Hardacre

Hardacre is the sweeping rags to riches story of the Hardacre family. This dramatic family saga follows generations of the Hardacres from Victorian times to the 1950s. Set against the backdrop of major historical events, Hardacre traces the family's humble beginnings to their position of great wealth. Sam Hardacre makes a tough yet honest living as a fish gutter. But he has ambitions for a life far removed from the harsh existence on the quays of the north English coast. Through drive and determination he builds a business empire and amasses a fortune. His wife, Mary, once a poor street urchin, must learn to adapt to her new role as mistress of a grand house in Yorkshire. Sam's sons, Joe and Harry, inherit some but not all of their father's qualities. Their opposing personalities lead them to make very different choices about their futures. Meanwhile, their younger sister, Jane, is born into a life of privilege and has no experience of her family's early struggles. The three siblings and their offspring will know love, hate, passion and tragedy, as they live through the dramatic events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The lives of the Hardacres are shaped by the extraordinary events of the Boer War, the Great War, the Wall Street Crash, the Second World War, Hitler's Germany and the London Blitz.

The gripping sequel to the bestselling family saga Hardacre. Hardacre's Luck follows the triumphs and tragedies of the next generation of the Hardacre family in 1950s Yorkshire and London. Young Sam Hardacre leaves behind his life at the Abbey to continue the family tradition by starting his own business empire. Meanwhile, Harry Hardacre is now head of the household, but wonders which of the young Hardacre men should inherit his father's legacy. Joe's widow, Helen, plots the ultimate revenge on those who crossed her. And two best friends fight for the love of Maud and Albert's glamorous film-star daughter, Janet.