Anne Bennett books in order

Determined to become something more than just a conservative woman, Janet passes her examinations and earns a scholarship to a reputable grammar school.

Her father however still believes that girls are meant to raise children and take care of their husbands.

As she struggles to be socially accepted in school, Janet becomes friends with Ruth, a Jewish girl who has been through a lot.

Although their relationship survives way after they have finished school, what will become of their friendship when Janet falls madly in love with Ruth’s brother, Ben?

Would Ben ever be allowed to marry a Catholic girl?

With challenges from every corner, can Janet still fulfill her dreams?

Things have been rough for Kathy O’Malley and her two children ever since her husband, Barry, lost his job.

So when the Second World War erupts, Barry joins the army.

The ensuing years are nothing but horror for Kathy. With rationing, night blitz and lengthy hours helping at the neighboring munitions factory, Kathy terribly misses the touch of her husband.

So when she crosses paths with a good-looking American GI named Doug, Kathy falls for him at once.

Though still loyal to her marriage promises, things change after she learns that her husband has vanished.

Will she make a decision that she’ll come to regret greatly?

The year is 1940.

Jenny O’Leary, who works as an ARP warden, is left shattered after learning about the death of her brothers in the war.

Though overwhelmed by sorrow, she continues helping the wounded in Birmingham.

Twelve-year-old Linda Prosser enjoys a great relationship with her mother and two young brothers.

So when the blitz hits their home one unfortunate night, Linda is left alone after the bombing kills her family.

Rescued from the ruins by Jenny, the two form a solid relationship which will last for years.

Their friendship will however face the ultimate test after Linda gives her heart to a man that Jenny detests.

When eighteen-year-old Maeve Brannigan moves from County Donegal to Birmingham, a gorgeous boy named Brendan Hogan steals her life.

But upon getting married and falling pregnant, Maeve sees her husband’s true colors.

Stranded with an abusive man and two young children to take care of, Maeve finally flees back to her rural home in Ireland—a place that she was once so desperate to get away from.

However no longer welcome by her tight-knit Roman Catholic community, Maeve is sent back to her cruel spouse.

Will she ever muster the courage to escape and make a better life for her young ones?

The youthful Hannah Delaney has a secret; one which she can’t reveal to her big family back home in Ireland, more so to her sister who’s on her death bed.

Moving to England in search of greener pastures, she falls for a young soldier.

Although the two make marriage arrangements, D Day changes everything.

Lonely and expecting a child, Hannah doesn’t have much of an option but to hand over her young one to the nuns.

As she gradually begins rebuilding her life, Hannah crosses paths with Arthur Bradley, who seems like a suitable mate.

Bradley however also has secrets, and secrets can’t be buried forever.

Bridie McCarthy adores her family’s farm in rural Donegal, despite being forced to work industriously after her siblings move away from home.

The thought of letting her loving parent down scares her, until a dreadful act of cruelty forces her to run away from home.

Uncertain of where to go next, she turns to her older sister Mary, who now lives with her own family in Birmingham.

Although life there is parallel to that of Donegal, Bridie gradually fits in and even recovers her confidence.

But with the Second World War on the horizon, everything she has ever worked for comes under threat.

Although Rosie has been raised in destitution, she adores her friends, family and life on the farm.

So when she and Danny Walsh start going out, it seems like a match made in heaven.

Everything however changes when Danny's young brother joins the uprising of Easter 1916.

Determined to force his brother back home, Danny leaves for Birmingham, but not without the company of Rosie and their young daughter.

When getting a job proves to be a monumental task for the Irishman, Rosie leaves her child with Danny with the hopes of finding a job in a munitions factory, oblivious of the ramifications it will have on her and her family.

Lizzie is living a nightmare in Birmingham.

With her husband fighting in World War Two, she sends her two small children to live with their grandparents in Galway, something that she would gladly undo if she could.

Although she is lucky enough to have a job at a munitions factory, she hates the part of going home in the darkness and dodging the ruins of the blitz.

