Two girls on different sides of the class divide, living on one street.

As a child, fiery and ambitious Josie Ford sees from a distance the affluent lifestyle of young Georgina Hawkins, and is filled with envy. But Georgina is lonely, and longs to experience the warmth of working-class family life. Beneath the shadow of Georgina’s domineering father, the two girls meet in secret. From this forbidden friendship grows a bond so strong nothing can break it.

And then the men enter their lives. Josie falls unwillingly in love with Nick: as a market trader, surely he can’t offer her the lifestyle she now craves? Georgina, an incurable romantic, falls in love with the first man she meets, but the mysterious Dominic breaks her heart.

And now both girls need their friendship more than they ever have before.

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Praise for Friends and Families

‘The story pulls you in and doesn’t let you go till the end, a sign of how much warmth this book holds’

Kilkenny People

‘The author brings to life with great skill the emotions of young girls growing up in the 1950s… This is a compelling love story, set firmly in the Potteries, and Margaret Kaine moves with ease between the two different worlds… It’s a feel-good book’

Historical Novel Society