The Hillsbridge Quartet Series

This novel continues the story of the community of Hillsbridge, a small mining town. With the arrival of the child evacuees from London, the life of the town is disrupted. But the events of the war only serve to highlight the drama and strife within the Hall family. "The Hills and the Valley" finishes the story begun in "The Black Mountains" and "The Emerald Valley", a story based on Janet Tanner's own family history.

The Emerald Valley

by Janet Tanner

Published 1 January 1985

1926 . . .

Amy Hall was wild, wilful and stubborn - struggling to make a success of the haulage business her dead husband Llew had created - and to come to terms with the shocking secret of his past.

Ralph Porter was handsome, successful and ruthless - "the richest man in Hillsbridge". He was waiting, it seemed, for Amy to make one slip that would enable him to absorb her struggling business into his own empire.

Sometimes it seemed to Amy she was fighting the whole world. But then Amy was a fighter. She always had been . . .

Beneath the Black Mountains in the small Somerset mining town of Hillsbridge, Amy Hall battles to find her very own Emerald Valley.

A Family Affair

by Janet Tanner

Published 2 September 1999

When Jenny Simmons, the ugly duckling of her family, blossoms into a swan, the world seems to be at her feet. And when she meets Bryn Thompson, an amateur boxer, her happiness is complete. But life has some cruel blows in store for her - not least a well-kept family secret which will devastate her and threaten her very life.

Helen Hall has recently qualified as a doctor and returned to the family home in Hillsbridge, trying to escape a complicated romance. Helen realises that she has it in her power to help Jenny, but will doing so cost her the job she loves?

Evocative and enthralling, A Family Affair portrays the lives, loves, hopes and tragedies of the families who live in the shadows of the Black Mountains.

The Black Mountains

by Janet Tanner

Published 15 October 1981

Black Mountains dominate the Somerset town of Hillsbridge, and beneath their brooding shadow the Hall family - Charlotte, James and their seven children - carry on an earthy, turbulent existence. Independent spirits, the Halls are united by strong family values, divided by the conflicts of a community caught up in the changing patterns of industrial progress.

Then the dark shadows of impending war fall upon this vivid family canvas, and the Halls are forced to reaffirm their most basic beliefs.

Janet Tanner has created a memorable and moving saga of love, hate, happiness and heartbreak on the slopes of The Black Mountains.

`Sensitive and exceptionally polished' Manchester Evening News