The Heart of the Family — Annie Groves

The much-loved author of ACROSS THE MERSEY tells of Liverpool under bombardment as never before â€" but the Campion family refuses to give in.

The Campions have always stuck together through danger and sorrow, but even they begin to wonder if it's time to take their youngest, the twins, to safety away from the bombing raids. The twins have other worries on their minds; having been inseparable, they now realise that they each have different ambitions â€" and Lou isn't sure she'll find what she wants close to home.

Meanwhile, cousin Bella is managing a creche and discovers that life isn't all about pleasure. She's the last person her family would expect to help anyone; but when a figure from the past turns up on the doorstep, Bella's unexpected reserves of compassion are revealed.

From hardship and heartbreak, surviving the toughest of times, the Campions know they can make it through if they have one another.

Reviews

Praise for Annie Groves:

‘An engrossing story.' My Weekly

‘A stirring and heartrending family saga…Against a backdrop of change when the suffragette movement was coming to the fore, the choices and dreams of a generation of women combine to create this passionate story.' Liverpool Daily Post

‘Heartwrenching and uplifting in equal measure â€" a tragic indictment of what can happen when you swap passion for duty. Roll on the sequel!' Take a Break

‘Written from the heart' My Weekly

‘Shows how courage, love and devotion can shine out even in the darkest times' Northern Echo

About the author

Annie Groves was born and lived in the north-west of England all of her life. She was the author of the Pride family series, Ellie Pride, Connie's Courage and Hettie of Hope Street, for which she drew upon her own family's history, picked up from listening to her grandmother's stories when she was a child. Her next set of novels was the World War II series Goodnight Sweetheart, Some Sunny Day, The Grafton Girls and As Time Goes By. These were followed by the Campion series, Across the Mersey, Daughters of Liverpool, The Heart of the Family, Where the Heart Is and When the Lights Go on Again, which are also based on recollections from members of her family, who come from the city of Liverpool. My Sweet Valentine follows on from Home for Christmas and London Belles and is the third in this series, which introduces a set of glorious characters living in Article Row in Holborn.
Annie Groves, whose real name was Penny Halsall, also wrote under the name of Penny Jordan and was an international bestselling author of over 170 novels with sales of over 84 million copies.
Sadly, Penny Halsall died in 2011. She left a wonderful legacy of heart-warming novels for many more fans to discover and she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
The final books in the Article Row series, Only a Mother Knows and A Christmas Promise, will be published posthumously in 2013.