Katie Flynn – författare

The new Christmas bestseller from Katie Flynn; the UK's bestselling saga authorLiverpool 1938It’s Christmas in the Courts, and single mother Rosheen Clarke and her mischievous twin daughters April and May have no idea of the cataclysmic events which will soon overtake them. When war is declared, April and May are evacuated to the countryside and Rosheen joins the WAAF where she befriends fellow Liverpudlian Cassie Valentine.While Rosheen worries about what trouble the twins will cause next, Cassie is fighting her love for her childhood friend Andy. Because ever since he joined the RAF, he has become arrogant and remote. Will he change back to the old Andy when it’s all over? Or will their love be another casualty of war?Cassie and Rosheen support each other as best they can, but it will be many years before the Christmas bells ring out again.

It was only a mistletoe kiss, Miss Preece told herself, stepping out into the icy December evening and locking the library doors behind her. A mistletoe kiss means nothing, everyone knows that; but this did not quench the warm glow inside her. Hetty Gilbert is a canal child with no permanent address, so when she needs to join the library, she cannot do so. Miss Preece dislikes children, but Hetty's longing for books touches a chord and she stretches the rules to allow the girl to read on the premises.Soon, Hetty's chief desire is to become a librarian like her friend. But with war on the horizon, their lives will never be the same. In 1939 Hetty joins in the war effort, for her knowledge of canal boats is desperately needed, whilst Miss Preece can only sit and listen to the dangers her young friend faces, knowing she herself can do nothing to help.But her chance will come, and with it the meaning behind that fragile mistletoe kiss ...

When war breaks out in Britain, Nell Whitaker is sent to live with her aunt on a remote farm in Anglesey.She sorely misses thriving Liverpool but slowly begins to embrace country life. Nell even finds herself growing closer to Auntie Kath whose harsh attitude hides a kind heart.But when personal tragedy strikes, Nell's world crumbles around her.Can a blossoming friendship with Hywell, a boy from the neighbouring village, allow Nell to overcome her past and enjoy a brighter future?

It is the autumn of 1945 and identical twins Joy and Gillian Lawrence are on their way home to Liverpool, having been evacuated to Devonshire five years earlier.Their mother has been killed in the blitz but the girls hope that with their beloved father's help they will be able to manage without assistance.All goes well until there is a terrible accident and Joy loses her sight.At first she is bitter and resentful whilst Gillian is racked with guilt.However, as time passes Joy gains confidence, hopeful that her sight will return since life is not easy when you can't see the face of the boy you think you love.Then there is a chance meeting on a train and once more the girls lives are in turmoil...

When Dana and Caitlin meet by chance on the ferry from Ireland, they tell each other that they are simply going to search for work, but they soon realise they have more than that in common.They are both in search of new lives in Liverpool, leaving their secrets behind in Ireland. But Dana is ambitious and resourceful, and when the opportunity comes to own their own tearoom she persuades her friend to join her.No one is willing to rent property to a couple of girls, however, especially during the Depression. So when Caitlin's new man friend says he'll back them, they are delighted and soon the tearoom is thriving.Then fate intervenes, and soon the girls find themselves fighting to survive in a world on the brink of war.

It is a cold night and Sylvie Dugdale is weeping as she walks by the Mersey. A figure approaches and, dodging aside to avoid him, she falls into the river. Constable Brendan O'Hara, just coming off duty, sees the girl's plight and dives in to rescue her. He is dazzled by her beauty but Sylvie's husband is in prison and the closeness that Brendan soon longs for is impossible.Sylvie has to escape from Liverpool, so Brendan arranges for her to stay with his cousin Caitlin in Dublin until it is safe to return. There she meets Maeve, a crippled girl from the slums, who will change all their lives when a little girl is lost ...

