D. E. Stevenson

With husband Tim stationed in Egypt and her children at boarding school, Hester Christie finds herself at a loose end, until her friend Grace takes her at her word and finds her a job with the formidable Erica Clutterbuck, who has opened a new hotel in the Scottish Borders....

Franz von Heiden, son of a Nazi official and an English mother, comes to England early in 1938 to visit his English cousins - and study them. He is both accepted and entertained by Wynne Braithwaite's family and friends....

Mrs Abbott is flustered at the thought of putting up a lady from the Red Cross, but is happily surprised when she turns out to be an old friend from her previous life as Miss Buncle, infamous writer....

After spending time combatting terrorists in Malaya, James Dering returns to Scotland. He starts a new life at Mureth House, the home of his aunt and uncle, Mamie and Jock Johnstone....

On a beautiful spring day, Julia Harburn sat on a seat in Kensington Gardens enjoying the sunshine....

Gerald Brown is a handsome and brilliant young engineer - wrongfully accused of stealing diamonds from his South African firm....

When Dinah was 19, Gilbert was a sort of fairy prince. She had loved him madly but gradually she had begun to realise that he was not quite so wonderful....

Married at 19, Katherine had four years of happiness with her beloved Gerald. When he dies, she is left on her own to bring up a stepson, Simon, and her own little twins....

One by one the characters of a large attractive family make their appearance but it is through Frederica that the nexus of family problems is finally resolved....

Young George Ferrier's frivolous jaunt in London ends with an unexpected encounter with the wealthy Mr. Green, an old friend of his father, who spontaneously drafts George into being a trustee for his daughter Elma.

Despite his passionate love for Ardfalloch, Iain has been driven to let his home and estate to Mr Hetherington Smith, a wealthy London businessman, and his kindly wife (who was, truth be told, happier when they were poor)....

In the small town of Beilford, Sue, the Baker's daughter, makes an uncharacteristically impulsive decision to accept a post as housekeeper to Mr and Mrs Darnay, dashing her family's hopes of her marrying a local suitor.

Young Frances Field arrives in a scenic coastal village in Scotland, having escaped her dreary life as an orphan. Once there, she encounters an array of eccentric locals, the occasional roar of enemy planes overhead and three army wives....

Charlotte Dean enjoys nothing more than the solitude of her London flat and the monotonous days of her work at a travel bookshop....

1940 finds Adam Southey in a mood of bitter resentment: he cannot join up because he is lame. But at the school where he is teaching, the headmaster, Sam Cooke, is a brilliant scientist. And Adam suddenly finds that the battleground is not the only place to fight a war — for Dr.

Five young Ayrtons all grew up at Amberwell, playing in the gardens and preparing themselves to venture out into the world....

When Will Hastie finally decides to retire from the military and return home to Scotland, he intends to settle down on his family estate and learn to become a farmer....

Antonia and her sister Louise grow up as thick as thieves, in a world apart from their detached parents....

When young doctor Kit Stone returns to Britain, a female associate of his brother Henry secures him a post in a country practice. He meets a selection of charming - and not-so-charming - characters and quickly settles in.

Marriage to her publisher, Arthur Abbott, has done nothing to stop Barbara Buncle from involving herself in the lives of her neighbours....