Anna Jacobs

Singapore in the 1860s is exotic and yet terrifying for a penniless Englishwoman, alone and vulnerable after her mother's death. Too pretty to obtain a governess's job, Isabella Saunders accepts an offer from a Singapore merchant to teach him English and live with his family.

1910. Sisters Mattie, Nell and Renie all managed to escape their oppressive and bullying father, but now separated, the girls must draw upon their strength and courage to build new lives for themselves.

Sarah has been married and widowed three times and seen great success in her business life. Now at the age of ninety-four, she signs her final will and testament pleased with how it will throw the cat among the family pigeons. She has left her luxurious home in a waterside development in Mandurah, Western Australia, to two female relatives in the UK, on the condition that they live in the house together for a year after that which they can sell it...

1900. The death of her father forces Harriet out of her home to escape the advances of her stepbrother, the rule of her stepmother, and into service at Dalton House. Over time Harriet develops a friendship with the Dalton's crippled son Joseph but her life is changed completely when she inherits Greyladies, a haunted house. Originally published: 20

During WWI Greyladies is requisitioned by the government as a POW internment centre. Harriet is now a widow, as she has always known she would be with such a frail husband, but now has a son and daughter to care for. The three of them go to live with Joseph's family when Greyladies is requisitioned. Harriet is worried that all her careful renovatio

1945 - the war in Europe is over. Most women can't wait for their men to return, but in the small town of Rivenshaw in Lancashire, Judith Crossley fears having her husband back in the house. He'd grown into a bully and a drunkard, and on the occasions he'd come home from leave, he'd hit her. He wasn't a good father either - when their eldest daught