One wild night midwife Patty Peel is called to attend a birth on the opposite side of Liverpool. She pedals off into the storm and delivers a baby girl in a filthy slum dwelling, just as the mother dies. The drunk and violent father tells Patty to get rid of it, so she takes the child away, meaning to deliver it to the nearest orphanage. But Patty had spent her entire childhood in an institution and cannot bear to hand the baby over. However, there are rough waters ahead. Patty has few friends, and fears and despises men, including her next door neighbour, Darky Knight, so how can she hope to bring up the child alone? She has no idea how the baby will affect the attitude of those around her, nor how her life will change as a result...The Bad Penny is a heartwarming tale of love and courage in hard times from the hugely popular storyteller Katie Flynn.

Addy and Prue Fairweather live with Nell, their widowed mother, in a flat above her shop on the Scotland Road. The sisters, however, are very different. Addy is dark-haired, plain and always in trouble whereas Prue is flaxen-haired, blue-eyed and as angelic as her looks imply. To make matters worse, Nell makes no secret of her preference for the younger girl, increasing Addy's jealousy and resentment.On the other side of the coin, Giles Frobisher and his twin sister, Gillian, live in a crumbling mansion near the sea in Devon. The family have lost most of their money in the Depression, so Giles leaves university and joins the Fleet Air Arm. He meets the Fairweather girls briefly on a visit to Liverpool but they lose touch. When they meet again Addy and Prue are no longer children and Giles realises he is falling in love ...

Along a blacked-out wartime street a girl is scurrying, a basket on one arm. As the sirens begin and the bombs crash down, she is filled with panic and, with a heavy heart, abandons her burden in a sheltered doorway, meaning to return later. Even as she disappears in the resulting chaos, the bundle in the basket begins to wail.Years later, two young unfortunates meet on a miserable November day. Martin has been desperately trying to hitch a lift along the lonely windswept road and when he sees a weeping girl in front of him, he hurries to catch her up.Rose and Martin become unlikely companions until they go their separate ways, not expecting to meet again. However, fate decrees otherwise ...

A family divided by war but united by love.Marianne seems to have everything. She is married to a handsome naval officer, Neil Sheridan, commander of a corvette. They have a daughter, Libby, and a beautiful home near Prince's Park in Liverpool.When war comes, Marianne takes war work and moves into Crocus Street with her mother, Mrs Wainwright, and younger sister. Neil disapproves because the Wainwrights live so near the docks, which are bound to be a bombing target, but Marianne is firm.Meanwhile, Libby is evacuated to the country to stay with Miss Williams, who lives in an ancient house, Tregarth, at the head of a valley in North Wales and Libby, the wheelchair-bound Matthew and Miss Williams assume they can settle down to see out the war in comparative safety.But Libby is forced to return to the city when her mother suffers an accident and her gran finds herself unable to cope ...

Daisy Kildare lives with her family in a cottage perched on the Connemara coast. The Kildares are poor but happy. But when their croft is wrested from them, Daisy's Aunt Jane, who is housekeeper to Dr and Mrs Venables, offers to take Daisy back to Liverpool so that the child can be a companion to her employers' orphaned niece, Cynthia.Daisy is a tomboy, young for her age, self-willed and hot-tempered. In Ireland she was seldom in school but often in trouble. Now, however, she tells herself that she must conform. She begins to work hard in school, and though she and Cynthia don't get along, she meets Jake, the chauffeur's son, and life in Liverpool becomes easier to bear.When Jake goes to university, Daisy means to follow suit, but war intervenes and instead, she starts work at a munitions factory, and falls in love for the very first time...

