Margaret Pemberton – författare

In the summer swelter of New Orleans, society girls talk of eligible young men, and of whom they will marry.For Augusta Lafayette, only the scandalous Beauregard Clay will do. He is years older than she – and dangerous by all accounts. But Gussie wants to make him hers – forever.How was she to know that the ritual she performed was not the joke her friends said it was? How was she to know she would soon love someone else? How was she to know that forever meant beyond the grave?

In the summer swelter of New Orleans, society girls talk of eligible young men, and of whom they will marry.For Augusta Lafayette, only the scandalous Beauregard Clay will do. He is years older than she – and dangerous by all accounts. But Gussie wants to make him hers – forever.How was she to know that the ritual she performed was not the joke her friends said it was? How was she to know she would soon love someone else? How was she to know that forever meant beyond the grave?

To tell a patient they are about to die is never the easiest of tasks. When the patient is thirty-five, a woman and exceptionally beautiful, the task is even harder.In the winter of 1934 Nancy Leigh Cameron learns that she has only one more year to live. She is famous, sought-after, and living a life of deep inner loneliness. Her husband, Senator Jack Cameron, is cold and self-seeking. He needs Nancy because she can help him to become President. Her father, Chips O’Shaughnessy, ebullient Irish mayor of Boston, loves Nancy, but also needs her socially desirable marriage to last so that he can further his own career.When Nancy learns that she is to die she decides that she will live her last year for herself. Leaving New York for the exclusive hotel of Sanfords on the flower-filled island of Madeira, she embarks on the love affair of a lifetime. She has no idea that Ramon Sanford, the man she loves, is her father’s bitterest enemy, and that their passion will unlock dark family secrets and tragedies that have lain buried for more than a generation.Set in the 1930s The Flower Garden is a grand love story in the tradition of Brief Encounter and An Affair to Remember.

To tell a patient they are about to die is never the easiest of tasks. When the patient is thirty-five, a woman and exceptionally beautiful, the task is even harder.In the winter of 1934 Nancy Leigh Cameron learns that she has only one more year to live. She is famous, sought-after, and living a life of deep inner loneliness. Her husband, Senator Jack Cameron, is cold and self-seeking. He needs Nancy because she can help him to become President. Her father, Chips O’Shaughnessy, ebullient Irish mayor of Boston, loves Nancy, but also needs her socially desirable marriage to last so that he can further his own career.When Nancy learns that she is to die she decides that she will live her last year for herself. Leaving New York for the exclusive hotel of Sanfords on the flower-filled island of Madeira, she embarks on the love affair of a lifetime. She has no idea that Ramon Sanford, the man she loves, is her father’s bitterest enemy, and that their passion will unlock dark family secrets and tragedies that have lain buried for more than a generation.Set in the 1930s The Flower Garden is a grand love story in the tradition of Brief Encounter and An Affair to Remember.

It’s not every child who is named after a motor car, and when little Daisy Ford discovers she’s been abandoned by her mother, she resolves to put the name – and her unhappy years at the convent orphanage – behind her for ever.Quite unaware of her haunting beauty, frighteningly innocent of the harsh ways of the outside world, Daisy makes her way to Hollywood, determined to become an actress in the great tradition of the stars she admired as a child. Taking the name Valentina, and refusing to reveal any details of her past, she is discovered by the brilliant Hungarian director Vidal Rakoczi.Handsome, tempestuous, his devilish good looks matched by his devil-may-care temperament, Vidal is as controversial as he is talented. Instantly recognising the potential of Valentina’s ethereal loveliness, he draws out her innate acting ability and casts her in his latest film.What starts as a professional relationship between the fiery director and his ravishing new star quickly develops in to much more. Drawn to one another as irresistibly as moths to a candleflame, they embark on a love affair as ecstatic as it is destructive.Steeped in the glamorous and nostalgic atmosphere of 1930s Hollywood, Silver Shadows, Golden Dreams is a love story in the grand manner, a novel of high romance that will cast its spell over every reader.‘A great read’ Good Book Guide‘Very readable, often moving’ Yorkshire Evening Post

