The new book in the heartwarming WW2 family saga series - available now!
'Uplifting and full of warmth, this tale of friendship and love is another brilliant instalment in this much loved historical fiction series'
MyWeekly
'This heartwarming, nostalgic book is a fitting finale to a delightful series'
Woman's Weekly
Summer 1945. After victory in Europe, best friends Lily, Gladys and Beryl are looking to the future. But even with this happy news, their lives are far from simple...
Despite Lily's joyful summer wedding, she has doubts over what her heart wants now. As she adjusts to her role as young wife, could this signal the end of her position at Marlows?
The return of Gladys's husband Bill raises questions of their family life as he struggles to find work after the Navy, and for Beryl big changes at her bridal shop are afoot.
As the girls start to move on with their lives, they have never needed to stick together more...
Acclaim for The Shop Girls series
'Jo writes with a sure hand and a light touch... a real page-turner with a spirited heroine who will worm her way into readers' hearts. A sparkling new voice in fiction' VERONICA HENRY
'Cheerful and uplifting... I thoroughly enjoyed it' KATIE FFORDE
'Highly recommended - an engrossing story with a charmingly forthright heroine' ANNA JACOBS
'Warm and wonderfully page-turning' ANNIE GROVES
'Captivating... a triumphant debut novel' Women's Weekly
'Family drama, community spirit and love... [a] warm, compassionate read' People's Friend
The new book in the heart-warming WW2 family saga series!
As the tides of war turn, friendship has never been more important…
Spring 1944. As the Allied forces push on towards longed-for victory, Lily Collins yearns to join up and do her bit. But where does her duty lie?
Her best friend Gladys faces having her first baby alone, with her new husband back with the Navy.
And their friend Beryl is run off her feet building her bridal-hire business amid the bomb damage.
So while wedding bells are ringing for others at Marlows Department Store, where Lily works, will they be heard for Lily herself – or does fate have another twist in store?
Acclaim for Joanna Toye
‘Warm and wonderfully page-turning’ Annie Groves
‘Just the balm our souls need right now’ Woman’s Weekly
‘Family drama, community spirit and love…[a] warm, compassionate read’ People’s Friend
Drama, courage and romance at Marlow’s department store this Christmas
For Lily Collins and her fellow shop girls at Marlow’s Department store, another Christmas with ration books, shortages of goods and staff – not to mention a store coping with war damage – will be a real challenge.
But the girls rally round and put their worries aside to make this, the hardest wartime Christmas yet, one that their families, and their town, will never forget.
Don’t miss the third book in the heart-warming wartime series set around a town’s department store – available to pre-order now!
‘Cheerful and uplifting…I thoroughly enjoyed it’ Katie Fforde
Summer 1942. Despite grim reports on the wireless and rationing hitting hard, Lily Collins and her fellow shop girls from Marlow’s department store are determined to put out the bunting for a family party.
But Beryl’s husband Les returns from North Africa a changed man, and Gladys worries for her own fiancé’s safety. The store is losing staff to the war effort and Lily’s young man, Jim, is torn over where his duty lies.
Then comes the knock on the door that everyone dreads. Lily’s family, always the heart of her world, is rocked to the core. The small Midlands town – and Lily’s beloved Marlow’s – must face their greatest challenge yet.
War brings changes the friends could never foresee...
'Cheerful and uplifting... I enjoyed it immensely' Katie Fforde
'Highly recommended' Anna Jacobs
It's 1942 and as shortages of staff - and goods - begin to bite, young Lily Collins is thrilled to step up to sales junior in her job at Marlow's department store.
But bombs are still falling and Lily and fellow shop girls Gladys and Beryl need a stiff upper lip to wave boyfriends, husbands and brothers goodbye, especially with a baby on the way and grim news on the wireless. When Jim, who works with Lily at the store, seems restless, things are bad enough, but nothing can prepare Lily for the secrets that come tumbling out when her favourite brother comes home on leave...
Somehow, she must keep smiling through. Community, family and friends rally round as her home town - and the whole country - is tested once again.
'Highly recommended - an engrossing story with a charmingly forthright heroine' Anna Jacobs
'It's a real page-turner with a spirited heroine who will worm her way into readers' hearts. A sparkling new voice in fiction' Veronica Henry
Even in wartime the customer comes first at Marlow's department store.
It's 1941 and young Lily Collins is starting work in Midlands department store Marlow's, whose gleaming facade has fascinated her since childhood.
As the air raid sirens blare, Lily learns the ropes from her sophisticated boss Miss Frobisher alongside shy fellow junior Gladys. But her burgeoning friendship with young salesman Jim draws her into a swirl of secrets within the store. And with the war progressing to crisis point, Cedric Marlow and his staff must battle nightly bombings and the absence of loved ones to keep going.
From a former writer of The Archers comes a novel that weaves together a powerful sense of community and a vivid evocation of a time when every man, woman and child was doing their bit.
The first fascinating part of Joanna Toye's delightful trilogy about life in Ambridge. Covering the years 1951-1967, Family Ties introduces the main characters: Dan, Doris, Phil, Christine, Jack and Peggy and their children, Walter Gabriel, the Fairbrothers and Tom Forrest. The early years are action-packed: Phil's courtship and marriage to Grace and her tragic death; his subsequent marriage to Jill and the birth of their children; Jack's drinking problem and later, the birth of Jennifer's illegitimate baby. Miriam Margolyes, a life-long Archers fan, brings the characters and the village of Ambridge vividly to life in this abridged reading.
For over fifty years, Britain's most popular radio drama has captured the imagination of listeners throughout the country. Ambridge and its residents have been constant companions to millions throughout the highs and lows of five successive decades. Covering the years 1968 to 1986, Joanna Toye's novel follows the fortunes of Dan and Doris's grandchildren, as they search for happiness and love in the changing world of the 70s and early 80s. Jennifer's struggles as an unmarried mother look to be over with marriage to the gorgeous Roger, but a happy ending is not to be. Lilian has her share of tragedy with the death of her first husband Nick and illness of her second, Ralph. There is happiness for Shula, though, with new-found love Mark Hebden and Tony is lucky to meet Pat.
