It's 1945 and, as the troops begin to return home, the inhabitants of London attempt to put their lives back together. For 25-year-old Millie, a qualified nurse and midwife, the jubilation at the end of the war is short-lived as she tends to the needs of the East End community around her. But while Millie witnesses tragedy and brutality in her job, she also finds strength and kindness. And when misfortune befalls her own family, it is the enduring spirit of the community that shows Millie that even the toughest of circumstances can be overcome.

When a body is discovered in the Regents Canal, the local residents vaguely wonder if it might belong to their missing neighbour Barbs, but none of them quite get round to doing anything about it. While Scarlett is preoccupied with her uptight husband Brian and her adolescent daughter Camille, Connie is wondering whether her lover Memet is being unfaithful to her. As the two women gossip and wryly comment on everything from advertising and the press, psychiatrists and school systems to nutrition cranks, lives of both families are turned on their heads as the do-gooder Barbs' whereabouts remain unknown.

Heartsease House is in desperate need of renovation. Its owner, widower Joel, is struggling with life as a single dad. Mum to twin girls, Lauren's life is a constant juggling act. When her ex, Troy, turns up wanting to see his daughters, she's determined to keep her distance. Then guerrilla gardener Kezzie bursts into their lives, with her infectious enthusiasm to restore the gardens. But who is Kezzie? And what is she running away from? As the warm days of summer draw on, Heartsease House and its garden are transformed. But will Joel, Kezzie and Lauren be able to restore their own hearts?

Alfred Cameron, the owner of a prosperous coaching firm, his wife Felicity and their beautiful daughter Augusta enjoy a life of privilege and luxury, surrounded by servants and the trappings of success. But the family firm is in danger - threatened by the encroaching railways, and undermined from within by one of their coachmen, Luther Gunnet - a ruthlessly ambitious man who will do anything to raise his family from the slums. One disastrous, snow-swept night, a series of tragic events begins that will shatter the comfortable world of the Camerons, and bring a spectacular reversal of fortune none of them could have imagined in their wildest dreams.

Mary felt rather like someone for whom a marriage was being arranged by people who doubted the suitability of the match but could think of no seemly way of retiring. Her family and friends behaved like outsiders privy to a secret and dubious courtship, treating her with wholly unnatural care, whispering together and falling silent when they remembered her sitting by the window and possibly listening. Mary Marsh had lost her only child, but rather than allow her peace in which to grieve, her mother cajoles her into participating in a proper family Christmas. As the various guests arrive - the house descends into farcical chaos.

In her short life Sadie Appleby has never left rural Westmorland. But one night she is rudely awoken by her sister, Ella. She has robbed her employer and is on the run. Together the girls flee their own home and head for London. Ella sets her sights on the flamboyant man-about-town Jay Whitgift, owner of a parlour for the wives of the London gentry. But nothing in the capital is what it seems, least of all Jay Whitgift. Soon a rift has formed between Ella and Sadie, and the sisters are threatened by a menace more sinister than the law.

Wallis exists on charity, unlike her aristocratic friend, Pamela Holtby, whose family are on intimate terms with the British Royals. Both girls daydream of the handsome Prince Edward, future King of England. Wallis's first love affair is blighted by a terrible betrayal and she learns the hard way that happiness is fleeting. Returning to America she meets her second husband, not realising that her new name - Mrs Wallis Simpson - will one day take on a shocking significance. Meanwhile, Prince Edward is fulfilling his royal duties, but the scene is about to be set for the most earth-shattering meeting in the history of the British family...

Annie Cochrane has it all up in the air: a demanding job in the Scottish Government, a teenage son with problems at school, and a mother whose behaviour is getting increasingly erratic. There just aren't enough hours in the day, especially when there are two men on her mind and a devious First Minister plotting to end her career. With the tabloid press in pursuit, and life-changing decisions to be made, how will Annie avoid dropping everything?

Five strangers gather at Eric's inn on a remote Hebridean island after he advertises in the London weeklies for 'Christmas at the edge of the world.' Harry, a military widower, is fascinated by General Gordon; Jessica is a voice over artist and actress; Jon is a vain actor who is dangerously obsessed with Jessica; Anita is a salesperson in a department store; and Ronald is a psychoanalyst who is pining for the domestic skills of his recently departed wife. Each has their own reasons for escaping the usual festivities but things get complicated when Eric's wife flounces out and locals and visitors mingle and clash.

In the two years since the tragic car crash that killed his fiancee, Nate Mayer has successfully avoided another relationship. His family, and especially his twin sister, Nathalie are worried. Jennifer Blake is Nate's personal assistant. Hired after the accident, she has her own problems to deal with, including the deaths of her adoptive parents and the debts incurred by their nursing care. But those difficulties pale into insignificance when Jenni finally traces her birth mother...

