Bøger af Dilly Court

From the age of eight, sixteen-year-old Charity Crosse has been living rough with her grandfather and begging on the streets. When he grandfather passes away, Charity is helped by a kindly doctor who introduces her to bookseller, Jethro Dawkins. He takes Charity in to help in his bookshop and keep house in their one room behind the shop.

Despite her privileged upbringing, Daisy Lennox has always longed to make something of her life. She is drawn to the suffragette movement, but when her father faces ruin they are forced to move to the country and Daisy's first duty is to her family. Here she becomes engaged to her childhood friend - a union both families have dreamed of.

Phoebe Giamatti lives with her boisterous Italian family in the heart of London's East End. Phoebe's father was killed in gang warfare and she and her family share a deep hatred for the Paxman brothers - whose lawless ways strike terror into the whole community. Despite her English mother's feckless ways, Phoebe is fiercely protective of Annie.

Since the untimely death of her husband, young mother Effie Grey has been forced to live on a narrowboat owned by her tyrannical father-in-law Jacob. But when Jacob hires villainous Salter and his vile wife Sal to run the barge, Effie's life becomes even more unbearable, and Tom is sent packing without a penny to his name.

Lily Larkin is the youngest of six and the least important member of her talented, argumentative, temperamental family. With their father dead and their mother a stranger to them, she must stay at home and keep house whilst her elder siblings go out to work.

When Belinda Phillips falls in love with a handsome Anglo-Indian officer, she knows that he is a man she can never hope to marry. When he is reported missing, believed killed in action, Belinda discovers that she is pregnant. Facing disgrace and ruin, she has no option other than to accept an arranged marriage with a middle-aged widower.

On a bitter winter's day, an unnamed girl lies dangerously ill in hospital. When two coarse, rough-speaking individuals come to claim her, she can remember nothing of the events that brought her to her present state, not even her name. According to the men, she is their young sister, Lucy.

When Hetty Huggins made a promise to her dying mother that she would look after her younger sister and brothers, little did she know how difficult this would be.

When Eloise Cribb receives the news that her husband's ship has been lost at sea she wonders how she is ever going to manage. Virtually destitute and desperate, Eloise is faced with her worst nightmare: she must either go to the workhouse, or abandon her children at the Foundling Hospital.

'I ain't always going to be poor, I made me mind up to that.'Dismissed from her position as housemaid under a cloud of misunderstanding, Tilly True is forced to return home. But when she falls for the dangerous charms of Barnaby Palgrave, Tilly soon finds that her troubles have only just begun ...

Living above her uncle's chandlery she has grown accustomed to a life of penury and servitude, her only comfort the love and protection of her older brother, Bart. Alone, barefoot, beaten down and at the mercy of her cruel uncle, Eliza realises that her very survival is at stake...

Despite living by the side of the Thames, with its noise, disease and dirt, eighteen-year-old Rosina May has wanted for little in life. To save them all, Rosina agrees to marry Harry, the son of a wealthy merchant. But a chance encounter with a handsome river pirate has turned her head and she longs to meet him again.

Two sisters, tragically divided by love, jealousy and ambition ... Coquettish, flamboyant Rosetta is desperate to leave the claustrophobic confines of the sewing sweatshop to follow in her wayward aunt's footsteps and work under the bright lights of the music hall.

Bullied by the kitchen maids, Kitty is soon taken under Lady Arabella's wing and for the first time in her life Kitty dares to hope. Kitty will do anything for her mistress but her loyalty is severely tested as all their lives are thrown into turmoil and Kitty faces a life of poverty and hardship in the slums of the East End once more ...

The new heartwarming novel from Sunday Times bestselling author, Dilly Court.Clara held onto the precious button, glimmering like a jewel in the dark alleyways of London's notorious Seven Dials. She needed to save her family... but who was going to save her?There was a time when the Carter sisters' father was their hero. Now he's a drunk who's gambled away everything they had and put them all in peril. It's on Clara's shoulders to save the four sisters from destitution. Clutching her precious button box, the only thing of value they have left, Clara dreams of starting a shop that could put a roof over their heads and keep them safe...But in debt to the terrifying Patches Braggs, leader of one of the East End's roughest gangs, Clara is in fear for her life. When a mysterious benefactor seems to offer an escape, Clara realizes too late that it comes at a terrible price...Cheated, abandoned and alone - can Clara save her family and hold onto her dreams?

The perfect heartwarming romance for Christmas, rich in historical detail. She turned the picture of the Christmas card over with her frozen hands, a pretty picture of a family gathering at Yuletide. How different from her own life; stiff with cold on the icy cobbles, aching for shelter . . .When her father dies leaving Alice and her ailing mother with only his debts, the two grieving women are forced to rely on the begrudging charity of cruel Aunt Jane. Determined to rid herself of an expensive responsibility, Jane tries forcing Alice into a monstrous marriage. And when Alice refuses, she is sent to work in a grand house to earn her keep.Finding herself in sole charge of the untameable and spoilt young miss of the house, Alice's only ally is handsome Uncle Rory, who discovers that Alice has talents beyond those of a mere servant. But when someone sets out to destroy her reputation, Alice can only pray for a little of that Christmas spirit to save her from ruin . . .

The brand new compelling novel from the Sunday Times bestseller, Dilly Court.Lottie Lane is all alone in the world. As a chambermaid at one of London's busiest inns, condemned to a life of drudgery and at the mercy of a vicious landlady, Lottie is too worn out to even dream of a better life.Until one night an injured soldier is brought to The Swan. Lottie nurses him back from the dead and suddenly everything changes. She finds herself following the drum of the soldiers, all the way from the docks of Chatham to the darkness and despair of a far flung battlefield.When tragedy strikes, Lottie is alone once more and thrown back into the jaws of London's streets. With the threat of destitution nipping at her heels, Lottie is in dire need of a miracle . . .

The heartwarming new novel from Dilly Court, the Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author of The Beggar Maid.With the fate of her family in her hands, Rose has to make a terrible choice. Be thrown onto the streets without a penny to her name, or watch her loved ones fall into ruin . . .Rose is keeping a dreadful secret, and too scared to ask her strict father for help, it's down to her to keep her brother from the hangman's noose - whatever it takes. Her innocent sister Cora is on a different road to ruin, bewitched by a handsome cad whose intentions are anything but gallant.When Rose's father discovers that his children have disgraced his name he turns them onto the street. Penniless, homeless and with the noose tightening, Rose must rescue her brother and keep her sister from the streets, even if it means putting herself in the most terrible danger . . .

She longed to be reunited with her family. The compelling new novel from the Sunday Times top ten bestselling author of The Workhouse Girl. Eleven-year-old Stella Barry is forced into service when her family find themselves living hand-to-mouth.

Circumstances force eight-year-old Sarah and her widowed mother to enter the notorious St Giles and St George's Workhouse. When her mother dies in childbirth, the independent-minded Sarah falls foul of the workhouse master, Trigg and his cruel wife. Sarah's ordeal seems to be over when a sugar mill owner takes her into his home.

The wonderfully nostalgic and heartwarming new novel from the Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author of The Beggar Maid. Born out of wedlock when her mother was only fourteen, Lucy Pocket has spent all her life in the care of her disreputable but charming grandmother, Eva.

Whilst Kate grows up knowing only poverty and servitude, Josie's world is one of privilege and luxury. Until a chance meeting forces Kate and Josie to confront the truth of that night nearly twenty years before - a truth that turns both worlds upside down and threatens to destroy their friendship forever...