A Ration Book Christmas Broadcast

A Ration Book series short story from the Queen of the East End saga, Jean Fullerton *SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIBERTA BOOKS ROMANTIC NOVEL AWARD 2022* ________ Tune in to love... December, 1944: Grace Meredith, the BBC Outside Broadcasting unit's assistant, is in trouble. She needs to find a family to interview for what could be the last 'Just Ordinary Folk' Christmas programme before the end of the war, pronto. So when she remembers her old friend Francesca Brogan has married into a large and unconventional East End family, her sense of relief is palpable. Thrust into the warm and bustling world of the Brogans - from Ida and Jeremiah, still sweethearts after 30 years of marriage, to their seven children, some married, one still in nappies, and to Queenie, Jeremiah's tealeaf-reading, black-market afficionado mother - Grace feels she's finally going to make her mark at work. Then things take an unexpected twist when she meets Francesca's brother, Giovanni Fabrino of the Royal Engineers. With the Christmas Eve deadline rapidly approaching, now would not be the best time to fall in love. But Gio keeps appearing, and their mutual attraction keeps growing. Can Grace and Gio's Christmas wishes come true - both of them?

I was born within the sound of Bow Bells in Whitechapel and my family have lived in East London since the 1820s. Until Nov 2015 I was a qualified district nurse with a BSc in Community Nursing and a MSC in Teaching and Leadership. I am also a member of the Queen's Nurses' Institute and spent my entire nursing career in East London. In 2006, when I won the Harry Bowling prize I signed my first contract with Orion for my East London post-war nurses series. I moved to Atlantic in 2016, who re-published my East London Nolan Family Victorian sagas and my best-selling WW2 Ration Book series, featuring the boisterous East London Brogan family. I have a total of nineteen published novels and a non-fiction autobiography of growing up in the East End during the 50s, 60s and early 70s. I now live in Bedford with my very own Hero@Home who is a rector in the Church of England. I have three daughters and eight grandchildren plus an elderly, very affectionate cat. When I'm not tapping at my key board I enjoy travelling, walks in the country and socialising with friends and family.