Milly Adams is a pseudonym for bestselling author Margaret Graham
- The Waterway Trilogy
- The Waterway Girls
- Love On the Waterways
- Hope On the Waterways
- Standalone Novels
- Above Us the Sky
- Sisters at War
- At Long Last Love
Above Us the Sky
June 1940, Waterloo Station
On one of the hottest days of the year, newly qualified teacher, Phyllie Saunders is evacuated with her school to Dorset.
As she struggles to control the crowd of tearful children, she sees Sammy. Her oldest and dearest friend is on the way to join his submarine, and as he kisses her goodbye, everything changes for them.
But now that war is tearing them apart, is it too late?
Phyllie throws herself into village life, determined to protect and nurture the children in her care. But war leaves no one untouched, and Phyllie will need all the support of the community to help her through the next few years, as she waits and prays for Sammy's safe return.
Milly Adams is an exciting new author, with a wonderful knack of bringing characters to life vividly and bringing the story off the page and into the imagination. Above Us The Sky is a brilliantly researched, and hugely enjoyable novel…
This is an engaging and entertaining story of love and loss. The attention to detail is superb. I loved that the role of the Women's Institute was including in the novel and you really feel like you are in the submarine, such is the brilliance of her writing. This is a well-written book and a stunning debut. I cannot wait for another Milly Adam's book as this one is educational, entertaining and riveting all at once.
Frost Magazine
Sisters at War
It is May 1940 and the rift between the two sisters, Bryony and Hannah, deepens as the phoney war draws to an end.
Bryony and Hannah are very different. Bryony is happy amongst her family at Combe Lodge, keeping their family airline functioning, as well as bearing the responsibility of her widowed mother and young headstrong Hannah.
Hannah, is another kettle of fish entirely, and is taking a break on Jersey with her mother's relatives when first Dunkirk, and then the occupation of the Channel Islands by the Germans occurs, stranding her on Jersey.
Can Bryony rescue Hannah and her mother as she has promised? Will she survive her role as pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary? Will Hannah ever grow up and take hold of her life now that it truly is up to her?
Questions, questions…
And what about the love interest… Ah, who knows.
At Long Last Love
You can't keep an old girl down it seems, because Milly's been at it again.
At Long Last Love features a sultry wartime Soho nightclub singer. Aah, bliss to research…
Delusions of grandeur reigned as I shimmied across the floor crooning. Even the dogs fled which I feel was unnecessary, quite frankly.
Kate's sister appears at the club and Kate feels she must do the sisterly thing and return to the village to look after her niece. It's only for a month after all, so how can she refuse?
Back in the village she meets the new vicar, OK, yes. He is based on Grantchester's gorgeous James Norton. Is he her ally in this former world of Kate's, one that she left in disgrace? Or does he also turn against her?
And what is Sarah really doing? Surely joining the FANYs doesn't mean she has to disappear as she does, because the month becomes far longer?
I liked writing this novel very much. It drew me into its good heart, and into characters I came to love and realise I meet every day. What's more it is somehow quintessentially English.
I do hope you enjoy it.
The Waterway Girls
It's October 1943, West London, and Polly Adams is en route to the inland waterways. But hasn't a clue what's in store…
She will manage a narrowboat, and its butty with two others, if she passes the training of course. Perhaps she imagined it would be a life of gentle drifting along the canals? Or is she more sensible? But could anyone imagine the hardship of the work, and the difficulties of living in a tiny space with two other girls. All of whom have their own problems, just as Polly has.
At nineteen, can she manage? Will the totally different life, amongst a totally different culture, after all, this is the ‘boaters’ province break, or make her?
This is the first of a Milly Adams series The Waterway Girls, set on the inland waterways during the 2nd world war, when young robust women were taken on to help carry essential wartime supplies from Limehouse Basin or Brentford up to where they needed to be.
Milly says:
It is a life that has now gone. Our canals are now commonly used as a recreational facility, or for those who have converted the narrowboats to take to a life on the water.
I met a couple of women on a train who knew some people who had done just what Polly is doing. It sparked my interest, in the Inland Waterway trainees, and the boaters. So The Waterway Girls is the result. It's a homage really, to a remarkable period of our history.
A digital copy of The Waterway Girls by Milly Adams is now available for £0.99 (for a short time) from Amazon .
Love On the Waterways
March 1944, West London
Its been five months since Verity Clement fled home for a life on Britain’s canals and she could never have imagined how tough it would get. Yet hauling cargo between London and Birmingham is far easier to face than the turbulence she's left behind.
When the love of Verity's life returns unexpectedly from the front line, she dares to dream of a brighter future. But life aboard the Marigold is never smooth sailing. New recruit Sylvia is struggling with demons from her past while crewmate Polly must carry on in the wake of devastating news. Verity does her best to help, but a shocking discovery is about to turn her own life upside-down.
As the realities of war begin to take their toll, the waterway girls will have to pull together if they are to survive the uncertain times ahead…
Milly says:
It was great to be back in the Waterway girls lives, weaving and dodging to get them to their destination in one piece. But did I?
Ah, read and find out.
Hope On the Waterways
January 1945 West London
Sylvia Simpson is flourishing in her role aboard the Marigold and has quickly become an invaluable member of the crew. But as the V-1 and V-2 rockets draw closer, someone from her past is about to burst into their lives.
Now Sylvia must choose between keeping the promises she has made, and remaining loyal to the people she loves the most.
Polly and Verity are still waiting for their sweethearts’ safe return and soon find they have their own battles to fight on the home front.
It will take all their resolve to keep their heads above water, but as long as they stick together there will always be hope.
Frost Magazine - Brilliant historical fiction. Engrossing and riveting.