Lottie Lacey and her mother, Louella, share a house in Victoria Court with Mr Magic and his son Baz. Lottie is a child star, dancing and singing at the Gaiety Theatre to an enraptured audience, whilst Louella acts as Max Magic's assistant. But Lottie was in hospital for weeks after a road accident and has lost her memory. Louella tries to help but the white mist remains. Until Lottie meets a boy with golden-brown eyes who calls her "Sassy" and accuses her of running away.It is after this meeting that the dreams start, dreams of another life, almost another world, and Lottie, sharing them with Baz, begins to believe he knows more than he chooses to tell. But then Merle joins the act and Lottie feels Baz and Merle, both older than she, are in league against her. Then the dreams begin to grow clearer and Lottie realises she must find her past, at no matter what cost.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author, a classic Katie Flynn story of hope and love, set against the backdrop of WWII Liverpool.____________In the tragedy of war, will love conquer all?Liverpool, 1940When nurses Nancy Kerris and Jess Williams both lose their lovers in the trenches during the Great War, their future in Liverpool looks bleak. As the war finally ends, their lives are set on different paths, with Nancy choosing to marry an Australian, leaving behind her life - and her friend - for the Outback.Years later with the outbreak of the Second World War, Nancy's son Pete decides to join the Royal Air Force and travels to England. He promises to pay his mother's friend a visit, however when he arrives in Liverpool, he is dismayed to find half the city has been demolished by the May Blitz. Jess's home has been destroyed, and even worse, her daughter Debbie is missing.In an unknown country and war-ravaged city, Pete decides he must help find Debbie, whatever the cost . . .

The Todd family are strangers to city life when they move into a flat on the Scotland Road; their previous home was a canal barge. Harry gets a job as warehouse manager and his wife, Martha, works in a grocer's shop, whilst Seraphina trains as a teacher, Angela works in Bunney's Department Store and young Evie starts at regular school.Then circumstances change and Seraphina takes a job as a nippy in Lyon's Corner House. Customers vie for her favours, including an old friend, Toby.When war is declared the older girls join up, leaving Evie and Martha to cope with rationing, shortages, and the terrible raids on Liverpool which devastate the city. Meanwhile, Toby is a Japanese POW, working on the infamous Burma railway and dreaming of Seraphina...Darkest Before Dawn is a warm passionate story that makes it easy to see why Katie Flynn is one of Britain's most popular saga writers.

It takes courage to overcome the odds...Liverpool 1928: abandoned by her mother at a very young age, Dot McCann lives a lonely life with her distant aunt and uncle. A cuckoo in the nest, she spends her days trying to keep out of trouble. When Dot overhears a conversation whilst playing in the street, her life changes for ever. What she discovers could send one man to prison and another to the gallows. In a desperate attempt to right a wrong, Dot teams up with runaway orphan Corky, Emma, a local jeweller whose shop has been burgled, and Nick, a handsome young reporter investigating the crime. But Dot and Emma have been recognised and they soon find themselves in very real danger. Will they uncover the truth before it’s too late?

Two penn'orth of sky is all you can see from dirty, cramped Nightingale Court where Emmy lives with her widowed mother. Her main aim in life is to escape and she sees marriage as her best way out. When Peter Wesley, First Officer aboard a cruise ship, proposes, she accepts eagerly.The Wesleys have a baby, Diana, and all seems set fair for the small family, but Peter is killed and Emmy left penniless. She and Diana are forced to move back to Nightingale Court. Emmy has to take work as a waitress but she becomes ill and when suitors appear, Diana detests them all...A tale of hardship, heartbreak and hope from a beloved storyteller, Two Penn'orth of Sky is classic Katie Flynn and sure to delight every one of her readers.

Liverpool, 1936Polly's guardian angel has to work overtime when her large family is forced to move to central Liverpool. With a hardworking mother, a sick father and her family close to ruin, Polly is easily led astray by the handsome, Sunny Anderson.But soon war looms, and Sunny joins the navy to train as a signaller. After the horrors of the May blitz, Polly decides she too wants to help her country and goes into the WRNS. She hears that an old flame, Tad Donoghue, is now in the Royal Air Force. Tad hopes to be reunited with his Polly, but she is in love with Sunny . . . isn't she?

