A Hopscotch Summer

Written by Annie Murray

Narrated by Penelope Freeman

An emotional tale of resilience by Annie Murray, A Hopscotch Summer tells the story of a young girl and her struggle to keep her family afloat, read by Penelope Freeman.

In the impoverished area of Nechells in Birmingham in the 1930s, young Emma Brown's life is turned upside down when her mother, Cynthia, has another baby.

Emma has always been a happy-go-lucky child, content as long as things were all right at home with her parents, and her brother and sister. But when the baby is born, Cynthia doesn't seem able to cope, and even her lifelong friend and neighbour, Dot, can't seem to get through to her. Cynthia's husband, Bob, tries to do his best, but when he feels he's losing the wife he loves so much he turns to drink. Poor Emma can't seem to keep up with looking after the household, and 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, and she decides it's time to travel across Birmingham and bring her mother home. But the woman she discovers is very different to the mother she remembers . . .

A Hopscotch Summer is followed by Solider Girl and All the Days of Our Lives, which follow the stories of Molly and Katie.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Feb 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781447268703

Annie Murray

Annie Murray was born in Berkshire and read English at St John's College, Oxford. Her first Birmingham novel, Birmingham Rose, hit The Sunday Times bestseller list when it was published in 1995. She has subsequently written many other successful novels, including War Babies and Girls in Tin Hats and the bestselling novels Chocolate Girls, Sisters of Gold and Black Country Orphan. Annie has four children, all Birmingham born and she lives near Oxford.