Lilian Harry

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  • Bibliography:
    34 Books (4 Series)
  • First Book:
    August 1994
  • Latest Book:
    August 2017
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About the Author

Donna Thomson was born in Gosport, near Portsmouth Harbour, England, UK. Growing up during the terrifying years of the Blitz in a two-up, two-down terraced house, the youngest of four, she aspired to be a writer from an early age. As a young woman she worked in the Civil Service and moved to Devon to be near her sailor husband. They had a son and a daughter. When the marriage ended, she and her two children moved to the Midlands, where she happily married again to her second husband. After living in the Lake District for twelve years, she finally moved back to Devon, and now lives in a village on the edge of Dartmoor. She lost her son Philip in 2008, and has two grandchildren. A keen walker and animal-lover, she now has a dog and three ginger cats to keep her busy, along with a wide range of hobbies she enjoys.

She started signing her romance novels as Donna Baker and Nicola West, now she also writes as Lilian Harry (inspired by the first names of her grandparents). Among her works are historical novels, romances and even two books giving advice on how to write short stories and novels.

Full Series List in Order

April Grove, a Street at War

1 - Goodbye Sweetheart (Aug-1994)
2 - The Girls They Left Behind (Oct-1995)
3 - Keep Smiling Through (Jul-1996)
4 - Moonlight and Lovesongs (May-1997)
5 - Tuppence to Spend (Jan-2003)
6 - Under the Apple Tree (Jan-2004)
7 - Dance Little Lady (Jun-2004)
8 - A Farthing Will Do (Jul-2005)

Burracombe Village

1 - The Bells of Burracombe (Jan-2006)
2 - A Stranger in Burracombe (Jan-2007)
3 - Storm Over Burracombe (Jul-2007)
4 - Springtime in Burracombe (Sep-2009)
5 - An Heir for Burracombe (Aug-2010)
6 - Secrets in Burracombe (Aug-2011)
7 - Snowfall in Burracombe (Sep-2012)
8 - Weddings in Burracombe (Jun-2013)
9 - Celebrations in Burracombe (Aug-2014)
10 - Changes in Burracombe (Aug-2015)

Corner House

1 - Corner House Girls (Jul-2000)
2 - Kiss the Girls Goodbye (Mar-2001)
3 - P.S. I Love You (Apr-2002)

Haslar Saga

1 - A Girl Called Thursday (Jul-2002)
2 - A Promise to Keep (Jul-2003)

Book List in Order: 34 titles

  • Goodbye Sweetheart

    April Grove, a Street at War - 1

    Like any street, April Grove in Portsmouth has its good and bad neighbours, its gossip, scandal and romance. But the outbreak of war in 1939 changes everything - especially for the children. Uprooted from their familiar urban existence they are evacu...

  • The Girls They Left Behind

    April Grove, a Street at War - 2

    The second novel in the April Grove series, following the lives of working-class families during the Second World War.It is 1940, and the neighbours in April Grove are close knit, patriotic and proud - but the onset of the Blitz tests their loyalties...

  • Keep Smiling Through

    April Grove, a Street at War - 3

    Continuing the powerful Second World War saga about the lives, hopes and fears of the families in April Grove.May 1941 - and the people of April Grove, Portsmouth are beginning to feel the war will never end. Families are being torn apart, not only b...

  • Moonlight and Lovesongs

    April Grove, a Street at War - 4

    As the Second World War enters its final year the spirit of the close-knit community in April Grove, Portsmouth refuses to die. Teenager Carol Glaister, forced to give up her baby son, becomes increasingly obsessed by the need to find him again. Ambi...

  • Love and Laughter

    A delightfully warm novel about the rebuilding of lives in Plymouth and Portsmouth after the Second World War.The War is over at last and in Plymouth and Portsmouth, two of Britain's greatest seaports, and the task of rebuilding must begin. But it is...

  • Wives and Sweethearts

    A novel of love, separation, infidelity and indecision set in the 1950s and 1960sClare and Kathy are young, inexperienced and very much in love with their men. But being 'married to the Navy' is harder than either of them imagined. With a husband at ...

  • Corner House Girls

    Corner House - 1

    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 h...

  • Kiss the Girls Goodbye

    Corner House - 2

    In the second installment of the charming Corner House Girls series, Lilian Harry has crafted another tale of ordinary families facing the horrors of war, bringing people, events and history alive in her inimitable way. December 31, 1939 was the f...

  • P.S. I Love You

    Corner House - 3

    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...



