The Eden Series by Charlotte Bingham

DAUGHTERS OF EDEN focuses on the lives and fortunes of four very different young women at the outbreak of the Second World War. Marjorie, left at a boarding school by her emigrating mother; plain Poppy, pushed into marriage with a mean-spirited aristocrat; Kate, despised by her father, but determined to prove herself; and man-mad Lily, who turns out to be the bravest of them all... moreDAUGHTERS OF EDEN focuses on the lives and fortunes of four very different young women at the outbreak of the Second World War. Marjorie, left at a boarding school by her emigrating mother; plain Poppy, pushed into marriage with a mean-spirited aristocrat; Kate, despised by her father, but determined to prove herself; and man-mad Lily, who turns out to be the bravest of them all. That all of them are chosen to work undercover for the espionage unit at a beautiful stately home is a surprise, not least to them. At Eden Park they not only meet each other, but become involved with three unusual young men - Eugene, the seemingly feckless Irishman; Robert, Kate's brother; and dashing Scott, a master of disguise, and the undisputed favourite of the unit. While there is hardly time for romance before each is sent out into the field, there is just enough for passionate new relationships to form. Only Jack Ward, the mysterious spymaster, manages to remain aloof as he guides their destinies. The fact that they will look back on this time as having made them feel more exquisitely alive than ever before is not something they will know until much later. less

DAUGHTERS OF EDEN focuses on the lives and fortunes of four very different young women at the outbreak of the Second World War. Marjorie, left at a boarding school by her emigrating mother; plain Poppy, pushed into marriage with a mean-spirited aristocrat; Kate, despised by her father, but determined to prove herself; and man-mad Lily, who turns out to be the bravest of them all... moreDAUGHTERS OF EDEN focuses on the lives and fortunes of four very different young women at the outbreak of the Second World War. Marjorie, left at a boarding school by her emigrating mother; plain Poppy, pushed into marriage with a mean-spirited aristocrat; Kate, despised by her father, but determined to prove herself; and man-mad Lily, who turns out to be the bravest of them all. That all of them are chosen to work undercover for the espionage unit at a beautiful stately home is a surprise, not least to them. At Eden Park they not only meet each other, but become involved with three unusual young men - Eugene, the seemingly feckless Irishman; Robert, Kate's brother; and dashing Scott, a master of disguise, and the undisputed favourite of the unit. While there is hardly time for romance before each is sent out into the field, there is just enough for passionate new relationships to form. Only Jack Ward, the mysterious spymaster, manages to remain aloof as he guides their destinies. The fact that they will look back on this time as having made them feel more exquisitely alive than ever before is not something they will know until much later. less

It is 1941, and England is at its lowest ebb, under-nourished, under-informed and terrified of imminent invasion. Even at Eden Park, the beautiful country estate where Poppy, Lily, Kate, Marjorie and her adopted brother Billy are working in espionage, confidence is at an all-time low, and that is before the authorities discover there is a double agent operating from its MI5 unit. Lily volunteers to be dropped into France, only to find herself linked to Poppy's husband Scott... moreIt is 1941, and England is at its lowest ebb, under-nourished, under-informed and terrified of imminent invasion. Even at Eden Park, the beautiful country estate where Poppy, Lily, Kate, Marjorie and her adopted brother Billy are working in espionage, confidence is at an all-time low, and that is before the authorities discover there is a double agent operating from its MI5 unit. Lily volunteers to be dropped into France, only to find herself linked to Poppy's husband Scott. Meanwhile, Kate's lover Eugene is in Sicily to sabotage the bombers besieging Malta while her mother is recruited to work for Jack Ward, known affectionately as 'the Colonel'. As further agents are wiped out by the informant at Eden Park, Poppy leaves to train as a pilot. But as she closes the wooden shutters at the House of Flowers, the old folly where she and Scott began their married life, she realises that they were made over a century before to keep out another invader. England survived then, and will again. less