Not a Bird Will Sing - Softcover

Audrey Howard was born in Liverpool in 1929. Before she began to write she had a variety of jobs, among them hairdresser, model, shop assistant, cleaner and civil servant. In 1981 she wrote the first of her novels when she was out of work and living in Australia. There are now more than twenty, and her fourth, The Juniper Bush, won the Boots Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 1988. She now divides her time between her childhood home, St Anne's on Sea, Lancashire, and a home in the Yorkshire Dales.

Eliza Goodall is not sure what drew her to 11-year-old Poppy Appleton. Living in a hovel on the Goodall farm, the child was filthy and really quite ordinary. But Poppy's determination to keep the rain overflow from spilling into her "home" and onto her cleanly scrubbed floor appeals to Mrs. Goodall, and she rescues her from a life of squalor by offering her the position of dairymaid. Poppy is ecstatic cleaning floors that stay clean and working in the almost sterile environment of the dairy. Her appearance improves with good food and regular baths, and Mrs. Goodall teaches her to read and write. Gradually, Poppy is given more responsibilities and is treated almost like a member of the family. Then Mrs. Goodall falls deathly ill, and Poppy faces a tough decision: Should she stay with the family who has given her so much or follow her heart and the man she's always loved? Featuring characters from Tomorrow's Memories (1997), this novel offers a pleasant read but few surprises. Melanie Duncan