Jane Bailey – författare

''One of the best books I have ever read. More like this please JANE BAILEY'' NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐1966. Nine-year-old Stephanie has an emotionally absent mum, a limp, and a manipulative friend who walks all over her. But everything changes when Stephanie strikes up a relationship with Mr Man, who always seems pleased to see her. Finally, it seems she has a genuine friend.When Stephanie''s friend goes missing in the woods, no one in the neighbourhood appears to know what has happened to her, but someone is lying...1977. Stephanie has spent her life trying to bury the events of that terrible summer. When a man starts following her on the train home from London, she suspects the dark truth of what happened may have finally caught up with her.

Praise for Sorry Isn''t Good Enough:

''There was so much suspense I could feel my heart pound in my chest... This is the first book I''ve read by this author and it certainly will not be the last. Loved it!'' Twilight Reader, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐It was meant to be Caitlin''s perfect summer, but betrayed by her best friend and her boyfriend, she finds herself hitchhiking home alone, heartbroken, and penniless.When a smiling family pulls up on the roadside to help her on her way, she''s relieved - they seem so friendly, safe. And when they offer her a warm bed in their isolated house for the night, she''s grateful not to have to travel back alone in the dark. In any case, she''s in no rush to get home, where a grave secret is lying in wait to blow her family apart.One night soon turns into two, and then three. The increasingly spellbinding couple wants her to stay, and why shouldn''t she? Their children need a tutor, and the longer she can avoid home, the better. But then an older member of the household warns her to leave immediately. And when her phone suddenly goes missing, when she realises that this perfect family is a perfect lie, it might not be so easy for her to leave...A brilliantly suspenseful read, perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Mark Edwards and Claire Douglas.

Read what everyone is saying about Stay:

An RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominee.

In the autumn of 1940, four children meet on a train. Behind them is London, under heavy aerial attack; ahead of them is a ship bound for the safe shores of Canada. Arthur has promised his mother not to let his little brother, Philip, out of his sight. Pippa and Dora are on their own: polar opposites, brought together by the adventure of a lifetime. But disaster strikes mid-Atlantic, and in the chaos one of the children makes a choice that will determine the course of their lives forever.

As the years pass and the survivors become adults—forging their futures and falling in love—they are still haunted by the events of that night at sea. It’s not just what was lost that darkens their lives: what was rescued casts a long shadow, too. One of them has a terrible secret that they thought sank with the ship. But a secret is just a truth waiting to be revealed, and this secret could shatter everything.

When Kitty Green returns to the Gloucestershire school where she was once a child evacuee during World World II, she discovers that it is to be rehoused on the premises of the old boys'' home Heaven House. At the time Kitty had been inseparable from one of its inmates, Tommy Glover, and so she begins to reminisce . . .In 1944 eight-year-old Kitty is placed in Sheepcote village with a cold, unhappy couple, Joyce and Jack Shepherd, who find her Cockney chirpiness repugnant. They also have problems of their own: ''Aunty'' Joyce nurses a phobia against germs while ''Uncle'' Jack seeks solace from his frigid wife in the pages of the Bible. Neither Joyce nor Jack approve of Kitty''s friendship with Tommy, and even seem to nurse a mysterious hatred of him. Starved of affection herself, Kitty soon befriends all outsiders in the village she sees as missing home or longing for love: American airmen, gypsies, German POWs, orphans, and above all, her beloved Tommy. In the end, it is her relentless curiosity that slowly transforms the lives of the strangely unhappy Joyce and Jack. But it is only when a long-buried secret is finally exposed that the lives of nearly everybody in the village are changed forever.

A heart-warming and passionate tale from the author of Tommy Glover''s Sketch of HeavenAt the age of five I ran into a wood, and nearly two years later I walked out of it and into the nearest house.In 1927, Gracie returns to her house to find a young girl curled up on her armchair: a feral, rather grubby gift of fate. With no knowledge of the child''s origins and no children of her own, Gracie adopts her and names her ''Joy''. Despite the endless speculation about Joy''s unusual ways, Gracie is happy to remain ignorant about her past in case anyone should come forward to reclaim her as their own. Time passes and Joy grows into a young woman at the advent of World War II. But when she becomes romantically involved with a fighter pilot the mystery of her past slowly unravels . . .Praise for Jane Bailey''A vivid and involving novel that reaches a truly page-turning climax'' Barbara Trepido''Absorbing, compelling and intensely moving'' Lesley Glaister, author of As Far as You Can Go''A gentle, poignant, achingly funny tale of displaced children, first love and the tragic secrets hidden behind so many respectable facades'' Serena Mackesy, author of The Temp