Love Me Tender

Love Me Tender
Anne Bennett

A heartrending tale of love and tragedy during The Birmingham Blitz. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Annie Groves.For Kathy O’Malley, life has not been easy with her husband, Barry, out of work and with two children to feed. Then when war breaks out in 1939, many of the local men enlist, including Barry, leaving the women to cope as best they can.The years that follow are full of hardship: rationing, nightly air raids and endless shifts working at the local munitions factory all take their toll on Kathy who longs to feel the strong arms of her husband around her once more.When she meets Doug, a handsome American GI, she is drawn immediately drawn to him but determined to honour her marriage vows. But after she receives a telegram informing that her husband is missing, presumed dead, she makes a decision that will have consequences, not just for herself, but for the lives of all those she loves too…

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

This edition published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2015

Copyright © Anne Bennett 1999

First published in 1999 by HEADLINE BOOK PUBLISHING

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover photographs © Gordon Crabb (woman); Colin Thomas (girl); Mirrorpix (mirrorpix)

Anne Bennett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007547784

Ebook Edition © May 2015 ISBN: 9780007547791

Version: 2017-10-18

To my lovely husband, Denis, with all my love.

Contents

Cover (#ua67c5f54-3647-5d81-9ef7-af4deeba0e93)

Title Page (#u6098092b-1549-59c9-819e-81f61f9ff46f)

Copyright (#u55850d33-a353-581c-9bfa-f03e5b7dfb4a)

Dedication (#u72c00317-aa8d-5a1a-a2b9-12fe2ca67ff6)

Chapter ONE (#u67c504d9-9e12-582e-a0de-ed8796c2a3fa)

Chapter TWO (#ufad9452a-3f73-53a2-986b-3057a302fec5)

Chapter THREE (#uf0d16b48-caac-5c1a-90fc-416dbc2c8aec)

Chapter FOUR (#ucbbc430b-75ce-56eb-971f-3ce53f69c64e)

Chapter FIVE (#u875e689f-3e62-5458-ac17-0983d9560f1e)

Chapter SIX (#u45ede0b1-164c-5125-ae69-cd954ad4e1ff)

Chapter SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter TWENTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)