A Christmas Promise (30 page)
Read A Christmas Promise Online
Authors: Annie Groves
As the whole ‘family’ stood on the steps of the church, Olive looked up into the sky. The clouds that had earlier threatened rain were clearing, and there was a beam of sunlight shining down on the happy gathering.
‘Look at that, Olive,’ said Archie, ‘seems like the sun is going to shine after all.’
‘You bet it is Archie,’ she replied.
I want to pay a special tribute to the wonderful Penny Halsall, who devised and created the stories of the people who lived in Article Row. I met Penny through the magnificent Romantic Novelist’s Association, and she was one of the kindest, most warm-hearted people one would wish to meet; she always had time for others no matter how busy she was. It was an honour to finish the series on her behalf.
Tony, Nicki, Kevin and Alan, thank you for your patience, your wife and mother allowed you free reign on the domestic front during the process of writing this book and realised you were very good at it. Also Pauline, my lifelong friend, who is always there and willing to dig out golden nuggets of research information.
Gratitude most certainly goes to my remarkable agent, Teresa Chris, who tells it like it is and doesn’t pull her punches. Also, my brilliant editor, Kate Bradley, a star, for whom nothing is too much trouble. I would also like to thank my copy-editor Yvonne Holland and everyone at HarperCollins who helped bring this book to you.
And last but not least, gratitude for the freely available information on the World Wide Web and the many books on the subject of life on the Home Front during World War Two.
Love and best wishes to you all.
Sheila xx
Annie Groves was a pseudonym of the much-loved writer, Penny Halsall who also wrote novels under the name of Penny Jordan. Penny was an international bestselling author of over 180 novels with sales of over 84 million copies. Penny was born and lived in the north-west of England all of her life and the Annie Groves novels drew on her own family’s history, picked up from listening to her grandmother’s stories when she was a child.
Sadly, Penny Halsall died in 2011. She left a wonderful legacy of heart-warming novels for many more fans to discover. The final books in the Article Row series,
Only a Mother Knows
and
A Christmas Promise
, were completed posthumously by Sheila Riley, based on outlines written by Penny.
Born and raised on Merseyside, Sheila Riley is the eldest of seven children. Her parents John and Peggy took the scenic route through the many family anecdotes they shared and encouraged their daughter to do the same. At school Sheila quickly discovered her English exam grades could be improved by writing tales in the back of her exercise book, and so began her lifelong love of story-telling. Happily married to Tony, they have three grown-up children, five adorable grandchildren and a huge German shepherd who is put in his place by a small, ancient cat called Missy.
The Pride Family Series
Ellie Pride
Connie’s Courage
Hettie of Hope Street
The WWII Series
Goodnight Sweetheart
Some Sunny Day
The Grafton Girls
As Time Goes By
The Campion Series
Across the Mersey
Daughters of Liverpool
The Heart of the Family
Where the Heart Is
When the Lights Go on Again
The Article Row Series
London Belles
Home for Christmas
My Sweet Valentine
Only a Mother Knows
Published by HarperCollins
Publishers Ltd
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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins
Publishers
2013
Copyright © HarperCollins
Publishers
2013
Cover photograph © Colin Thomas (girl); UPPA/Photoshot (background)
Cover layout design © HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd 2013
The Author hereby waives all moral rights in the Work.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Publishers undertake to include the Author’s name in all copies of the work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780007361557
Ebook Edition © November 2013 ISBN: 9780007464289
Version: [2013-12-02]
