Mary loved music more than anything else in the world, so she was thrilled to land a job as secretary to a famous musical impresario. Through her job she found herself meeting all sorts of interesting people-Oscar and Anthea Warrender, the composer Marc Bannister-and travelling to glamorous places like Paris and Amsterdam. But it was another matter when she found herself becoming involved with one of her boss's clients, the celebrated opera singer Nicholas Brenner. Mary had always adored him from afar, and soon found him just as adorable in person. But where would that get her? She was in his world, it was true, but not really of it. How could she hope to compete with the sort of woman who really was a part of Nicholas's life-like the beautiful and determined Suzanne Thomas?

"It's the girl who interest me." Those fateful words spoken by the great conductor Oscar Warrender changed Carolin'es life. She'd never considered herself a potential opera singer, but with Warrender's encouragement and an unknown benefactor who'd offered to pay for her training, she knew she could develop her talent. She had second thoughts, though, when that mysterious patron turned out to be a man she knew all too well, and didn't even like!

Justin Yorke's unexpected welcome for his new ward made Norma discount all the harsh criticisms of him she had heard. It was only after their first clash that Norma remembered the housekeeper's words, "Justin Yorke likes his own way. He'll be kind to you over most things. But, in return, he won't expect you to oppose him in anything". Norma knew exactly what she wanted, but Justin used her to further his own interests. He found, almost too late, that her happiness meant more to him than his own.

Gala opera evenings. Sudden wealth and fame. Dangerous undercover missions into the heart of Nazi Germany. No one would have predicted such glamorous and daring lives for Ida and Louise Cook  two decidedly ordinary women who lived quiet lives in the London suburbs. But throughout the 1930s, the remarkable sisters rescued dozens of Jews facing persecution and death. Ida's memoir of the adventures she and Louise shared remains as fresh, vital, and entertaining as the woman who wrote it. Even when Ida began to earn thousands as a successful romance novelist, the sisters directed every spare resource, as well as their considerable courage and ingenuity, towards saving as many as they could from Hitler's death camps. Safe Passage is a moving testimony showing us what can happen when conscience and compassion are applied to a collapsing world. [The Cook sisters]] defy the generalisation of social history: they were extraordinary. Telegraph