Annie Groves - Women on the Home Front - Family Saga 4-Book Collection

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2013

Copyright © Annie Groves 2013

Copyright © Pam Weaver 2013

Copyright © Kay Brellend 2013

Copyright © Leah Fleming 2013

The authors above assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: ( London Belles ) 9780007384563, ( Pack Up Your Troubles ) 9780007480449, ( Coronation Day ) 9780007481460, ( The War Widows ) 9780007334971

Ebook Edition © 2013 ISBN: 9780007565023

Version: 2017-09-12

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page WOMEN ON THE HOME FRONT: FAMILY SAGA 4-BOOK COLLECTION LONDON BELLES by Annie Groves PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES by Pam Weaver CORONATION DAY by Kay Brelland and THE WAR WIDOWS by Leah Fleming

Copyright Copyright Copyright London Belles Pack Up Your Troubles Coronation Day The War Widows About the Publisher Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2013 Copyright © Annie Groves 2013 Copyright © Pam Weaver 2013 Copyright © Kay Brellend 2013 Copyright © Leah Fleming 2013 The authors above assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: ( London Belles ) 9780007384563, ( Pack Up Your Troubles ) 9780007480449, ( Coronation Day ) 9780007481460, ( The War Widows ) 9780007334971 Ebook Edition © 2013 ISBN: 9780007565023 Version: 2017-09-12

London Belles

Pack Up Your Troubles

Coronation Day

The War Widows

About the Publisher

ANNIE GROVES

London Belles

Copyright

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © Annie Groves 2011

Annie Groves asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Source ISBN: 9780007361502

Ebook Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780007384563

Version: 2017-09-12

I’d like to dedicate this book to all those who throughout WW2 made do, mended and somehow kept together the fabric of everyday life.

Cover

Title Page ANNIE GROVES London Belles

Copyright

Part One: August 1939

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Part Two: June 1940

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Also by Annie Groves

Part One

August 1939

Chapter One

‘So what are you going to do now that old Bert has finally gone, Olive? I mean, you won’t have his pension any more, will you? Your Tilly might be working up at the hospital as an assistant to the Lady Almoner, but I dare say she isn’t bringing in very much,’ Nancy Black sniffed.

As Olive knew, Nancy had a keen interest in the business of her neighbours and an even keener nose for ‘problems’ of any kind. She was the kind of person who liked spreading doom and gloom; the kind of person who would complain about the noise children made playing innocently together in the street and then go on to extol the virtues of her own daughter and only child. Some people were inclined to call her a bit of a troublemaker but Olive always tried to give her the benefit of the doubt.

The afternoon sunshine sparkled on the immaculately clean windows of Article Row, the narrow byway that wound between the close interweaving of London streets, within the boundaries of Chancery Lane to the west, Farringdon Road to the east, Fleet Street to the south and from High Holborn to Holborn Viaduct to the north.