About the Book
On the cobbled streets of Bradford in 1931, Lily Briggs does all she can to keep trouble at bay for her and her family. She works hard at Calvert Mill to make ends meet and take care of her parents and younger siblings. Saturday nights at the dance hall and dressmaking with her two best friends keep Lily upbeat, and now there’s a blossoming romance with childhood friend Harry Bainbridge to put an extra spring in her step, too. But then a run of misfortune threatens Lily’s work, home and personal life, and she has to rely on the community at the mill to rally together for support. With so many others to worry about, will Lily always put them first or can she find her own happy ending? A heart-warming, nostalgic tale of triumph over adversity that readers of Katie Flynn, Margaret Dickinson and Call the Midwife will adore.
About the Author
Jenny Holmes has been writing fiction for children and adults since her early twenties, having had series of children's books adapted for both the BBC and ITV. Jenny was born and brought up in Yorkshire. After living in the Midlands and travelling widely in America, Jenny Holmes returned to Yorkshire and brought up her two daughters with a spectacular view of the moors and a sense of belonging to the special, still undiscovered corners of the Yorkshire Dales.
One of three children brought up in Harrogate, Jenny's links with Yorkshire stretch back through many generations via a mother who served in the Land Army during the Second World War and pharmacist and shop-worker aunts, back to a maternal grandfather who worked as a village blacksmith and pub landlord. Her great aunts worked in Edwardian times as seamstresses, milliners and upholsterers. All told stories of life lived with little material wealth but with great spirit and independence, where a sense of community and family loyalty were fierce – sometimes uncomfortable but never to be ignored. Theirs are the voices which echo down the years, and the author's hope is that their strength is brought back to life in many of the characters represented in these pages.