Set in Liverpool in the 1920s, this is a heartwarming tale of triumph over adversity, from the Sunday Times bestselling saga author, Katie Flynn.Dympna Byrnes lives a simple life with her family on the Connemara coast. She adores her father Micheál, and does her best to help her family by working hard and expecting little.But beneath the surface there are hidden secrets. Dympna’s mother idolises her clever eldest son, yet her attitude to Dympna is puzzling. So when her family find themselves in desperate need of money, it is Dympna who crosses the water to Liverpool to seek a better life. Immersed in the bustling streets of Liverpool, Dympna’s circumstances begin to improve. But it is a chance encounter with orphaned, half-starved Jimmy Ruddock that sets her on an extraordinary path she never could have predicted…

The year is 1925, and in Liverpool, Rose Ryder worships her father, a tram-driver. She nurses a secret dream of driving trams too, even though it's not considered a job for women. Meanwhile, in Dublin, Colm O'Neill is happily settled - until his father gets a job working on the Liverptool-Birkenhead tunnel, and takes Colm across the water with him. When tragedy strikes and her beloved father is killed, Rose and her mother scrape a living by turning their home into a boarding house. And it is their boarding house which Colm and his father come to when they arrive in Liverpool...

Liverpool, 1923Lizzie is an orphan living with her Aunt Annie, Uncle Perce and two boy cousins in Cranberry Court, within a stone's throw of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Lizzie loves her aunt but is hated by her uncle and escapes whenever she can.She makes friends with Geoff Gardiner, another orphan, and is teaching him to swim in the Scaldy when Clem Gilligan rescues the pair of them from drowning. Clem works on the Canal boat, The Liverpool Rose, with Jake Pridmore and his wife, plying between the great cities of Leeds and Liverpool.But Lizzie's situation at home starts to worsen as her uncle grows surlier and more violent. Eventually the worst happens and Lizzie is forced to flee from the Court or risk serious injury, perhaps even death. Her first instinct is to make for the canal, but finding Clem is not so easy . . .

Sometimes hope is all you need...Liverpool, 1917: When Irish seaman Michael Gallagher docks in Liverpool after years of fighting with the British Navy, he never expects to fall in love. But the moment he glimpses Stella Bennett standing on the quayside, all thoughts of returning to his homeland vanish.Determined to be together, the young couple defy Stella’s parents’ wishes. But their plans to marry are soon derailed by the arrival of baby Ginny. Her crop of fiery red hair plants a seed of doubt in her father’s mind and it’s not long before their world begins to fall apart. As Michael returns to Ireland, Stella dies unexpectedly, leaving Ginny to be brought up in the slums at the mercy of her grandmother. Will she escape the shackles of her new life and find a way back to her father?

Liverpool. December, 1905. In the breaking dawn of a raw windswept morning, a new-born baby girl is left at the door of an orphange. So helpless and appealing is the foundling that young Nellie McDowell, the maid-of-all-work, decides there and then to adopt her as her own sister.In the years that follow, Nellie and Lilac become even closer than sisters in their shared struggle to survive the grinding poverty of their lot. But they cannot lean on each other for ever. Nellie delights in the promise of love - and tastes the bitterness of betrayal - just as the long finger of war stretches out to divide the girls and rob Liverpool of a whole generation of its young men ...Sure to please fans and newcomers alike, this is classic Katie Flynn saga writing at its best.

Liverpool, 1934. Hester Lowe agrees to act as governess to spoilt, self-willed, little Lonnie Hetherington-Smith when they leave India to live with Lonnie's elderly aunt in Shaw Street, Liverpool. Hester speedily realises that her new employer dislikes her niece and means to make life uncomfortable for both of them. Things improve a little when they meet the poor, but happy, Bailey family who live in a court off Heyworth Street. Hester likes Dick Bailey very much, but her employer does not permit 'followers', whilst Lonnie and young Ben Bailey are deadly enemies.Then, the regime in Shaw Street changes and Hester is forced to leave the comforts of a middle-class household to make her own way in what is, to her, a strange country...Poor Little Rich Girl is sure to please the huge and growing fanbase of one of the most popular saga authors in the country, with more than two million books sold nationwide.