It’s not every child who is named after a motor car, and when little Daisy Ford discovers she’s been abandoned by her mother, she resolves to put the name – and her unhappy years at the convent orphanage – behind her for ever.Quite unaware of her haunting beauty, frighteningly innocent of the harsh ways of the outside world, Daisy makes her way to Hollywood, determined to become an actress in the great tradition of the stars she admired as a child. Taking the name Valentina, and refusing to reveal any details of her past, she is discovered by the brilliant Hungarian director Vidal Rakoczi.Handsome, tempestuous, his devilish good looks matched by his devil-may-care temperament, Vidal is as controversial as he is talented. Instantly recognising the potential of Valentina’s ethereal loveliness, he draws out her innate acting ability and casts her in his latest film.What starts as a professional relationship between the fiery director and his ravishing new star quickly develops in to much more. Drawn to one another as irresistibly as moths to a candleflame, they embark on a love affair as ecstatic as it is destructive.Steeped in the glamorous and nostalgic atmosphere of 1930s Hollywood, Silver Shadows, Golden Dreams is a love story in the grand manner, a novel of high romance that will cast its spell over every reader.‘A great read’ Good Book Guide‘Very readable, often moving’ Yorkshire Evening Post

June 1944 in occupied France, and the embattled coast of Normandy anxiously awaits the Allied invasion.Lisette de Valmy – just eighteen years old and an ardent member of the Resistance, she is torn between loyalty to the Cause and her love for one man.Dieter Meyer – a German officer, handsome and courageous, he must fight for his country and for his future with Lisette.Greg Dering – generous and warm-hearted, he liberates the de Valmy home but falls captive to the sad beauty of the girl who welcomes him to France.And Luke Brandon – obsessed by Lisette from the start, he can never forget her and his all-consuming passion threatens to destroy them all . . .From the devastation of war-torn France to the glamour and riches of San Francisco, Never Leave Me is a moving story of heartbreak and love and of the destructive legacy of war.‘. . . takes off passionately, unstoppably . . . Turbulent stuff’ She

June 1944 in occupied France, and the embattled coast of Normandy anxiously awaits the Allied invasion.Lisette de Valmy – just eighteen years old and an ardent member of the Resistance, she is torn between loyalty to the Cause and her love for one man.Dieter Meyer – a German officer, handsome and courageous, he must fight for his country and for his future with Lisette.Greg Dering – generous and warm-hearted, he liberates the de Valmy home but falls captive to the sad beauty of the girl who welcomes him to France.And Luke Brandon – obsessed by Lisette from the start, he can never forget her and his all-consuming passion threatens to destroy them all . . .From the devastation of war-torn France to the glamour and riches of San Francisco, Never Leave Me is a moving story of heartbreak and love and of the destructive legacy of war.‘. . . takes off passionately, unstoppably . . . Turbulent stuff’ She

A huge saga – of a world destroyed by war – and a woman made triumphant by loveSince she was ten Elizabeth had been forced to give way to the men in her life. First her father, a lonely, selfish widower who needed his daughter as his companion, then Adam, her middle-aged husband, who carried her off to the brittle world of Hong Kong society, ignoring the burning musical talent that she constantly had to repress.And then she met Raefe Elliot, womaniser, soldier of fortune, who repeatedly rocked Hong Kong with his scandals, and between the two of them flared a wild release of love that exploded into the most shocking scandal of all.As the Japanese prepared to invade Hong Kong, as the old world was about to be forever destroyed, Elizabeth at last found happiness – in her love, and in her progress as a musician.And then the thunder of a savage and terrifying battle broke over her life, and she and Raefe became fugitives in a war-torn world.

A huge saga – of a world destroyed by war – and a woman made triumphant by loveSince she was ten Elizabeth had been forced to give way to the men in her life. First her father, a lonely, selfish widower who needed his daughter as his companion, then Adam, her middle-aged husband, who carried her off to the brittle world of Hong Kong society, ignoring the burning musical talent that she constantly had to repress.And then she met Raefe Elliot, womaniser, soldier of fortune, who repeatedly rocked Hong Kong with his scandals, and between the two of them flared a wild release of love that exploded into the most shocking scandal of all.As the Japanese prepared to invade Hong Kong, as the old world was about to be forever destroyed, Elizabeth at last found happiness – in her love, and in her progress as a musician.And then the thunder of a savage and terrifying battle broke over her life, and she and Raefe became fugitives in a war-torn world.