However left wounded after a brutal attack, Lizzie doesn’t have a full recollection of everything.

As she turns to her family for help, Lizzie learns that she has been a huge source of shame to them.

Help will however come from the most unlikely of sources.

Maria is a gifted fabric designer who can’t think of anything else other than her scholarship to the distinguished Grafton Academy.

When her father however gets involved in a tragic accident and her mother is overwhelmed by sorrow, Maria is forced to look after them—being the only child.

Her hopes are further shattered when she is forced to not only give up her career, but also forget about her true love.

Forced to marry Barney for security, the young couple flee their home for Birmingham where her husband shows his true colors.

Out of a calamity will however emerge something that Maria thought she would never find again...

Raised in a vicious and cruel marriage, Carmel Duffy, the eldest child, looks forwards to the day she’ll leave home.

The abusive nature of her parents’ marriage has also made her not to desire having a family of her won.

In fact, the only thing she desires is to become a nurse.

Upon leaving for Birmingham at the age of eighteen, Carmel hopes to fully focus on her training—until she crosses paths with Dr Paul Connolly.

Although they fall in love and agree to marry, they vow to never have children.

The Second World War will however change everything for Carmel.

It's 1940 in Birmingham.

Bill and Marion Whittaker enjoy a blissful marriage with five children, until he goes to fight in World War Two.

With the family now facing financial struggles, Marion decides to host lodgers, Peggy Wagstaffe and Violet Clooney.

The two spirited girls bring some measure of joy to the family, and bring Peggy's good-looking brother Sam, who draws the attention of Marion's teenage daughter, Sarah.

Four years later, Sarah is tragically harmed during a blast at the neighboring munitions factory, while Sam returns from the war without his vision.

Could these two scarred people help glue together the shattered pieces of their bodies and souls?

The year is 1938.

Kate Monroe, sixteen, resides in Birmingham, far away from her ancestral home in Ireland.

She got away from her family, given that her parents were always preoccupied with her siblings, Sally and James, pushing her to the sidelines.

But Kate has a sinister secret. She has feelings for her cousin, which she managed to subdue in her close-knight Irish-Catholic community.

Determined not to be overwhelmed by her attraction, she leaves in an effort to begin a new chapter, far away from the thoughts of Tim Monroe.

Will she be able to move on? Or will absence make the heart grow fonder?

Lucy is forced to work as a housemaid in an effort to support her family following the demise of her father.

Windthorpe House, where she works, is the home of the wealthy Hetherington’s, who lost three of their sons during the First World War.

When Clive, the last surviving son, comes back home from university, he is immediately drawn to Lucy, who reciprocates.

As she becomes a pivotal part of their family, Clive enlists to fight in the Spanish Civil War, only to return wounded and enraged.

Although Lucy and Clive vow to be together, their hopes for the future could be ruined by the Nazis.

When Meg loses her mother in childbirth, she vows to unite her family.

Her father however becomes an alcoholic and despises the baby, Ruth, convinced that she was the reason his wife died.

Not long afterwards, their father then reveals his intentions of marrying a strange woman.

When war erupts, three of the children relocate to the country, while Ruth remains with Meg’s father and his new wife.

Upon joining the army, Meg meets and falls for Stephen.

But on returning home and learning that Ruth was sent to an orphanage, Meg is forced to seek the help of the one man she would rather avoid—but it won’t be for free.

When Celia Mulligan falls for their farm worker, Andy McCadden, and he reveals his intentions of trying the knot with her, Celia’s father is incensed.

Deciding to elope, they take off to England where Celia encounters a young woman aboard a ship, who claims that her father’s friend raped her—leaving her pregnant.

Annabel, who intends to ask her brother for forgiveness, requests Celia to escort her to Birmingham as her ladies maid, an offer that she accepts after discussing it with Andy.

Although Andy and Celia have their plans for the future, an unexpected series of events will forever alter their fates.

