcomes help from young Patsy Shillabeer - but Patsy is more headstrong than she first appears, and there's trouble brewing.And all is not well in the village school, where a strict new teacher appears to be making the lives of the little ones a misery. And almost everyone is missing their beloved teacher Stella, still in hospital after the accident that nearly killed her.As the first crocuses bring colour and the promise of change back to Burracombe, the villagers help each other through the hardships. For, while the course of true love never did run smooth for anyone, in Burracombe there are weddings to plan and it won't be long before everyone in this very special village comes together in a joyful celebration of love, life and the things that matter most.

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Through the hard times and the good, true friends stand side by side. Set in Devon, the terrific new novel in the feel-good Burracombe series.The latest book in the Burracombe series, CELEBRATIONS IN BURRACOMBE draws together many threads of life in the little Devonshire village where triumph and tragedy have always rubbed shoulders.It's the late 1950s, and change is in the air. For the Napier family, up at the big house, the old ways are shifting. Hilary must discover if reaching out for a chance of happiness must mean breaking away from the life expected of her, while Patsy, their young housekeeper's help, is facing motherhood without her own family around her.Down the hill from the Napiers, villagers young and old are setting out on adventures - Stella and Felix begin married life, change comes to the village school and the Tozer family continue to find surprises in their midst. Warm, poignant and heartfelt, CELEBRATIONS IN BURRACOMBE serves up another delicious slice of country life.

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Tragedy threatens the Devonshire village of Burracombe...There's trouble afoot in Burracombe...Hilary Napier is upset and angry when her father brings in a new manager for the family estate which she has been running for the past year. Even though she cannot help liking Travis Kellaway, she resents his presence. But before long, she begins to appreciate Travis's strength and compassion, and she finds herself drawn to him.Meanwhile, life in the village is enlivened by the new drama club, formed by energetic young curate Felix Copley. Almost the entire village becomes involved in the pantomime he decides to organise - with results they didn't quite plan for! Then tragedy strikes, making everyone realise exactly what is important in their lives...

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The first in the Corner House series, set in a Lyons Corner House in London on the brink of the Second World War.When cousins Jo and Phyl decide to become Lyons Corner House waitresses, or 'Nippies', as they are known for their speedy service, they have no idea how their lives are about to change. They are whisked from family life in Woolwich to digs in London; they are transported from a factory and a grocer's shop to the wonderful dining rooms of Lyons, Marble Arch, and they swap their old overalls for the smart uniforms of the Corner House girls. Jo and Phyl settle in and make friends with both waitresses and customers. There are boyfriends, lovers and fiancés, friendship and romance, but as the Second World War becomes increasingly imminent, the future of these men and women seems more and more uncertain.

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It may be winter, but in the Devonshire village of Burracombe there is always warmth and friendship, no matter what troubles arise...In the village of Burracombe, nothing stays secret for long and behind the peaceful, rural charm there's always a scandal to uncover, a newcomer to the village to set tongues wagging, a happy occasion to celebrate or friends to help their neighbours through the tough times.It's December 1953 and for Stella Simmons, recovering from a car crash, the winter wedding that she and her sweetheart had planned seems impossible. Elsewhere in the village, Jackie Tozer is dreaming of America and Hilary Napier, who thought the war had robbed her of her chance of happiness, has to ask herself if she could ever imagine leaving her life at the big house for the sake of love and adventure. The darkest time of the year finds everyone asking questions with no easy answer.As snow falls softly on the village, Burracombe proves once again that there's always a surprise just around the corner.

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A beautiful tale in the bestselling series set in a Devon village in the 1950s.Like the rest of the nation, the Burracombe villagers are shocked when King George the Sixth dies suddenly in 1952. But in the midst of their grief, the arrival of a stranger in the village on the very same day goes almost unnoticed, as the villagers have their own concerns...Farmer's daughter Val needs to find a home before she can marry her sweetheart; Hilary is struggling to come to terms with her new responsibilities, and Stella is still getting to know the sister she thought she had lost during the war. While the children at the village school are as lively and inquisitive as ever, there are still conflicts and feuds among the long-standing residents of Burracombe.Then a search for a family draws the whole village together, and more than one person is led to question their own ideas about families and what they mean.

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A warm and compelling tale, part of Lilian Harry's terrific Dartmoor-based series.The village of Burracombe is looking forward to the Coronation, but 1953 is to prove to be a year of heartbreak as well as celebration. While Stella begins to plan her wedding, her sister Maddy is only just coming to terms with the loss of her own fiancé; Val and Luke are wondering if they will ever become parents, and Hilary's chances of marriage seem at first to come closer, then to recede. The Tozer family also face anxiety. As grandmother Minnie fights for her life, Tom and Joanna's premature twins battle with their own crisis and Jackie, working and living in Plymouth, is determined to live her own life.Meanwhile, the life of the village goes on, with all its ups and downs, its feuds and differences. Bossy Joyce Warren tries to organise everything and everyone, Miss Kemp and Stella plan yet another event for the school, Jacob Prout strives to keep Burracombe looking its best for the festivities - and romance comes from a quite unexpected direction...

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Set in a Lyon's Corner House in London, this is the second novel in the series set against the backdrop of the Second World War which began with CORNER HOUSE GIRLS.'The Corner House was making a good job of New Year's Eve, despite the bad weather, the blackout, the looming threat of rationing...The Nippies were dashing to and fro with their big silver trays and the war seemed suddenly far away.' So begins 1940 for the Nippies at the Lyons Corner House at Marble Arch. But despite putting on a cheerful face for the customers, the war is taking its toll on all the waitresses: for Maggie, married just a few hours and then parted from her husband; for Jo and Phyl, anxiously waiting for news from their fiancés; for Etty, and the constant jibes she faces about her background; and even for Irene, who begins a new friendship which is not all it appears to be...

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Return to Burracombe in this warm and charming prequel to Lilian Harry's Burracombe series and journey back to where it all began . . .Devon, 1943. In the village of Burracombe, 'Dig for Victory' is more than just a wartime slogan. While the young men are away, everyone at home knows the war effort needs them too. Whether it's Land Girls on the farms, wives and mothers having to make do and mend, or the villagers knowing how to stretch rations to keep spirits bright, there is always something to be done to help.When the Barton is requisitioned as a children's home for war orphans, all of Burracombe rallies round to welcome their newest arrivals, particularly little Maddy Simmons. Still reeling from losing her mother and brother in the Plymouth blitz, and her father being killed at sea, now in a cruel twist, Maddy has been sent to a different children's home to her beloved sister.As Maddy explores the village and makes new friends, she begins to feel at home and realises that Burracombe is the kind of place where you will always have someone to turn to, even when times are hard. Could this be somewhere she could finally call home?This heart-warming story gives a different perspective to the village as it adapts to the struggles of wartime and explores the story of a much-loved character in the wonderful Burracombe series.

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There's nowhere quite like Burracombe - a village full of warmth and intrigue...It's a summer's day in 1953 that turns Hilary Napier's life upside down. When Marianne, a beautiful French woman, knocks on her door, Hilary can't help but be struck by Robert, the young boy with her. He has the same eyes as the brother she lost in the war. As she listens to Marianne's sad tale, she realises that her soldier brother lives on in the son he never met. But this is only the first revelation...As the village of Burracombe tries to make sense of the strangers in their midst, there is also much to celebrate. A wedding is being planned, a birth is imminent and a courtship just beginning. Yet, as always, life is complicated, and some people must learn cruel truths about the world...

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