They were girls of the 60s – as unlike each other as it was possible to be. Abbra – the quiet, lovely, Californian college girl – reared to a life of good behaviour and doing the right thing. She was swept off her feet into a whirlwind marriage before she had time to grow up. She never really got to know her husband before he was shipped out to fight the Vietcong.Serena was an English debutante, a spoilt brat who had everything. She married her equally irresponsible playboy husband because it seemed like fun. But the fun backfired and she found herself abandoned right after the wedding.Gabrielle – half French, half Vietnamese, with a foot in both camps. She fell wildly in love with an Australian newsman on his way to Saigon. Alone and pregnant in Paris, she never stopped loving him.As their worlds began to collapse around them, the three joined forces and, with a courage born of desperation, set out for Vietnam to find the men they loved – and to find themselves.

They were girls of the 60s – as unlike each other as it was possible to be. Abbra – the quiet, lovely, Californian college girl – reared to a life of good behaviour and doing the right thing. She was swept off her feet into a whirlwind marriage before she had time to grow up. She never really got to know her husband before he was shipped out to fight the Vietcong.Serena was an English debutante, a spoilt brat who had everything. She married her equally irresponsible playboy husband because it seemed like fun. But the fun backfired and she found herself abandoned right after the wedding.Gabrielle – half French, half Vietnamese, with a foot in both camps. She fell wildly in love with an Australian newsman on his way to Saigon. Alone and pregnant in Paris, she never stopped loving him.As their worlds began to collapse around them, the three joined forces and, with a courage born of desperation, set out for Vietnam to find the men they loved – and to find themselves.

‘Here she is!’ Alexander was shouting. ‘This is your new daughter-in-law! An Irish peasant . . . An illegitimate . . . illiterate . . . Irish peasant!’1860: Alexander Karolyis, only son of the wealthiest entrepreneur in New York, spends most of his adolescence battling within his father. Nothing he does is considered correct. The girl he loves is highly unsuitable, his behaviour is unruly, and, in a last-ditch attempt to marry him off to a suitable Protestant aristocrat, his father packs him off on a European Grand Tour.And while Alexander was feuding with his father, beautiful Maura Sullivan, illegitimate daughter of an Irish peasant, was befriended and raised by Lord Clanmar on his idyllic Ballacharnish estate. Only when he died unexpectedly did Maura’s world crash about her ears. His will left her little option but to leave Ireland and start a new life in New York.It was there, on the emigrant boat to America, that Maura and Alexander met for the first time – she in the poverty of the steerage section, he as a privileged first-class passenger. It was there that Maura fell overwhelmingly in love with the spoilt young aristocrat whose heart was full of hatred for his father. And it was only when it was too late that Maura realised she had been used as a weapon of revenge and must enter the world of New York society who had nothing but contempt for the new bride of the Karolyis family.

‘Here she is!’ Alexander was shouting. ‘This is your new daughter-in-law! An Irish peasant . . . An illegitimate . . . illiterate . . . Irish peasant!’1860: Alexander Karolyis, only son of the wealthiest entrepreneur in New York, spends most of his adolescence battling within his father. Nothing he does is considered correct. The girl he loves is highly unsuitable, his behaviour is unruly, and, in a last-ditch attempt to marry him off to a suitable Protestant aristocrat, his father packs him off on a European Grand Tour.And while Alexander was feuding with his father, beautiful Maura Sullivan, illegitimate daughter of an Irish peasant, was befriended and raised by Lord Clanmar on his idyllic Ballacharnish estate. Only when he died unexpectedly did Maura’s world crash about her ears. His will left her little option but to leave Ireland and start a new life in New York.It was there, on the emigrant boat to America, that Maura and Alexander met for the first time – she in the poverty of the steerage section, he as a privileged first-class passenger. It was there that Maura fell overwhelmingly in love with the spoilt young aristocrat whose heart was full of hatred for his father. And it was only when it was too late that Maura realised she had been used as a weapon of revenge and must enter the world of New York society who had nothing but contempt for the new bride of the Karolyis family.