It's every policeman's worst nightmare: a little girl has been abducted, and Falbrough CID can find no trace of her. The department's newest detective, Constable `Thorny` Deepbriar, one-time village bobby, already has his hands full. He's looking into a spate of robberies, he has two weeks to vacate Minecliff's police house, and his wife Mary, is expecting their first child - years after giving up hope of having a family. However, when Deepbriar discovers a possible connection between the disappearance of Janey Smithers and an incident that his colleagues have swept under the carpet, he can't resist investigating.

The plot of land was perfect, affordable and came with a plantation of truffle oaks. Having exchanged London life for Provence, started a wine business and a family, here was a chance for Jamie and his wife to realise the final part of their dream. All they needed now was to build a house - and train a dog. But would they survive the secretive world of truffle hunters?

A Secret Treasure: When pretty, passionate Eve Burnett meets the dark intriguing Julio Falcone, she is torn. As a man, Julio is powerfully attractive. As a policeman, he is bound to be a Fascist. Her brother, David, is connected to the Greek Partisans who wish to liberate Rhodes. Eve realizes that she may be forced to choose between the man she loves and the safety of her family. Holiday In Bologna: When Heidi Manelli arrives outside the Italian villa in Bologna, she encounters charismatic Stefano. Is their developing relationship a holiday romance, or something deeper? Is her holiday in Bologna going to change her life forever?

Could anybody be more prosaic, less romantic, less gallant and more constant than a solid Welsh socialist husband of ten years' standing? Why, only a forty-year-old Latin lover, of course. Rose Williams was not only married, Welsh, thirty and sensible, she was also in America on a scholarship to study Americans; but it was Giorgio, an Italian professor of International Law, who claimed her attention, who whisked her away in his convertible on a motel trip across the States. As we follow this strangely incongruous pair, quarrelling, coming together, travelling uneasily along electrically charged parallel lines, a wonderful real and delightfully comic picture emerges.

Fourteen-year-old Vera has led a sheltered life with her overbearing religious mother and older sister. But her world is turned upside down with the arrival of the Lovell family on her street. Unaware of the effect she has on men, Vera invites the unwanted attention of Alfred Lovell, with devastating consequences. Outraged at the news that her teenage daughter is pregnant, Vera's mother sends her to a home for wayward girls. After giving birth to a baby boy, Vera manages to escape the brutality of the institution, only to face the toughest decision a mother could ever make...

It is 1887 and times are lean. When West Country farm labourer Emmanuel Ladycott and his daughter, Tresca, lose their jobs, they head for Tavistock where Emmanuel hopes to join hundreds of navvies working on the railway line. Lodging together in a tiny attic room, Tresca is determined to forge a new life among the overcrowding and poverty of Bannawell Street. But when Emmanuel is dismissed from the railway, Tresca doesn't know whether to blame her father or his Irish foreman, Connor O'Mahoney. Torn apart by her conflicting emotions, events spiral out of control leaving Tresca broken and on the brink of despair.

Anna Campbell's life is dedicated to raising her six foster children. A pillar of the community, her door at Eighteen Couper Street is always open, for advice, treatment for all sorts of ailments or for a cup of tea and a chat. But despite caring for those around her, she is soon embroiled in family problems. When Bella becomes pregnant by Gus, Anna is horrified. And as well as confronting Bella's delicate and scandalous condition, Anna must also contend with the ever-present bane of her existence, her beloved Rachel's father, Gabby. Anna wants revenge, but at what cost to Rachel and her family?

Marie Hepburn, illegitimate daughter of the Bishop of Moray, is only seventeen when she is promised in marriage to the repulsive, middle-aged Duke of Glasgow. But this betrothal proves to be only the beginning of Marie's troubles. The Duke has a deadly rival, Guthrie Jamieson, the handsome but ruthless Earl of Edinburgh, who knows all the dark secrets of Marie's past. As Marie's life begins to fall apart, she turns to a gallant young nobleman for help. But at the Court of Mary, Queen of Scots, where betrayal and violent death are commonplace, Marie soon discovers that she can trust no-one but herself...

Guy Fawkes Night, 1857. Joel Heygate is the popular stationmaster at Exeter St David's railway station. But when the charred remains of a body are discovered in the embers of the town's annual Bonfire, everyone is horrified when it becomes clear that they belong to Heygate. Mr Gervase Quinnell of the South Devon Railway contacts Scotland Yard for their support, and Railway Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant arrive in Exeter with all due haste. As Colbeck closes in on the killer, he finds himself in mortal danger - can justice prevail?