Mostrando resultados por autor "Mary Jane Staples" en Todas las categorías

When fiery Bridget Cummings advertised for a lodger, she did not expect a policeman to apply for the room. She wasn't fond of the coppers, believing them to be traitors to the poor of Whitechapel, but her younger brother and sister moved PC Fred Billings in the moment Bridget's back was turned, and she seemed to have little say in the matter. Still, she had to admit that she was glad of his company in the walk back from her late-night washing up job, particularly when a young girl was found in a nearby street with her throat cut.

The 1950s are in full swing, and the Adams family is blessed with many new additions. Chinese Lady now has so many grandchildren that even she can sometimes scarcely remember them all. Boots and Sammy are kept up-to-date by the Adams youngsters, some of whom are now working in the family business. But they also welcome newcomers, including the lovely Anneliese, whose German ancestry makes her less than popular with some of her South London neighbours, and Joe and Hortense, newly arrived from the West Indies and working hard for Matt and Rosie on their farm in Kent.

It is 1944, and the Adams family, along with the rest of the people of the United Kingdom, are beginning to weary of the seemingly never-ending war against Hitler's Germany. Bobby Somers and Helene, living dangerously in the French countryside with a group of Resistance fighters, find themselves in great peril. Boots returns from the war in Italy, to the delight of Polly and their two little rascals, twins James and Gemma - but he brings with him a German prisoner who has a horrifying story to tell of the concentration camps.

Jack Andrews was having a tough time. He'd come back from the First World War to find his wife had 'got religion'. She'd got it so badly that she finally went off, left Jim and the three children and joined Father Peter's League of Repenters. She never really came home again. Jack and the children managed as best they could, but things were pretty tough when Aunt Edie turned up. The first thing she did was give her cousin, Maud Andrews, a piece of her mind for running off and leaving her family. But when that didn't do any good, Edie moved in and took over the Andrews family.

Can she win over her sweetheart's family? Emily had always been a trial as a child - pushy and rough - and Boots had always avoided her. But now she's an elegant and stylish young lady, and she and Boots are due to be married - and must face the challenge of his wartime injuries together. Can she draw on that steely toughness to rise to the challenge and do right by the love of her life and his family?

The Adams family were poor, cheerful and, above all, respectable. There was Mrs Adams, a widow having lost her husband in the Boer War; Boots, the bright one; Tommy, the quiet one; Sammy, a wheeler dealer in the making; and Lizzy. Lizzy was a real pearl - one of the prettiest girls in Walworth. Then Lizzy falls in love it is 1914. War is coming, and everyone is going to be affected. Will the Adams family - gutsy, tough and cheeky - pull through? Down Lambeth Way is the first in Mary Jane Staples' Adams Family series. Their story continues in Our Emily.

By the year 1949, life in Walworth has almost returned to normal. Sammy and Boots, now in a highly successful partnership, are rebuilding the old family firm. But an old enemy resurfaces - Mr Ben Ford, better known as the Fat Man, who seems determined to ruin the various branches of this growing business. It takes all the well-known Adams ingenuity and determination to outwit the thugs in the Fat Man's pay.

When Baroness Sophie von Korvacs meets British painter James Fraser one hot summer's day in Vienna, the attraction is instant. A whirlwind romance follows, with Vienna bathed in the brilliance of the last days of the emperor. And when James proposes to Sophie it seems a fitting end to that wonderful, enchanting summer.

In 1941, the United Kingdom was in desperate straits, standing alone with its troops against the colossal war machine of Nazi Germany. There was always Prime Minister Winston Churchill, however, who growled his defiance to Hitler and induced in his people a determination to endure. The Adams family shared that determination and their own kind of optimism.

There was a new family in Browning Street, Walworth - the Harrisons. Respectable and well-behaved, the only thing unusual about them was that Mr Harrison was never there. He was a sailor, said Ma Harrison, away fighting pirates in the China Seas. Actually, 'Knocker' Harrison was in Marsham Gaol - he had unfortunately burgled a lady's suite when she happened to be there. Pa wasn't really a very good burglar.

