Soundings S.
2 primary works
Book 1683
A heartfelt Birmingham saga, Birmingham Rose is Annie Murray's debut novel and was a Sunday Times bestseller.
Life is bleak for Rose Lucas, a spirited, intelligent girl, born into a large family in the slums of pre-war Birmingham. But her friendship with Diana, daughter of a vicar from middle-class Moseley, gives her hope. She learns to aspire to a different kind of existence, vowing never to become a child-bearing drudge like her mother.
Life, however, never follows the way of dreams. After a childhood marked by tragedy, Rose eventually finds and loses the love for which she has striven so hard. From Italy, where she has travelled during the Second World War, she is forced to return to Birmingham and an unhappy marriage, her hopes and illusions shattered. But Rose will not be defeated and she, too, is determined to rise once again above the devastation of her life . . .
Book 1827
Annie Murray's uplifting saga set during the Great War, Poppy Day is a moving story of love, remembrance and ultimate healing.
Jessica Hart's happy childhood as the daughter of a country blacksmith is changed forever by the sudden death of her mother. Her grief-stricken father leaves her to cope with her loss alone.
It is her manipulative new stepmother who tries to force her into marrying an older man. To bright, pretty Jess the idea of a loveless marriage is unthinkable and so she escapes to Birmingham to her aunt Olive – the last remaining connection to her mother.
But it soon becomes apparent that in the shadows of Olive's family there are haunting secrets of which no one will speak. And Jess's security is threatened when she falls passionately in love. For handsome Ned Green is not only already married, but also about to become a father.