Up West (54 page)

A cafe in post-war Soho is a strange place to bring up a child. Nine-year-old Rosie is used to being with a motley group of grown–ups – Mamma Campanini at the deli, Madame Zelda (Clairvoyant to the Stars), Sharkey Finn (a clever lawyer, but bent as a two-bob watch), Paulette (who teaches ‘French Lessons') – and the mysterious Perfumed Lady, who is Rosie's real mum, and who, one day, might want to reclaim her …

It is 1954, and Rosie and her beloved Auntie Maggie are opening up their cafe in Old Compton Street when the Widow Ginger comes to call.
The Widow Ginger, an ex-GI with ice-cold eyes, has unfinished business with Rosie's Uncle Bert and he intends to make sure he gets paid in full…

It is 1945, and all over England people are looking forward to being at peace.
Except for recently married Zelda Fluck, for whom peace means the return of her husband who she is frightened of, with good reason. Meanwhile young Tony, Zelda's nephew, is going off the rails. But Tony can sing – he has, in fact, the voice of an angel – and Zelda thinks she may have found a solution to all their problems.
But she has reckoned without the trouble raging in Paradise Gardens…

With her new job and her friends, Maggie, Bert and Rosie in the Old Compton Street cafe, Lizzie Robbins has been feeling more settled recently.
Then Peace – a beautiful part-Chinese girl – who has been staying with Lizzie goes missing. Lizzie is devastated, and knows there's only one place to look for her – the seedy docks in London's East End. Home to the Chinese community, it's a very dangerous place indeed…

In 1950s London, a little girl is busy being brave.
The only daughter of alcoholic parents, Pip Granger spent much of her childhood on the margins of society; on the outside of life, looking in.
Bullied at school, neglected by her parents, and cared for, at times, by complete strangers, Pip realized that there was only one way to turn her life around. One day she would have to cut loose from her family, and have the courage to build her own life – alone.
Set in a world when sheets and blankets were washed by hand, bananas were considered a luxury, and separation and divorce were shameful events,
Alone
is a brave, original and totally authentic book about a young girl's courage in a trouble-filled world.