Valerie Wood

Rosa grew up an orphan in a remote, watery island fastness on the wild East coast of Yorkshire. Taken in as a small child by the motherly Mrs Drew, she realised as she grew up that this large and seemingly close farming family contained many troubled souls. Mr Drew, whose religious fervour held a dark secret; Jim, the eldest son, who was terrified of something from his past; Delia, longing to escape from the island; and tall, handsome, confident Matthew, who wanted only one thing - Rosa herself. But Rosa's background was one of mystery. Her mother, before she drowned in the dyke near their home, had always promised that one day Rosa's father would return to her - a handsome Spaniard, with jewels and silks in treasure chests, sailing in on a ship with golden sails. Mr Drew knew the secret of Rosa's past - and so did the two mysterious Irishmen, who came back to the island after many years and who threatened everything which Rosa held most dear. Other novels by Valerie Wood include: The Hungry Tide, winner of the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction, Annie, Children of the Tide, The Romany Girl, Emily, and Going Home.

Rosa's Island

A waif from the slums and a poor little rich girl are united in tragedy in this sumptuous story with a North Yorkshire setting from popular saga writer Valerie Wood, the first winner of the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction.

Rich Girl, Poor Girl

When Georgiana and her maid, Kitty, make the long sea-journey from their native East Yorkshire to America, they are seeking a new life of freedom. But in New York, Georgiana encounters a man passing himself off as her brother-in-law Edward Newmarch, a local mill-owner’s son who has abandoned Georgiana’s sister and fled to America. Edward himself seems to have vanished. Meanwhile Edward, having escaped from a disastrous marriage in England, is now running from a bigamous union with the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. His flight takes him through the Mississippi swamps, across arid desert and mountain ranges towards the gold fields of California. As Georgiana and Kitty journey to the hidden valley of gold, and Edward tries to flee his enemies, the dangers and passions of this new country and its people threaten to overwhelm them.

Far from Home

Children Of The Tide

It is the late 1850s and a tired woman holding a baby walks from Hull to one of the big houses in Anlaby, the home of the wealthy Rayners. She knocks at the door, and shoves the baby at young James Rayner. It is a Rayner child, the father was 'young Mr Rayner', and the mother is dead. Then she vanishes. The respectable shipping family of Hull are shattered. They all assume it is James's, not Gilbert's who is on the verge of an excellent marriage. No one wants to take responsibility for the baby and it is about to be put into a dreadful Dickensian type orphanage when Sammi, James's girl cousin, decides to take the baby back to her parents' home on the Holderness coast. This signals the beginning of a family furore. James is banished to London and disaster begins to beset the three branches of the Rayners, all descended from the couple in The Hungry Tide. A huge, many-faceted story of the three related families and the triumphs and tragedies of their lives as the whaling industry of Hull begins to decline, and the farmlands and homes continue to slip into the sea.

Children of the Tide

Sarah Fosterâe(tm)s parents have been fighting a constant battle with poverty, disease and crime. When her father, Will, is involved in a terrible accident at work, their lives became even harder. But Willâe(tm)s good deeds of the past pay off as John Rayner decides to rescue the Fosters. John provides them with work and a house on the estate owned by his wealthy family. It is at this new home on the crumbling coastline of Holderness that Sarah is born âe" and grows into a bright and beautiful girl, and a great source of strength to those around her. As John grows closer to Sarah, he becomes increasingly aware of his love for her. But could these two very different people ever make their love story truly work? If you enjoy books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.

The Hungry Tide

Lily Fowler finds herself alone, frightened and heavily pregnant on the streets of Hull. Forced into a brothel to avoid destitution, Lily and the other “fallen angels” eventually fight their way back to respectability. From the Hardcover edition.

Fallen Angels

Jenny is determined to make her own way in the world, and she secures a job as the kitchen maid in a grand house in Beverley.She gradually gains the attention of Christy, the young master of the house, and they fall in love.But slowly their hopes and dreams turn to nightmares and culminate in a scandal which will force Jenny to leave Beverley and everything she knows. Cast aside by her own family, and all alone in the world, Jenny has to rely on her ailing aunt Agnes, who was banished from the family many years before.Living with Agnes and her husband Stephen St John Laslett, she learns that Stephen's wealthy family have disowned him and they have to eke out a meagre living on their small farm. Times are hard, and as Agnes grows weaker, she asks Stephen to make her an unusual promise, one that will affect the rest of Jenny's life. Jenny the kitchen maid becomes the mistress of Laslett Hall, and although she tries to fit in with the world that she now inhabits, she never forgets the words that the gypsy told her: that one day she will return to where she was once happy - and there Jenny will find her true love.

The Kitchen Maid

Emily was only five years old when she was sent away from her ma and pa and her brother Joe to go and live with old Granny Edwards. A loving and hard-working child, she goes into service when she is twelve at the house of Roger Francis, whose connections with Emily's own family prove to be closer than she could ever have guessed. Roger's daughter Deborah takes a great fancy to Emily, and when Emily has moved to another household in Hull she finds that her new employer's son Hugo is to marry Deborah. But Hugo, too, has taken a fancy to Emily, and dishonours and then betrays her to such an extent that she is imprisoned, tried and deported to Australia. But just when her fortunes seem to be at their lowest ebb, Emily is reunited with the one man who can save her from her miserable existence and bring her wealth and happiness.

Valerie Wood

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