by Ellie Dean
She and Jim took over the running of Beach View Boarding House when Peggy’s parents retired to a bungalow further along the coast. Peggy has three daughters and two sons, and when war was declared and the boarding house business no longer became viable, she decided to take in evacuees. Peggy can be feisty and certainly doesn’t suffer fools, and yet she is also trying very hard to come to terms with the fact that her family has been torn apart by the war. She is a romantic at heart and can’t help trying to match-make, but she’s also a terrible worrier, always fretting over someone – and as the young evacuees make their home with her, she comes to regard them as her chicks and will do everything she can to protect them.
JIM REILLY is in his mid-forties and was a projectionist at the local cinema until it was bombed. He was a young engineer in the First World War, in which he served alongside his brother, Frank. Jim is handsome, with flashing blue eyes and dark hair, and of course the gift of the Irish blarney, which usually gets him out of trouble. He likes to flirt with women and although he would never be unfaithful to Peggy, she still keeps a close eye on him. Jim also likes to make a dishonest quid here and there, and is not averse to dabbling in the black market. He’s shocked and horrified that he has once again been called up to fight in another war, and this is heightened by the fact he’s been sent to India.
RONAN REILLY (Ron) is a sturdy man in his mid-sixties. Widowed several years ago, he’s fallen in love with the luscious Rosie Braithwaite who owns the Anchor pub, and although she isn’t averse to his attentions, she’s keeping him at arm’s length. Ron is a countryman, a poacher and retired fisherman who tramps over the fields with his dog and ferrets and frequently comes home with game in the deep pockets of his coat. He doesn’t care much about his appearance, much to Peggy’s dismay, but beneath that ramshackle old hat and moth-eaten clothing beats the heart of a strong, loving man who will fiercely protect those he loves.
ROSIE BRAITHWAITE is in her fifties and in love with Ron, but as her husband is in a mental asylum, she is unable to get divorced. She took over the Anchor twenty years ago and has turned it into a little gold-mine. Rosie has platinum hair, big blue eyes and an hour-glass figure – she also has a good sense of humour and can hold her own with the customers. She runs the pub with a firm hand, and keeps Ron at bay, although she’s not averse to a bit of slap and tickle.
CORDELIA FINCH has been living at Beach View for many years. She is in her late seventies and is rather frail from her arthritis. But Cordelia has a twinkle in her eye and loves being an intrinsic part of the lively household. She enjoys singing along to the wireless and having too many sherries in the Anchor. As deaf as a post, she regularly forgets to turn on her hearing aid which can lead to many a convoluted conversation, and although she tries very hard with her knitting, it usually turns out to be a disaster. She adores Peggy and looks on her as a daughter, for her own sons emigrated to Canada many years before and she rarely hears from them. The girls who live at Beach View regard her as their grandmother.
HARVEY is a brindled lurcher, with a mind of his own and a mischievous nature – much like his owner, Ron. Clever and intuitive, he hunts for game with Ron, and once war has been declared, proves to be a heroic rescuer of people trapped in the ruins of their homes. He sleeps on Ron’s bed, steals food from the table and has recently blotted his copybook by seducing a pedigree whippet and producing a son, Monty. Harvey adores everyone but Doris.
DORIS WILLIAMS is Peggy’s older sister and married to the long-suffering Ted who is manager of the Home and Colonial store. She lives in the posh part of town, Havelock Road, looks down on Peggy and the boarding house and is a terrible social climber. She’s a leading light – or would like to be – in Cliffehaven society, is on the board of several charities – because it brings her into contact with Lady Chumley – and insists upon calling Peggy Margaret because she knows it winds her up like a clock.
ANTHONY WILLIAMS is the son of Doris and Ted, and before the war was a teacher at a private school. He’s now working for the MOD, and has recently got married to Suzy who was a lodger at Beach View Boarding House.
RITA SMITH came to Beach View after her home in Cliffehaven was flattened by an air raid. Her father is away in the army, her Italian neighbours who took her in have been interned and so she goes to Peggy, whom she’s known since childhood. Rita is small and an energetic tomboy who is a fully qualified mechanic, having been taught from an early age by her father. She has a motorbike which she roars about on, and can usually be seen in heavy trousers and boots, and a First World War leather jacket and flying helmet. She works for the Fire Service, and in her spare time has been organising motorbike races to raise money for a Cliffehaven Spitfire.
FRAN is from Ireland and works as a theatre nurse at Cliffehaven General alongside Suzy. She has been living with Peggy since before the war, and has become an intrinsic part of the family. Fran is a little inclined to wear her heart on her sleeve, and has already had an unfortunate run-in with an over-persuasive and very married American serviceman. She’s a dab hand at hairdressing, much to Ron’s disgust – but has proved to be a very talented violinist. She plays the violin at the Anchor for the sing-songs, and has fallen in love with Robert who was Anthony and Suzy’s best man.
PEGGY’S CHILDREN
ANNE is married to Commander Martin Black, an RAF pilot, and they have two small girls. Anne has moved down to Somerset for the duration, and although she is teaching at the local village school and getting on with her life, she misses Martin and of course her mother, Peggy.
CICELY (Cissy) is a driver for the WAAF and is stationed at Cliffe Aerodrome. She once had ambitions to go on stage, but finds great satisfaction in doing her bit, and has now fallen in love with a young Spitfire pilot.
BOB and CHARLIE are Peggy’s two young sons of fourteen and twelve, who are also living in Somerset for the duration.
DAISY is the youngest child, born the day Singapore fell. She can sleep through air raids, can throw awful tantrums and simply adores pulling Ron’s wayward eyebrows. She and Harvey are best friends.
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Epub ISBN: 9781473518834
Version 1.0
Published by Arrow Books 2016
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Copyright © Ellie Dean, 2016
Front cover photograph: Silas Manhood
Background: Mirrorpix
Ellie Dean has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Arrow Books
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781784750930