Arrow Books No Silver Spoon Flynn Katie

Liverpool, 1939: Sixteen-year-old Lizzy Atherton is forced to flee her violent step-father in the middle of the night, and finds herself stranded on a station platform completely alone • Desperate to know what has become of her beloved mother, who she had no choice but to leave behind, Lizzy returns the next day only to find her home deserted. Devastated, Lizzy joins forces with her old school friend Dolly and Clara, an escaped evacuee, and vows to find her mother whatever it takes • But the war rages on and demands on the home front take Lizzy's life in a host of unexpected directions, and hopes of finding her mother gradually start to fade • If Lizzy can muster the strength to keep searching, she might just get her Christmas wish after all

Liverpool 1939: Olivia Campbell appears to have the perfect life. However, behind closed doors she lives in constant fear of her abusive father, and has no support from her mother • Longing for love and affection she begins a relationship with Ted, a young lad who works in her father's factory. But her family disapprove of the relationship and forbid them from seeing each other • When war comes to Liverpool, Olivia seizes the opportunity to leave behind her unhappy life and join the WAAF. There she meets a fellow trainee, Maude and the two embrace their newly found independence. Soon Olivia meets the handsome Ralph, and all thoughts of Ted are brushed aside. Until he returns to her life with some shocking news that turns her world upside down

1913 • Seventeen-year-old Evie Murphy has chosen to leave behind her native Ireland for the city of Liverpool. She takes her baby daughter Linnet with her, but leaves behind her child’s frail twin, Lucy. A decision that will change their lives for ever • 1924 • When tragedy strikes, Linnet is left destitute and alone, disappearing into the unforgiving Liverpool slums. Meanwhile, Lucy is desperate to find her sister but is she willing to leave behind the beautiful Irish countryside where she has grown up • With uncertain times ahead, will the sisters ever be reunited . . . ?

Liverpool, 1923 • Lizzie is an orphan living with her Aunt Annie, Uncle Perce and two boy cousins in Cranberry Court, within a stone's throw of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Lizzie loves her aunt but is hated by her uncle and escapes whenever she can • She makes friends with Geoff Gardiner, another orphan, and is teaching him to swim in the Scaldy when Clem Gilligan rescues the pair of them from drowning. Clem works on the Canal boat, The Liverpool Rose, with Jake Pridmore and his wife, plying between the great cities of Leeds and Liverpool • But Lizzie's situation at home starts to worsen as her uncle grows surlier and more violent. Eventually the worst happens and Lizzie is forced to flee from the Court or risk serious injury, perhaps even death

Liverpool, 1940 • When war comes to Britain, Jessica Wilson and her friend Ruby seize the opportunity to leave behind the orphanage they grew up in and start new lives in the NAAFI. With only forged papers as identification the girls expect to be turned away but are delighted with an offer of work • For the first time in their lives they experience real independence and it isn't long before they're spending their evenings enjoying the delights of Liverpool • When Jessica meets the handsome Tom, she feels as though her life is complete, but after a chance encounter with a friend, she soon learns that not everything is as it seems • As Jessica begins to uncover the truth, she unravels a web of lies, starting with the night of her birth, and she will need the support of her friends if she is to get her Christmas wish

A family divided by war but united by love • Marianne seems to have everything. She is married to a handsome naval officer, Neil Sheridan, commander of a corvette. They have a daughter, Libby, and a beautiful home near Prince's Park in Liverpool • When war comes, Marianne takes war work and moves into Crocus Street with her mother, Mrs Wainwright, and younger sister. Neil disapproves because the Wainwrights live so near the docks, which are bound to be a bombing target, but Marianne is firm • Meanwhile, Libby is evacuated to the country to stay with Miss Williams, who lives in an ancient house, Tregarth, at the head of a valley in North Wales and Libby, the wheelchair-bound Matthew and Miss Williams assume they can settle down to see out the war in comparative safety

It takes courage to overcome the odds • Liverpool 1928: abandoned by her mother at a very young age, Dot McCann lives a lonely life with her distant aunt and uncle. A cuckoo in the nest, she spends her days trying to keep out of trouble • When Dot overhears a conversation whilst playing in the street, her life changes for ever. What she discovers could send one man to prison and another to the gallows. In a desperate attempt to right a wrong, Dot teams up with runaway orphan Corky, Emma, a local jeweller whose shop has been burgled, and Nick, a handsome young reporter investigating the crime • But Dot and Emma have been recognised and they soon find themselves in very real danger. Will they uncover the truth before it’s too late?

Will she find love in her wartime home? • 1939. All over Britain children are being evacuated, and Eve Armstrong is headed for Devon. As the train pulls out of London she takes a last look at the crowded platform, the shabbily dressed evacuees, and a rude little boy sticking his tongue out. She’s looking forward to a change of scene • And at first Eve is happier than ever at Drake’s Farm. Not even her daily chores dampen her spirits. It’s a different world that invites fresh starts, and so when Eve runs into the boy from the station, Johnny Durrell, they call a truce and soon become firm friends • The war might be a distant reality, but the arrival of new evacuee Connie Hale makes every day a battle. Connie is lazy, stuck up and spiteful – and Johnny’s new best friend

What if you knew a child was in danger – and no one believed you? • Alex Lake’s day job is all about helping people, especially children. She cares about them passionately and does everything in her power to rescue them from those who mean them harm • When the case of three-year-old Ottilie Wade comes to her attention, Alex feels an overpowering need to make a real difference in the little girl's life, but no one is prepared to believe that Ottilie is in danger • In the end, Alex makes a decision that has consequences that no one, least of all Alex, could have foreseen

Eva Montgomery is at the peak of her career when she is viciously attacked by a stalker. While still traumatised, she makes the biggest mistake of her life - one she can never turn back from • Sixteen years later, Eva has managed to rebuild her life in a way that seemed impossible after the attack. Her home in Dorset, high on the cliffs overlooking the sea, is as elegant as she is, but bears none of the scars. To an outsider, her world seems perfect in every way • Then the past invades the present - with shattering consequences • Hurt, frightened and confused, Eva struggles desperately to put right the terrible mistake she made sixteen years ago and finally break free from a past that nearly destroyed her

“What’s your dream, son?” • A six year-old boy, head bowed, mumbles the eternal answer: “Be a footballer….” Steadman Scott, football’s most unlikely talent scout, smiles indulgently, and takes him in from the street. He knows the odds. Only 180 of the 1.5 million boys who play organised youth football in England will become a Premier League pro. That’s a success rate of 0.012 per cent • How and why do the favoured few make it? What separates the good from the great? Who should they trust – the coach, the agent or their parents? • Michael Calvin provides the answers on a journey from non-league grounds to hermetically sealed Premier League palaces, via gang-controlled sink estates and the England team’s inner sanctum. He interviews decision makers, behavioural specialists, football agents and leading coaches

The Forgotten Legion fought against almighty odds at the very edge of the known world - and lost • Now Brennus the Gaul, Tarquinius the Etruscan soothsayer and Romulus, bastard son of a Roman nobleman, are prisoners of Parthia. They dream of escape, but in the brutal fighting which lies ahead, only two will survive • Meanwhile, Fabiola, Romulus's twin sister, is caught up in the vicious eddies of Roman politics. Hunted by slave catchers she flees, hoping to find her lover, Brutus, bound for Alexandria with Caesar • Ben Kane's brilliant second novel plunges his characters into a cauldron of war and terror, as Caesar and the Roman Republic hurtle towards their day of reckoning