A Salford Saga

4 primary works

Ruby McBride

by Freda Lightfoot

Published 1 August 2002

Although there is never any money in the house, Molly McBride makes sure that her three children are rich in love and affection. And when she realises that she is terminally ill, she arranges for Ruby, Billy and Pearl to be taken in at Ignatius House, the local orphanage. Ruby is a rebel at heart and often in trouble with the strict nuns, though always because she is fiercely protecting her younger siblings from bullying and the harsh regime. When she is sixteen, she is forced to marry, but vows to get back Billy and Pearl once she has made a settled home. Convinced that her new husband, who works on a barge on the Manchester Ship Canal, is a conman, Ruby resists his advances and longs for her childhood sweetheart, Kit. In fact, Bart is a good man, trying to improve the conditions of working men and eventually - after many heartbreaks - Ruby comes to realise this. She is also forced to accept that sister Pearl is a bad lot, and that Billy has found a new life in Canada, so can't hope to recreate the family in quite the way she once promised her mother.

The Favourite Child

by Freda Lightfoot

Published 2 August 2001

Isabella Ashton has always been her father's favourite, but when she becomes involved with the new birth control movement, Simeon is scandalised. He tells himself that it will be merely a phase before she settles down to a respectable marriage, but as Bella's enthusiasm for 'fallen women' shows no sign of abating, Simeon loses patience and banished her from the family home. Running a family planning clinic in Salford's mean streets is challenging but rewarding work, and Bella is grateful for the help of Violet Howarth, a big, generous-hearted woman who takes her in. Violet's son Dan also supports her mission and comradeship quickly turns into love. But Bella is also involved with handsome, ne'er-do-well Billy Quinn, leader of an illegal betting ring. His jealousy and possessiveness brings matters to a head and Bella finds everything she has worked for at risk, and herself in mortal danger...

The Castlefield Collector

by Freda Lightfoot

Published 26 August 2019

Where there’s muck, there’s mettle…

Dolly Tomkins has always known what it is to live hand to mouth. In the mean streets of a Salford struggling under the mantle of the Great Depression, the only one making a decent living is the talleyman.

Though Nifty Jack has a money bag where his heart should be, Dolly’s mam is in hock up to her ears and in dire need of assistance. But when Jack offers to wipe the slate clean, Dolly just can’t bring herself to trust him.

Instead, she takes him on at his own game and in the process endangers everything she holds most dear as a revelation about the past rocks the very foundations of her world.

This is an enchanting story of love and endurance perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Kitty Neale.

Previously published as Watch for the Talleyman.

Praise for The Castlefield Collector

'A story which in some ways could be written about today as easily as the 1920s' 5* Reader review

'This is my first novel by Freda and it will definitely not be the last' 5* Reader review

'I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book from start to finish' 5* Reader review

Dancing on Deansgate

by Freda Lightfoot

Published 4 August 2003

Manchester, 1940. They called it the Christmas Blitz but for Jess Delaney, the German bombs meant being locked in the cellar by her feckless, tarty mother, Lizzie - nothing festive there. If it weren't for her friend Leah, Jess wouldn't celebrate Christmas at all. Things go from bad to worse when Lizzie is imprisoned for shoplifting and Jess is sent to live with her uncle, a dishonest bruiser of a man and black marketeer, who treats her like a slave. The Sally Army offers her, literally, salvation, and a chance to develop her natural musical talent by learning to play the trumpet. When a young airman dares her to play at an afternoon tea dance, Jess rises to the challenge and is soon playing in a band. But Uncle Bernie has never forgiven his niece for refusing to join him in his thievery, and threatens to take away all her hard-won independence.