In the stormy turmoil of old Sarajevo, their passionate story began . . .In Belgrade, in the balmy spring of 1914, neither of the royally related Karageorgevich sisters had the slightest presentiment of disaster. Seventeen-year-old Natalie was enjoying the danger and secrecy of friendship with young nationalists, eager to free their lands from Habsburg domination. Katerina, her less volatile sister, was deeply and secretly in love with Julian Fielding, a young English diplomat.Then, when accompanying their father on an official visit to Sarajevo, Natalie inadvertently plunged their lives into chaos as she found herself caught up in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian Empire. As the Austrians demanded her extradition Natalie had no choice but to flee the homeland she so passionately loved. She chose to leave in a manner that was to prove catastrophic – as the bride of Julian Fielding, the man her sister loved.

In the stormy turmoil of old Sarajevo, their passionate story began . . .In Belgrade, in the balmy spring of 1914, neither of the royally related Karageorgevich sisters had the slightest presentiment of disaster. Seventeen-year-old Natalie was enjoying the danger and secrecy of friendship with young nationalists, eager to free their lands from Habsburg domination. Katerina, her less volatile sister, was deeply and secretly in love with Julian Fielding, a young English diplomat.Then, when accompanying their father on an official visit to Sarajevo, Natalie inadvertently plunged their lives into chaos as she found herself caught up in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian Empire. As the Austrians demanded her extradition Natalie had no choice but to flee the homeland she so passionately loved. She chose to leave in a manner that was to prove catastrophic – as the bride of Julian Fielding, the man her sister loved.

‘But I don’t hate Chung King!’ Gianetta cried passionately. ‘I love it. I love the temples and pagodas and the plum blossom and the junks on the river. What I hate is only being able to see these things from a distance. I want to visit the temples. I want to walk out on the hills beneath the plum trees. I want to enjoy China, not be protected from it!’Beneath the light of the moon the Chinese Moonflower blooms only one night of the year. No European has seen it blossom, and Zachary Cartwright is determined to do so. Giannetta Hollis, niece of the British Envoy, becomes an uninvited member of the expedition, to travel to the remotest part of China in search of Moonflowers. It is a decision that transforms her life, bringing her more adventure than she had ever dreamed possible, and love beyond her wildest imaginings.

‘But I don’t hate Chung King!’ Gianetta cried passionately. ‘I love it. I love the temples and pagodas and the plum blossom and the junks on the river. What I hate is only being able to see these things from a distance. I want to visit the temples. I want to walk out on the hills beneath the plum trees. I want to enjoy China, not be protected from it!’Beneath the light of the moon the Chinese Moonflower blooms only one night of the year. No European has seen it blossom, and Zachary Cartwright is determined to do so. Giannetta Hollis, niece of the British Envoy, becomes an uninvited member of the expedition, to travel to the remotest part of China in search of Moonflowers. It is a decision that transforms her life, bringing her more adventure than she had ever dreamed possible, and love beyond her wildest imaginings.

In the Alazkan Klondike, at the height of the gold-rush, respectable women were thin on the ground and the San Franciscan based Peabody Marriage Bureau did a roaring trade despatching mail-order brides to women-starved stampeders.When half-Irish Lilli Stullen boarded the S.S. Senator as a Peabody bride, she did so not because she was hungry for a gold-rich husband but because it was the only way she could remove her orphaned younger brother and sister from the clutches of their hated uncle.To Lilli, the sacrifice of marrying a man she had never met was small in comparison to ensuring Leo and Lottie’s happiness – or it was until she met ‘Lucky’ Jack Coolidge, a professional gambler with devilry in his eyes – a man no woman had ever been able to hold.Lilli was certain that when they arrived in the Klondike, Jack Coolidge would pay off her husband-to-be and marry her himself. She had reckoned, however, without the man who awaited her arrival. Ringan Cameron was a hard-muscled, fiery-haired Scot with a mysterious past and Lilli, despite her Irish temper and recklessness, soon discovered she had met her match. . .

In the Alazkan Klondike, at the height of the gold-rush, respectable women were thin on the ground and the San Franciscan based Peabody Marriage Bureau did a roaring trade despatching mail-order brides to women-starved stampeders.When half-Irish Lilli Stullen boarded the S.S. Senator as a Peabody bride, she did so not because she was hungry for a gold-rich husband but because it was the only way she could remove her orphaned younger brother and sister from the clutches of their hated uncle.To Lilli, the sacrifice of marrying a man she had never met was small in comparison to ensuring Leo and Lottie’s happiness – or it was until she met ‘Lucky’ Jack Coolidge, a professional gambler with devilry in his eyes – a man no woman had ever been able to hold.Lilli was certain that when they arrived in the Klondike, Jack Coolidge would pay off her husband-to-be and marry her himself. She had reckoned, however, without the man who awaited her arrival. Ringan Cameron was a hard-muscled, fiery-haired Scot with a mysterious past and Lilli, despite her Irish temper and recklessness, soon discovered she had met her match. . .