Liverpool, 1935. Kathy Kelling is coming home to Daisy Street from her first day at the High School, longing to tell her friend, Jane, all about it. Then her brother, Billy, has a serious accident and Kathy's schooling is in jeopardy. The Kellings' life becomes a struggle; Billy needs constant attention so Mrs Kelling takes in lodgers since she's determined Kathy's schooling must not suffer. Meanwhile, in Norfolk, young Alec Hewitt has problems of his own. A farmer's son, living within yards of the North Sea, one terrible night will change his life forever. Then War comes and Alec and Kathy meet, but it's blonde and bubbly Jane to whom Alec is attracted...

Liverpool, Christmas 1938. Rose McAllister is waiting for her husband, Steve, to come home. He is a seaman, often drunk and violent, but Rose does her best to cope and see that her daughters, Daisy and Petal, suffer as little as possible. Steve, however, realises that war is coming and tries to reform, but on his last night home, he pawns the girls' new dolls to go on a drinking binge. When war is declared Rose has a good job but agrees the children must be evacuated. Daisy and Petal are happy at first, but circumstances change and they are put in the care of a woman who hates all scousers and taunts them with the destruction of their city. They run away, arriving home on the worst night of the May Blitz. Rose is attending the birth of her friend's baby and goes back to Bernard Terrace to find her home has received a direct hit, and is told that the children were seen entering the house the previous evening. Devastated, she throws herself into the war effort, risking her life before she considers finding out what really happened that fateful night...A Long and Lonely Road is yet another confirmation of the brilliance and warmth of Katie Flynn's saga novels.

Laura Collins, a widow, is struggling to make a good life for her daughters, Tess and Tina.They are living with Laura's sister Millie and her seven children so when Laura is offered a good job, with accommodation, she is delighted.Life is very different for the Brewsters, living on Manor Farm in Herefordshire.Danny and his girlfriend, Sophie, intend to marry one day so that they can run Manor Farm together but his cousin and best friend, Phil Ryland, feels differently.He longs to get away from farming and intends to escape as soon as he can.Then war comes and changes everything.Tina is evacuated and Tess joins the Land Army.She means to be true to her boyfriend, Mike, but he is far away.Danny and Phil join the RAF, Danny to pilot bombers and Phil as navigator.They end up on the same airfield and fall in love with the same girl...But Phil has a secret which could end his chance of happiness, and Danny is the only person who knows what that secret is ...

Claudia and her younger sister, Jenny, live with their parents, Louisa and Cormack Muldoon, in their grandmother's house in Blodwen Street. Louisa has a good job in a dress shop on Scotland Road and Cormack is a supervisor at the nearby tobacco manufactory. They assume they are settled for life, but then Grandpa Muldoon has a seizure and begs his son to return to Kilnevin and the family croft.

The fourth and final novel in the Neylor Quartet, by Sunday Times bestselling author Katie Flynn, writing as Judith Saxton Hitler's war is reaching out to affect every member of the Neylor family. Val Neylor, driving an ambulance through the blazing heart of London, is in an impossible position, for the man she loves is a fighter pilot with the Luftwaffe. And Jenny, whose husband Simon is flying Spitfires, finds herself working as a landgirl on a Devon farm. Cara, by contrast, develops her social life, and Maudie, in the WAAF, falls in love with two men at once ... And Tina, matriarch of the family loves them all, scolds them all, and tries to understand the new generation growing up in the troubled times of war.A warm and moving family saga set in Britain caught in the torment of the Second World War.

Kay Duffield's fiancé is about to leave the country, and her own duty with the WAAF is imminent when she becomes a bride. The precious few days she spends with her new husband are quickly forgotten once she starts work as a balloon operator, trained for the heavy work in order to release more men to fight. There she makes friends with shy Emily Bevan, who has left her parents' hill farm in Wales for the first time; down-to-earth Biddy Bachelor, fresh from the horrors of the Liverpool bombing, and spirited Jo Stewart, the rebel among them, whose disregard for authority looks set to land them all in trouble. The girls stay friends through good times and bad, through romantic encounters and, ultimately, tragedy.