Even if she feels like life is passing her by as she serves behind the counter in her father's Rotherhithe grocer's shop, Annie Rogers knows she is lucky to have a secure home and a loving family – unlike her friend Lil. For though Lil seems to enjoy endless hours of gossip at the factory where she works, her father is a violent drunk and her family forced to live in a squalid tenement. Knowing how hard Lil's life is, Annie willingly helps her out, lending her dresses and make-up and, when Annie is asked out on a smart date by the landlord's son Peter Barrett, suggesting Lil come along to make up a foursome.

But it is a shock when Lil gets on famously with Peter's swanky friend Julian while Annie feels much less sure of the smooth Peter. Soon Lil is busy earning money from pub singing spots set up for her by Julian, and Annie, no longer needed by her friend, feels more isolated than ever. It is then that she notices shy Will Hobbs from Fisher's engineering works. Before long Annie and Will are engaged, with plans for a home of their own. But a dreadful accident at Fisher's and the looming shadow of World War II mean that life for Annie of Albert Mews is not so predictable – or secure – as she once thought it was...

(Paperback, ISBN: 0747241139, £6.99)