  • A Girl Called Thursday

    Haslar Saga - 1

    A terrifically compelling wartime story of love and loss from the author of A SONG AT TWILIGHT.Born at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, Mary and Walter Tilford's baby daughter is named Thursday. It was meant to be ...

  • Tuppence to Spend

    April Grove, a Street at War - 5

    A vivid wartime saga of colour and authenticity capturing both the harshness and the warmth of life during the dark days of the Second World War.Dan Hodges is devastated when his wife Nora dies during the early days of the war. Working long hours in ...

  • Two Great Novels: Goodbye Sweetheart and he Girls They Left Behind

    in Two Great Novels

    GOODBYE SWEETHEART The outbreak of war in 1939 changes everything for the people of April Grove in Portsmouth. Many couples are separated and children evacuated, not knowing when, or if, they will ever be reunited. THE GIRLS THEY LEFT BEHIND In 1940 ...

  • A Promise to Keep

    Haslar Saga - 2

    A powerful and evocative saga - the sequel to A GIRL CALLED THURSDAY.When Thursday Tilford returns to Haslar Hospital after two years serving as a VAD in Egypt, she finds many changes. With the town packed with troops waiting to leave for the Normand...

  • Under the Apple Tree

    April Grove, a Street at War - 6

    Another wonderful wartime saga from this much-loved author.Portsmouth, January 1941. When the Luftwaffe unleashes its full fury on the city in the first of three major blitzes, the Taylor family are bombed out. Judy finds her job relocated from the g...

  • Dance Little Lady

    April Grove, a Street at War - 7

    An absorbing Sunday Times bestselling wartime saga from this much-loved author.Kate, Sally, Maxine and Elsie work at the naval armament depot on the shores of Portsmouth harbour. The hours are long and the work difficult and dangerous, but even in th...

  • Three Little Ships

    Lilian Harry's engrossing wartime saga about the heroes and heroines of Dunkirk.During just nine days in the early summer of 1940, nearly eight hundred 'little ships', from lifeboats and passenger steamers to small private yachts and dinghies, set of...

  • A Farthing Will Do

    April Grove, a Street at War - 8

    A heart-rending wartime saga, bringing the reality of the end of war to the people of April Grove and Bridge End.Ruth, Lizzie and Heather each have their own reasons for greeting the end of the war with mixed feelings. For Ruth, it means she must fac...

  • The Bells of Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 1

    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 ...

  • A Song at Twilight

    A powerful novel from bestselling author Lilian Harry, set in and around a Devon airfield during the Second World War.It is 1943, and the quiet of Harrowbeer, in Devon, is disrupted by increased activity at the nearly airfield built at the beginning ...



  • A Stranger in Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 2

    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 stran...

  • Storm Over Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 3

    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 sh...

  • A Penny a Day

    April Grove and Burracombe characters are linked in this touching Lilian Harry novel.It is December 1952. A wedding is being planned in April Grove, Portsmouth, and Jess and Frank Budd want to bring together all their friends and neighbours. They eve...

  • Springtime in Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 4

    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 ...

  • An Heir for Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 5

    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 R...

  • Secrets in Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 6

    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 ou...

  • Snowfall in Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 7

    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 sca...

  • Weddings in Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 8

    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...

  • A Burracombe Easter

    Everyone has a secret in their past: discover the hidden lives of some of the best-loved residents of Burracombe.Escape to the little Devonshire village that feels like home with this compelling Burracombe short story.On Easter day in 1918, as the Gr...

  • Celebrations in Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 9

    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 ...



  • A Burracombe Christmas

    A short story to whisk you away on a festive trip to the Devonshire village where life is full of surprisesSteal a glimpse at the past lives and loves of your favourite villagers in this captivating Burracombe short story. Autumn 1918 has brought you...

  • Changes in Burracombe

    Burracombe Village - 10

    Hilary Napier has had enough of secrets. The engagement party at the Barton is finally a chance for her and David to celebrate their good news with friends and family. But the course of true love never did run smooth and with obstacles springing u...

  • Surprises in Burracombe

    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 consi...

  • Farewell to Burracombe

    The heartwarming final installment of the Burracombe series in a Devonshire village that's a home from homeThe 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...

  • A Child in Burracombe

    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 me...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Lilian Harry has published 34 books.

Lilian Harry does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, A Child in Burracombe, was published in August 2017.

The first book by Lilian Harry, Goodbye Sweetheart, was published in August 1994.

Yes. Lilian Harry has 4 series.
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