1945. The people of Liverpool, after six years of terror and grief and getting by, are making the best of the hard-won peace, none more so than the ebullient O'Sheas. They welcome widowed Mary O'Malley from Dublin, her young son Kevin, and Breda, her bold strap of a sister, with open arms and hearts.

Mary is determined to make a fresh start for her family, despite Breda, who is soon up to her old tricks. At first all goes well, and Mary begins to build an understanding with their new neighbour Chris Kennedy - until events take a dramatic turn that puts Chris beyond her reach. Forced to leave the shelter of the O'Sheas' home, humiliated and bereft, Mary faces a future that is suddenly uncertain once more. But she knows that life has to go on...

Lizzie and Celia are the best of friends. But their families, the Miltons and the Slatterys, are the worst of enemies, divided by religion and by status. So their friendship is a carefully guarded secret, for if Celia's father Charlie ever heard of it he would beat her to within an inch of her life. Then one day the unthinkable happens. Joe Slattery, Lizzie's brother, does a good turn for the Milton family and rescues their youngest from a grievous accident. From that day forth, Celia Milton just can't get Joe out of her mind. And, despite himself, Joe Slattery is increasingly drawn to Celia and to a love that seems doomed to heartbreak - unless they can find a way around the prejudice of generations and the terrifying bigotry of Charlie Milton...

On the face of it, friends Leah Cavendish and Nora O'Brian have little in common: Nora is a domestic and Leah the daughter of a wealthy haulage magnate. But both are isolated members of the opulent Cavendish household and, spirited young women, they instantly recognise kindred spirits in each other. So when Nora is unfairly flung on to the streets by Leah's grasping brother-in-law, Leah follows her, defiantly declaring her intention to move into a house in Liverpool's docklands, alongside Nora and her impoverished family. But nothing can prepare Leah for the squalor that greets her in Oil Street. Nor for the impact of meeting Sean Maguire, Nora's proud and handsome Irish neighbour...

Since they were kids in the backstreets of Liverpool, brother and sister Georgie and Katie Deegan have fought like cat and dog. Now Katie is at Moorehouse's lemonade factory, whilst Georgie has a good job at the B & A - and when he comes home he puts his feet up. Unlike Katie, who does her turn in their mother Molly's fish and game shop. Yet when their father dies suddenly, Georgie assumes the shop is his - and that his chance has come to rule the Deegan roost. Katie has other ideas, as does her strong-minded mother Molly. But, as World War II draws closer and Georgie's illegal money-making schemes gain momentum, neither Katie nor her mother has any idea what troubles lie in store for the women whose lives the ruthless Georgie Deegan is set to control - at any cost...

Alice O'Connor's poor family lives in the heart of Liverpool's toughest slum. Her bullying father drinks away what little he earns, whilst Nelly, her careworn mother, works when she can and begs when she can't. Since she was five young Alice has also begged in the streets around the docks but she has managed to hold on to the hope of something better, a stubborn optimism that keeps her head held high even in her lowest moments. For Alice knows she has a gift that allows her to rise above the fate that made her life so bitterly hard. Alice O'Connor can sing like an angel... It's a gift that will take her far though it is to Liverpool she will always return. But is it enough to bring her the success she needs - and the love and happiness she so desperately craves?

The Great War had ended and Scotland Road was left to count the cost. Many young men had not come back; those who had would never be the same again. Dee Chatterton and Abbie Kerrigan had seen the horrors of war for themselves as nurses in military hospitals abroad. While Abbie settled down in the familiar surroundings of Scotland Road, for others, different horizons beckoned. Dee went to live in Canada, while their friend Hannah Harvey became personal nurse to none other than Richard, seventh Earl of Ashenden, badly injured in the war. Moving to the splendours of Ashenden Hall was to bring her unimagined happiness, but also the heartache of being separated for ever from her family and friends.

The Chatterton family is far too posh for the Liverpool slums where they've ended up. Nancy Butterworth and Abbie Kerrigan, lifelong residents of the place, tried to befriend Dee Chatterton, but her mother wants her to have nothing to do with such rough children. The Burgess family looks forward to the arrival of their young cousin Sean from Dublin, and Nancy is not the first to lose her heart to the Irish charmer. In 1914 things are to change dramatically, and the families are to find that money and social position mean nothing when the horrors of the First World War invade their lives and take away their sons.

Maggie May, born into the slums of Liverpool in the 1880s, had many difficulties to cope with - a drunken father, the early death of her gentle mother, and the grinding poverty of their lives. But most of all, she had to endure the shame of her name - that of the city's most notorious prostitute. Taking care of her younger brother and desperately trying to live down her name, Maggie manages to escape from Liverpool to enjoy an idyllic new life. But fate forces her back again and into the arms of a stranger who is to bring her both heartbreak and the greatest happiness she will ever know.

Working as a lady's maid to Miss Olivia Mercer in Liverpool in 1919, Phoebe-Ann Parkinson dreams of a grander future. But when a tragic attack threatens her sister Emily's life, Phoebe-Ann is driven from the Mercer household and into the arms of Jake, one of the notorious, drunken Malone clan. Phoebe-Ann is abandoned by her family, and her dreams are turning into a nightmare. But as Emily begins to recover, Phoebe-Ann is able to look forward to leaving Liverpool and her past behind her.

Life was not easy for widowed George Vannin and his young daughter but somehow George had raised the child alone and Ellan adored her father. She was ten when the shaft at Foxdale Mine collapsed, and her father never came up. From then on she lived with Aunt Maud, a dour woman with a quick temper. Her husband had died in a mining accident too, and she never forgave the family at the Big House for their part in the tragedy. When Ellan was offered a chance to better herself at the Big House, Aunt Maud savagely forbade it. Ellan's chance was yet to come, but it was to be many years before happiness was finally within her grasp.

Aunt Babsey considered herself a cut above her neighbours on Everton Ridge. For one thing she was 'trade'. She taught her children to be respectable, and she ruled her family with a rod of iron. Fourteen-year-old Louisa was the only one who didn't quite fit in. With her mother dead and her father away at sea, she was becoming increasingly aware of the grinding poverty of the thirties. The tough conditions of Liverpool - love, war, betrayal, death - all made her determined to seek her own path, both in the man she loved, and the work which would eventually make her famous throughout the city as Liverpool Lou.

They were called the Sisters O'Donnell in County Tipperary. All with flaming red hair and tempers to match, they came to seek their fortunes in 1920s Liverpool full of ambition and hope. Gina planned to be a star of the theatre, Mary Kate wanted to find a husband. And gentle, timid Bridget just wanted to get away from the fighting around her and have a calm, peaceful life. But Liverpool wasn't what they thought it would be. Work was impossible to find and their money was running out. And the O'Donnell girls had a long way to go before they could realise some of their dreams.

"A brilliant book in the style of Cookson or Cox, a wonderful tale rich in detail and storyline. Well worth reading if anyone enjoys historical or period novels." - reader comment on goodreads.com

Cat Cleary is a sixteen-year-old Irish 'slummy' arriving in Liverpool to seek and make her fortune. Joe Calligan, a young steam-packet deckhand, think she's the loveliest girl he's ever seen and hasn't the heart to tell her that Liverpool is full of people tramping the streets looking for work. And then Cat sees the White Empress, the huge luxury liner. In that moment her ambition is born - to be chief stewardess on the world's great liner. In spite of her poverty, her lack of education, her family background, Cat Cleary sets about realising her incredible dream.

"I want so badly to tell you about this book and why you should read it but there are not enough words to tell you how wonderful this book is. " - reader comment on goodreads.com