1926: The murderer Gerald Ponsonby has been caught, thanks to Boots, and is facing trial. He hates Boots and the whole Adams clan and is hungry for revenge. When a dapper, quiet, but rather odd lodger turns up at Doreen Paterson's house, nobody thinks anything is amiss. Certainly not Doreen - who works for Boots in Adams Enterprises and thinks him just wonderful. Could the strange lodger be plotting the downfall of the irrepressible, outrageous, and larger-than-life Adams clan?

The house in Caulfield Place, off Browning Street in Walworth, was haunted, or at least that's what the street kids said. So when two men, a woman and a parrot moved in, everyone was very interested, especially 14-year-old Cassie Ford, who was particularly fascinated by the parrot. And it was just about this time that Mr Finch, Chinese Lady's husband and Boots's stepfather began to get mysterious telephone calls. Mr Finch had never told the rest of the Adams family - except for Boots - the secrets of his past, or what kind of work he did for the government.

Susie Brown is overjoyed when her brother, Will, turns up unexpectedly on leave from service in time for her wedding to Sammy Adams. But Will's leave is an extended one due to bad health, and he's unsure whether the army will keep him or whether he'll be able to find a job in the slump of the '20s. To make matters worse, he's at risk of falling in love with the young and personable Annie Ford.

Can she win the heart of the man she loves? Sammy has always had an eye for business and a good deal and is determined to expand the family business. But as his mighty empire grows, his assistant Susie Brown has plans of her own.... Susie has always adored Sammy and has decided that he will be the man she marries. But marriage doesn't figure in Sammy's plans. Will he fall into line? Does he stand a chance against a determined woman and the rest of the Adams family?

It was June 1916 when Sergeant Boots Adams of the Royal West Kents, together with his men, was billeted on the Descartes farm in Northern France. It was a short break from the turmoil and horror of the trenches, and Boots and his men, in return for their free billeting, were to help the farmer in his fields. It came as something of a surprise to discover that the land was being managed by a young French war widow, Cecile Lacoste and, to the distant sound of guns, a brief wartime friendship flared between Boots and Cecile.

It was 1940, and many of the younger members of the Adams family were caught up in the war in France. Boots, now a major and on the staff of General Sir Henry Simms, was one of the thousands of British troops trying to escape in the armada of little boats from Dunkirk. His son, Tim, and nephew, Bobby, were also struggling to reach the coast and safety, while Eloise was with the ATS awaiting the homecoming soldiers at Portsmouth with a comforting cup of tea and a ticket home. Boots and Tim both made it safely back, but of Bobby, there was no sign, and the family all feared the worst.

Job and Jemima Hardy weren't Londoners by birth. They had both lived in a Sussex village until lack of work had sent Job and the family to Walworth - to a house in Stead Street. They got it cheap because of the poltergiest, but they were sensible folk and decided that eight shillings a week rent was a bargain, and - well - if the floors and doors sometimes moved a bit, they could live with it.

There was a double wedding planned in Walworth. Sally Brown was marrying Horace Cooper, and her brother, Freddy, was at last getting hitched to his childhood sweetheart, Cassie Ford. But the wedding wasn't the only thing being planned, for Ginger Carstairs and Dusty Miller were working out a bank robbery and, unbeknown to the inhabitants of Walworth and Denmark Hill, both Freddy Brown and the Adams family were to be deeply involved and put in considerable danger.

It's 1959, and Boots Adams and his wife, Polly, are at their favourite Camberwell pub when they witness with horror a sudden and vicious attack on the barman, Joe, by a knife-wielding thug. Is this a sign of the times? Is contempt for old traditions and enthusiasm for everything new and fashionable going to threaten the Adams family and their easy-going existence? While Gemma is courted by one of the young men who works for her father, her twin brother, James, finds himself affected by his girlfriend's intriguing family secrets.

Sammy Adams is always on the look-out for a new business opportunity. When he hears from his son David about the new-fangled supermarkets that are becoming all the rage in America, he immediately starts looking for a suitable site in South London. Meanwhile, legacies of the last war continue to haunt the Adams family. The mystery of Katje Galicia, the Polish woman who knows something of Sir Edwin Finch's past, becomes a major police enquiry while a beautiful German girl appears, bringing wartime memories back to Tim Adams and his wife, Felicity.