Janet MacLeod Trotter - Read Online Free Books

The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel)

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 13:57:42 +0200

The Secrets of the Tea Garden

Sun, 11 Nov 2018 22:39:23 +0200

**She’s gone in search of happy memories. But was her idyllic childhood in India an illusion?** After the Second World War, Libby Robson leaves chilly England for India, and the childhood home where she left her heart—and her beloved father, James—fourteen years ago. At first Libby is intoxicated by India’s vibrant beauty: the bustle of Calcutta, the lush tea gardens of Assam. But beneath the surface a rebellion is simmering: India is on the brink of Partition, and the days of British rule are numbered. As the owner of a tea plantation, James embodies the hated colonial regime, and Libby finds herself questioning her idealised memories—particularly when she meets the dashing freedom fighter Ghulam Khan. As Partition looms, life in India becomes precarious for Libby, James and even Ghulam. And when James reveals a shameful family secret, Libby is forced to question her past—and her future.

The Girl From the Tea Garden

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 22:39:23 +0200

In the dying days of the Raj, Anglo-Indian schoolgirl Adela Robson dreams of a glamorous career on the stage. When she sneaks away from school in the back of handsome Sam Jackman’s car, she knows a new life awaits—but it is not the one she imagined. In Simla, the summer seat of the Raj government, Adela throws herself into all the dazzling entertainments 1930s Indian society can offer a beautiful debutante. But just as her ambitions seem on the cusp of becoming reality, she meets a charming but spoilt prince, setting in motion a devastating chain of events. The outbreak of the Second World War finds Adela back in England—a country she cannot remember—without hope or love, and hiding a shameful secret. Only exceptional courage and endurance can pull her through these dark times and carry her back to the homeland of her heart.

The Jarrow Lass

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:54:28 +0200

Brought up on her parents' small- holding in Jarrow in the harsh years of the 1870s, Rose dreams of the world beyond the grime of the town, a world she glimpsed at a fairytale wedding on the Ravensworth Estate as a child. Capturing the heart of handsome and respectable steelworker William Fawcett, it seems her dreams will come true. But tragedy strikes, and to save her young family from destitution, Rose must turn to wild John McMullen, refusing to give into loss and despair. The Jarrow Lass is the first novel in the Jarrow Trilogy.

Jarrow Trilogy 01 - The Jarrow Lass

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:29:00 +0200

1906, The Ravensworth Arms, Lamesley, Gateshead. Kate Fawcett, a barmaid, fell into the arms of a mysterious stranger and conceived an illegitimate child. The child grew up to be Dame Catherine Cookson OBE. Heavy with the shameful sin that a child out of wedlock would bring to her family, Kate agreed that her mother would bring Catherine up as her own. This book tells Rose's story. The story is set in the 1870s on Tyneside. She is brought up in her parents smallholding in Jarrow but dreams of the world beyond the grime of the town, a world she glimpsed at a fairytale wedding on the Ravensworth Estate during a visit to her grandmother. Marriage brings a beautiful home and a brood of daughters but heartache and poverty are just waiting around the corner.

Durham Trilogy 03. Never Stand Alone

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:54:25 +0200

Jarrow Trilogy 03 - Return to Jarrow

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:29:00 +0200

Tyneside, 1923 Catherine McMullen, or Kitty as she is known, is seventeen, restless and rebellious. Resentful of her mother Kate's new husband, she yearns for stories of the father she never knew. Catherine is sure he must have been special as her mother risked everything for him. But when her gossipy aunt divulges that he was a wealthy gentleman, it only serves to heighten Catherine's discontent with Jarrow - the grimy, impoverished town she calls home. Eager to catch a glimpse of the lifestyle that might have been hers, Catherine takes a position as a lady's companion in a grand house. But her illusions are shattered when she realises she has been employed as no more than a skivvy. She decides to try for a job as an officer in charge of the laundry at the notorious workhouse. There her young eyes are confronted with the horrors and indignities of poverty, and she becomes even more determined to rise above her wretched surroundings. Braving the ridicule of fellow staff, Catherine embarks on a quest for knowledge. Soon the ill-educated and streetwise Kitty McMullen is a ghost from the past, and the well-spoken, well-read Catherine leaves the north-east to follow her dreams. But hardship and heartbreak are not far behind, and there are battles to be fought and won before the child of Jarrow finally comes home.

Return to Jarrow

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:54:27 +0200

Catherine (Kitty) McMullen is 17, restless and rebellious. Resentful of her new step-father and yearning for stories of the father she never knew, her discontent grows when her aunt divulges he was a wealthy gentleman. Taking a job at the workhouse she is further confronted with the horrors of poverty and determines to escape it by educating herself. Soon steetwise Kitty is a ghost of the past and the well-spoken Catherine leaves the North East of England to follow her dreams. But hardship and heartbreak are not far behind, and there are battles to be fought and won for this plucky and romantic heroine.

Jarrow Trilogy 02 - A Child of Jarrow

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:29:01 +0200

**This book stayed in the Heatseakers Top 20 Fiction Best Sellers lists for several weeks** (Data compiled by Nielsen Bookscan) To escape the malign interest of her possessive and drunken step-father, Kate Fawcett is sent away from teeming Tyneside and finds work at Ravensworth Castle. She soon attracts the attention of charming, headstrong Alexander Pringle Davies, a distant cousin of the Earl, who risks incurring the wrath of his family by courting lowly Kate. But when Kate finally succumbs and allows herself to be seduced, Alexander is forced into an unwanted betrothal by his father and disappears abroad. Discovering she is carrying Alexander's child, Kate goes home to face the wrath of her step-father and the censure of their neighbours and resigns herself to a lonely life of drudgery. But is is her daughter Catherine who gives her life meaning and keeps Kate from giving up - that and the hope that Alexander might one day return to claim her and their lively child ...

The Girl from the Tea Garden (The India Tea Series Book 3)

Fri, 18 Nov 2016 18:54:27 +0200

A Child of Jarrow

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:22:36 +0200

To escape her possessive and drunken step-father, Kate is sent away from Jarrow to work on the Ravensworth Estate and soon attracts the attention of charming, headstrong Alexander, distant cousin of the Earl. Kate dares to dream of a future together but their love is comsumated in one stolen night of passion and the dream is shattered. Pregnant, Kate must return to face the wrath of her step-father and a bleak future. But she refuses to give up hope that one day Alexander will return to claim her and their love child.

Durham Trilogy 01. The Hungry Hills

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:54:25 +0200

The Great War is over but life in Whitton Grange mining village is hard and dangerous. Louie Kirkup fears becoming a spinster drudge until she sets eyes on 'Red' Sam Ritson: hard, muscled and a natural leader. But the General Strike looms and Louie fears for the fate of her village and unborn child, as the strain takes its tragic toll.

Durham Trilogy 02. The Darkening Skies

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:54:24 +0200

When pretty Sara Pallister's father dies she is taken in by a bullying uncle in Whitton Grange pit-town. Here she is irresistibly drawn to motorbike-riding Joe Dimarco, wild son of the extrovert Italians who run the ice-cream parlour. But as war comes and hostility to the Italians erupts into violence, Sara and Jo's passionate love seems doomed.

THE DURHAM TRILOGY: All 3 Emotional Stories in 1 Volume

Mon, 18 Nov 2013 18:54:27 +0200

1920s to 1980s, family drama, generational saga, North East England, mining tragedy, 2nd World War, page-turners