Angela McClusky arrived in the Birmingham, from Ireland, to escape soul-breaking poverty. But life in 1920’s Black Country has been tougher than she imagined…

Angela has known nothing by hardship and heartbreak; losing a husband in The Great War, the threat of ruin whilst raising a daughter alone…as well as hiding a dark secret she’s tried desperately to forget.

Kind-hearted Stan, who runs Bell Barn Road’s Grocers shop is the only flicker of light in her life. But Angela knows he could never love her back if her knew the truth about her past… Then, tragedy strikes. Not only is Angela’s beloved daughter Connie critically injured, but Angela unexpectedly comes face to face with her guilt and shame.

Her secret out in the open, this could be Angela and Stan’s final chance at love, if only they’ll allow themselves this one last chance at happiness…

When Molly’s mother dies in a tragic accident, her dearest grandfather seeks to stay with her and younger brother Kevin in Birmingham.

That however isn’t to be, as the authorities deduce that the girl would best live with her maternal grandmother, who stays in rural Donegal.

It’s something that Molly doesn’t fancy doing, given how Biddy Sullivan is a fierce and resentful woman.

After years of suffering in Donegal, Molly finally starts becoming self-supporting.

But when her grandfather dies after the start of the war, Molly endeavors to find her of ten year old brother.

Will the two siblings be finally reunited?

Agnes Sullivan was just fifteen-years-old when Tom, her little brother, found her intoxicated and sobbing in the lane not far from their farm.

She was raped and deserted by her dancing teacher.

Forced to run away from home after learning that she’s expecting a child, a young Tom vows to avenge the actions of the teacher.

Although Aggie takes off to Birmingham, the city doesn’t turn out to be what she had expected.

Left without much of an option, Aggie surprisingly receives help from the most unlikely of people.

Will The Great War however shatter her hopes for the future?

Raised in a privileged background, Gloria Sullivan falls for a gorgeous and diligent Irishman who works for her father.

They seem like the perfect match, until the Wall Street crash changes everything.

Desperate to rebuild their lives, Gloria, her husband, Joe, and their young son move to London.

Although Joe struggles like a workhorse during the Second World War, a tragic accident leaves him terribly wounded; something that forces them to move to Joe’s family farm in Ireland.

Although Gloria looks after her husband, settling in the rural area isn’t a priority for her.

Will their lives still remain the same after she chooses to join a neighboring American base enlisting civilians?

Bridgette’s life has been full of nothing but anguish.

Her spoilt brother tainted her early years; the Second World War wrecked her marriage, and now, her mother in on her death bed.

Furthermore, Bridgette shockingly learns that she has another family.

Upon joining the war, she assists an endangered British Agent.

But at the tail end of the war, Bridgette still has more questions than answers about her past.

Determined to find the truth, she journeys to Birmingham.

Although she doesn’t know what to expect, all she can hope for is to finally have a sense of belonging.

Determined to escape the impoverishment in Ireland, Angela McCluskey moves with her family to Birmingham, only for their hopes to be diminished after a string of bad luck.

Married to her childhood love, Angela’s future looks promising, until her husband is summoned to fight in World War I.

Struck by calamity, Angela is forced to look after her weak daughter on her own.

But that’s not the worst part yet.

Now pregnant and alone, Angela has no way of taking care of her young family.

What will happen to her unborn child?

Will she forever live to regret her decisions?

Angela McClusky is continually troubled by the thoughts of the small child that she abandoned at the workhouse.

Conceived as a result of a brutal attack and born outside matrimony, the child hasn’t experienced the joy of being raised by her mother, with a locket being the only reminder of the family she never knew.

Haunted by her choices for nearly ten years, a widowed and lonely Angela attracts a new suitor named Eddie.

Although he seems like the kind of man who will fill her life with nothing but love, Angela’s relationship with her teenage daughter is tainted after Constance makes a shocking discovery about Eddie.

No secret can however be buried forever.