Lizzie Kershaw is an independent spirit; ever since her father's death she has had to be a survivor. She makes an ill-advised marriage in order to escape her harsh home life. However, she quickly discovers that she has married a selfish and violent man. His beatings are ceaseless and she finds herself compelled to run away. With the help of some suffragettes, she escapes to Manchester, where she finds work in a munitions factory for a while. Sam manages to find her and drags her home. It is only when his violence causes her to lose their unborn baby that Lizzie really finds the strength to make things change, and to find happiness with a man who loves her.

Little Billy is the light of Polly's life—it's for her son's sake that she puts up with an unkind mother-in-law and an isolated farm. Then Billy is knocked down by a car, his father killed attempting to save his life, and Polly, cast off by her husband's family, is left with a child who may never walk or talk again. Polly's own family, the Kershaws, provide all the support they can, but they are unable to outmanoeuvre the malicious Dr Browning-Baker, who is determined to have Billy taken away from his mother, depriving him of the exercises and stimulation that are his only hope. Forced to flee to the Fylde coast, Polly and Billy find that their future may lie with another damaged family—an ex-Army captain whose First World War marriage was a terrible mistake, and his daughter, who has never recovered from the hostility of the mother she loves. But danger threatens their fragile happiness...

Eva Kershaw thought she would never marry, and is happy living a quiet life with her dear friend Alice. But Alice is ill, and her nephew has thrust himself into their household. Alice's dearest wish is that Eva should not make the same mistakes she did, a

Mary Ann is illegitimate and life for the girl in 1905 is hard. It rapidly becomes worse when her new stepfather begins to interfere with her. Sent away at fifteen to bear his child, she meets Gabriel Clough, who helps her escape to Blackpool after the birth. There she works hard and makes a new life for herself. Then the Great War brings her many new opportunities and also brings Gabriel back into her life. But circumstances mean they can’t be together. It’s not until her mother dies that Mary Ann returns to Lancashire, determined to uncover the secrets of her past. Then danger threatens both her and the child she thought she’d lost for ever. Will history repeat itself or will Mary Ann’s courage win her the happiness she deserves? This memorable and poignant tale is a triumphant conclusion to the series of Kershaw sisters’ stories. You can read these books in any order, so if you haven’t read ‘Our Lizzie’, ‘Our Polly’ and ‘Our Eva’, you might like to try them too.