Magnolia Square in South London was a friendly and vibrant place to live, not least for Kate Voigt and her father. Carl Voigt had been a WWI prisoner of war who had married a cockney girl and never gone back. Now widowed, he and Kate were part of the London life of the square with all its rumbustious and colourful characters. Then came the war.Suddenly it seemed the Voigts were outcasts because of their German blood. When Carl was interned, Kate's only support was her best friend Carrie, and Toby, the R.A.F. pilot whom she loved. Finally, when Toby was killed, and even Carrie turned against her, she found herself pregnant and totally alone.Late one Christmas evening, during the Blitz, she was approached by a wounded sailor asking for lodgings. Leon Emmerson, like Kate, was also a lonely misfit because if his parentage. It was to be the beginning of a new friendship, of startling and dramatic events in Kate's life. And as the war progressed, as the Londoners fought to help each other while their city was bombed and burned, so the rifts in the community were healed, and Kate and those she loved became, once more, part of Magnolia Square.

1945: The war was over, and the families who lived in Magnolia Square could look forward to their men coming home and their lives returning to normal.But for some, the end of the war brought serious problems. Kate Voigt was at last able to marry Leon Emmerson, the man she loved, a Londoner like herself, but of mixed race. When old man Harvey, a powerful and wealthy figure in South London and great-grandfather to Kate's small son, heard of the match he was determined that young Matthew should not be raised by Leon. Slowly, insidiously, he began the fight to wrest Kate's son away from her.And for Jewish refugee Christina, who had married Jack Robson, a commando and the handsomest man in the Square, the end of the war brought its own special torment. She was convinced that her mother and grandmother had somehow escaped the holocaust and were alive. It seemed that her determination to find them could put everything, even her marriage, at risk.As Magnolia Square, scarred and battered, but still surviving, prepared to enjoy the 'Peace', so the inhabitants of the Square begin to try and rebuild their lives.

It is early summer in 1953, and the friends and neighbours of Magnolia Square are looking forward to celebrating the Coronation. The war has become a memory; the future seems rosy. Kate Emmerson looks on with pride at her growing family, including Matthew, whose father was killed during the war. But Matthew's wealthy relations have never really forgiven Kate for marrying Leon, a West Indian who works as a Thames lighterman, and when Matthew runs away from his smart boarding school in Somerset the tensions which exist between the two families come to a head. Meanwhile Zac, the wonderfully talented and handsome new signing at the local boxing club, is being eyed hopefully by all the young women of Magnolia Square. But he has eyes for only one woman - Carrie Collins, who has teenage children of her own and whose husband, Danny, seems more interested in the boxing club and his market stall than in her.In the weeks leading up to the Coronation festivities, drama and tragedy threaten to haunt Magnolia Square, but by the time the great day dawns, the bells ring out in celebration as the Londoners enjoy themselves as only they know how.

Rose Sugden is a Yorkshire girl through and through. In pre-First World War Bradford, Rose’s maternal grandfather, Caleb Rimmington, is one of Bradford’s wealthiest mill owners and her father is a highly talented tapestry designer. Laurence Sugden’s artistic talent is not put to use at Rimmington’s Mill, however, for Caleb, disappointed in his daughter’s marriage to a mere working-man, has disowned her and refuses all contact with her three children.To Rose, and her brother Noel and sister Nina, their grandfather Caleb is a myth they long to meet; even more so, they long to meet their Rimmington cousins, cousins they can only read about in the gossip columns of their local paper.When Caleb dies, this dream becomes reality. Though the gulf between the Sugdens and the Rimmingtons is vast, with the Sugdens living in a modest terraced house in the shade of Rimmington’s Mill, and William, Harry and Lottie, the cousins, living in a grandiose mansion on the outskirts of the city, it is a gulf that mutual curiosity overcomes.Intense, passionate relationships follow. There are broken marriages and broken lives, and throughout it all Rose is the warp and weft that keeps the family intact. Sustained by her burning ambition to follow in her father’s footsteps and to be a Head Tapestry Designer, and to be so at Rimmington’s Mill, and by her unquenchable and seemingly hopeless love for Harry, will Rose at last find the happiness that has so long eluded her?

