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Annie Murray

In 1930s Birmingham, in the impoverished district of Nechells, a young girl bravely endeavours to hold her family together in trying times. A Hopscotch Summer is an emotional journey of determination and resilience from Annie Murray.

Read by Penelope Freeman (My Daughter, My Mother)

Emma Brown is a young girl whose usual cheerful spirit is challenged when her household welcomes a new baby. Her mother, Cynthia, is losing herself. Her father, Bob, takes solace in alcohol.

Experiencing the hard slap of reality early in life, Emma tries to maintain the household and keep everyone's spirits up. But soon it seems that the only thing to do is for Cynthia to go and stay with her tyrannical older sister across the city.

Life gets even tougher for Emma with her mother away, so Emma travels across town to bring back her mother – all on her own. However, the mother she finds is barely recognizable . . .

A Hopscotch Summer explores life's harsh realities, the spirit of survival, and the hope for better days. An engaging listen that explores triumph over adversity and will stir your heart. 

The series continues in Soldier Girl and All the Days of Our Lives.

Listeners love Annie Murray . . .

'I loved this book . . . I did shed a few tears'

'Being a Brummie myself it was a pleasure to hear my own accent'

'Easy to listen to. Didn't want it to end'

Penelope Freeman

Macmillan Digital Audio

Hopscotch Summer

A Hopscotch Summer

Set in the midst of WW2, Soldier Girl follows a woman on her journey of courage, determination, loss, and resilience – the sequel to A Hopscotch Summer from Annie Murray.

Read by Penelope Freeman (Her Wartime Secret)

Molly Fox has grown up in the back streets of Birmingham at the mercy of her cruel grandfather and her drunken mother. Haunted by terrible family secrets, she decides to take her life into her own hands and bravely joins the British Army as an ATS girl. 

The army, seemingly a disaster at first, surprisingly provides Molly with the direction and affirmation she has yearned for. 

But war brings tragedy as well as triumph, and when Molly receives news from home, it becomes clear that she can't escape her unforgiving past so easily . . .

Escape into a heartrending saga of war, friendship and heartbreak in Soldier Girl. 

The series continues with the final book, All the Days of Our Lives.

Listeners love Annie Murray . . .

'This book had me hooked from the beginning'

'Excellent listen well worth sitting down with a cup of coffee and cake and enjoying the story'

'I just love listening to stories about the war . . . Annie Murray puts a lot of research into them'

Soldier Girl

It is 1946 in Birmingham: the Second World War is over and three young women face a new kind of life. But peacetime brings its own pressures . . .

Read by Penelope Freeman (Her Wartime Secret)

Katie O'Neill's childhood has been dominated by her temperamental mother and by frightening secrets that she barely understands. Innocent, yet hungry for love, she is easily taken in by male charm and is left outcast and alone with her young son.

Emma Brown has spent the war at home in Birmingham, longing for her husband Norm to return and meet the son he has never seen. But she soon finds that the joy of homecoming only brings a whole new set of problems.

And Molly Fox, after a sad and brutal childhood, found a place to belong during the war, in the women's army, the ATS. Now, the women are no longer wanted and Molly finds peacetime a bleak, difficult challenge. Finding work in guesthouses and holiday camps, she keeps running from herself, in search of a place she can call home.

All the Days of Our Lives reunites the three girls from A Hopscotch Summer and Soldier Girl who first meet in a 1930s Birmingham classroom. Now adults, each of them faces life with all its joys, sorrows and surprises.

Listeners love Annie Murray:

'I absolutely loved this story, I lost myself in their world and I'm sad it's over'

'I've become an Annie Murray fan and Penelope Freeman does this book justice as its narrator'

'what a beautiful end to a great saga. couldn't stop listening!'

All the Days of Our Lives

Hopscotch Summer - The book series

Hopscotch Summer - The book series

Hopscotch Summer books in order

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