Christmas on the Mersey

Christmas on the Mersey
Annie Groves

An emotional and compelling wartime drama from the author of Only a Mother Knows and A Christmas Promise. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn.The phoney war is over and Hitler’s bombs are raining down on the city of Liverpool.Rita Kennedy is forced to face some unpalatable truths about her husband, Charlie. But she must still play the part of dutiful wife, while her childhood sweetheart, Jack Callaghan, has shown her nothing but kindness. Can they keep a check on their emotions or will their friendship develop into something more?For Kitty Callaghan, burying herself in her work distracts from the constant worry about her brothers. Tommy is back from his evacuee posting after falling ill, but now he faces danger in another guise. And what about Danny, always ducking and diving and up to no good? And then there’s Frank Feeny, the man she adores. Will they ever be together?With a Christmas of rationing and ‘going without’ to look forward to, the women of Empire Street are being tested like never before. But their troubles are only just beginning…

Christmas on the Mersey

Annie Groves

Copyright (#u373bd5f6-51f8-57fa-96af-4974433170d2)

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

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

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2014

Copyright © Annie Groves 2014

Cover photographs © Colin Thomas (girl, woman); Charles Bowman/Getty Images (buildings); Shutterstock.com (http://www.shutterstock.com) (all other images)

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014

Annie Groves 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: 9780007550821

Ebook Edition © October 2014 ISBN: 9780007550838

Version: 2017-09-12

Dedication (#u373bd5f6-51f8-57fa-96af-4974433170d2)

To the memory of my wonderful Mum and Dad

(You always believed in me xxx)

Contents

Cover (#uaef6eb44-c83b-5c3a-8fd3-f447dfa1a7e4)

Title Page (#u87127a60-9d88-5403-aa42-6a86fc72743b)

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Keep Reading: CHILD OF THE MERSEY

Acknowledgements