Rose Sugden is a Yorkshire girl through and through. In pre-First World War Bradford, Rose’s maternal grandfather, Caleb Rimmington, is one of Bradford’s wealthiest mill owners and her father is a highly talented tapestry designer. Laurence Sugden’s artistic talent is not put to use at Rimmington’s Mill, however, for Caleb, disappointed in his daughter’s marriage to a mere working-man, has disowned her and refuses all contact with her three children.To Rose, and her brother Noel and sister Nina, their grandfather Caleb is a myth they long to meet; even more so, they long to meet their Rimmington cousins, cousins they can only read about in the gossip columns of their local paper.When Caleb dies, this dream becomes reality. Though the gulf between the Sugdens and the Rimmingtons is vast, with the Sugdens living in a modest terraced house in the shade of Rimmington’s Mill, and William, Harry and Lottie, the cousins, living in a grandiose mansion on the outskirts of the city, it is a gulf that mutual curiosity overcomes.Intense, passionate relationships follow. There are broken marriages and broken lives, and throughout it all Rose is the warp and weft that keeps the family intact. Sustained by her burning ambition to follow in her father’s footsteps and to be a Head Tapestry Designer, and to be so at Rimmington’s Mill, and by her unquenchable and seemingly hopeless love for Harry, will Rose at last find the happiness that has so long eluded her?

What is holding together this peculiar band of pioneers? Polly Kirkham is an orphan who was brought up by the Mormons. Now, in the bitter winter of 1846, she is part of their small band of pioneers struggling westward to the Rocky Mountains. It is here that they meet Major Dart Richards of the US Cavalry. The Major intrigues her - he's a misfit like Polly, who has never been able to accept the Mormon faith. But Dart has vowed never again to become involved with a woman. So why, instead of enjoying the pleasures of St Louis, does he find himself shepherding a small company of women, children, oxen, goats and hens across the icy wastes in pursuit of an ideal?‘Margaret Pemberton is one of the best saga writers around’ Bookseller

What is holding together this peculiar band of pioneers? Polly Kirkham is an orphan who was brought up by the Mormons. Now, in the bitter winter of 1846, she is part of their small band of pioneers struggling westward to the Rocky Mountains. It is here that they meet Major Dart Richards of the US Cavalry. The Major intrigues her - he's a misfit like Polly, who has never been able to accept the Mormon faith. But Dart has vowed never again to become involved with a woman. So why, instead of enjoying the pleasures of St Louis, does he find himself shepherding a small company of women, children, oxen, goats and hens across the icy wastes in pursuit of an ideal?‘Margaret Pemberton is one of the best saga writers around’ Bookseller

Four very different girls from different worlds meet on their first day of school in 1962. Artemis is the daughter of a self-made man; Geraldine is from an upper-class family; Kiki’s father is a doctor and Primmie is a scholarship girl. They are inseparable, and when they leave school and move into a flat together it seems perfect. But it doesn’t take long for their illusions about each other to be shattered, and they go their separate ways.Each of them has a reason for not wishing to rekindle their friendship, so, years later, when Primmie posts a message on Friends Reunited in the hope that her old friends will make contact, the results are surprising . . .‘A charming light romance, suitable for popular reading collections’ Booklist‘Margaret Pemberton is one of the best saga writers around’ The Bookseller

Four very different girls from different worlds meet on their first day of school in 1962. Artemis is the daughter of a self-made man; Geraldine is from an upper-class family; Kiki’s father is a doctor and Primmie is a scholarship girl. They are inseparable, and when they leave school and move into a flat together it seems perfect. But it doesn’t take long for their illusions about each other to be shattered, and they go their separate ways.Each of them has a reason for not wishing to rekindle their friendship, so, years later, when Primmie posts a message on Friends Reunited in the hope that her old friends will make contact, the results are surprising . . .‘A charming light romance, suitable for popular reading collections’ Booklist‘Margaret Pemberton is one of the best saga writers around’ The Bookseller