The Grafton Girls
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The new Liverpool-based World War Two saga from the author of Goodnight Sweetheart and Some Sunny Day is a tale of four very different young women thrown together by war. Finding freedom and independence β as well as love, passion and heartbreak β for the very first time, a unique bond is formed as the hostilities take their toll on Britain.
When Diane Wilson leaves Cambridge for Liverpool, destined for Derby House and war work as a teleprint operator, she is intent on mending her broken heart. But will hundreds of miles ease the pain of her betrayal?
Meanwhile, mean-spirited Myra Stone awaits her new roommate in the Wavertree terrace she is billeted to. From the moment she first lays eyes on Myra, Diane senses she's bad news. But does Myra's bitterness and caustic wit belie a secret heartache?
Ruthie starts work at the munitions factory, enduring terrible conditions in order to put food on the table for herself and her widowed mother. It's tough, relentless work. But Ruthie is befriended by lively and vivacious Jess Hunt who injects colour and fun into the drab surroundings. Until, one day, a troublemaker deliberately provokes a feud between them...
All four women are brought together at The Grafton, the local dance hall favoured by American GIs as well as the local girls. In this heady, uncertain time, infatuation and passion blossom. But has each girl found true love β or true heartache?
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Annie Groves was born and lived in the north-west of England all of her life. She was the author of the Pride family series, Ellie Pride, Connieβs Courage and Hettie of Hope Street, for which she drew upon her own familyβs history, picked up from listening to her grandmotherβs stories when she was a child. Her next set of novels was the World War II series Goodnight Sweetheart, Some Sunny Day, The Grafton Girls and As Time Goes By. These were followed by the Campion series, Across the Mersey, Daughters of Liverpool, The Heart of the Family, Where the Heart Is and When the Lights Go on Again, which are also based on recollections from members of her family, who come from the city of Liverpool. My Sweet Valentine follows on from Home for Christmas and London Belles and is the third in this series, which introduces a set of glorious characters living in Article Row in Holborn.
Annie Groves, whose real name was Penny Halsall, also wrote under the name of Penny Jordan and was an international bestselling author of over 170 novels with sales of over 84 million copies.
Sadly, Penny Halsall died in 2011. She left a wonderful legacy of heart-warming novels for many more fans to discover and she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
The final books in the Article Row series, Only a Mother Knows and A Christmas Promise, will be published posthumously in 2013.
