The Onedin Line by Cyril Abraham

This is both a TV serial and a set of books by Cyril Abraham. He wanted to write a tv series about a modern shipping line, but he learned that such companies are run by boards and there's no real drama to be had from them. He then decided to set his story in Victorian Liverpool. It was a bedroom and boardroom series, which was extremely popular on tv in the 1970s. The leading character was James Onedin, son of a shopkeeper, who went off to sea as a boy, and worked his way up to being a captain. But his ambition was to own his own shipping line. James is a hard unfeeling man, but life is harsh in Victorian Liverpool. James becomes depressed that he cannot afford to buy even one ship. Then he gets a chance. There is a rundown ship for sale, from a former Navy officer called Joshua Webster. Webster, who drinks too much, has a plain daughter Anne, who wants the security of marriage. James agrees to marry her to get the ship. James has a brother, Robert, who runs the family shop, but he's not very bright. He is married with one son, Samuel. He has one sister, Elizabeth, who is very beautiful and who attracts the attention of Albert Frazer, whose father owns a shipping line and shipyard. The story covers James' marriage to Anne, and their falling in love. Elizabeth becomes pregnant by her fiance, Daniel, but he has to go to sea on a long voyage, and she ends up luring Albert Frazer into marriage but not telling him she's pregnant. Around the same time, Daniel comes home. He is hurt to find Elizabeth has left him and married another man. But he attracts the attention of Mr Callon, his boss... and is chosen by him to marry his heir, Emma. (There are some discrepancies between the TV series and the books.. in the book, Emma is Callon's only child, but in the TV show, she is said to be his niece, who is his heir). However, his marriage to Emma is unhappy. He leaves his wife and goes away to Australia. Elizabeth learns about the shipping business when her husband dies, and manages the Frazer Line. Anne dies in childbirth, giving birth to a daughter which embitters James further. The later part of the saga covers the love affairs of Charlotte, James' daughter, and her 2 cousins, William Frazer and Samuel Onedin. Charlotte is a flighty girl and falls in love with William, who seduces her but does not want to marry her. She marries Samuel, who has inherited the store from Robert. Samuel is willing to look after William's child, who is called Robert Baines. Elizabeth marries Daniel after Emma's death, but their marriage has its ups and downs. James remarries several years after Anne's death, to a lady who was Charlotte's governess. His second marriage is happy but Letty also dies after a few years. They have one baby, a son but the child dies at birth. William has been travelling but when he comes back to Liverpool, he is killed in an accident, trying to save some children from a runaway horse. After Letty's death, James marries a Spanish-American woman, Margarita, and they have a baby son, at the very end of the series. Daniel has been abroad, but he decides to return to Elizabeth. Sadly, when he is coming home to see her, he drowns. So she's left alone.

story on Amazon

Here's another story on Amazon by Nadine Sutton. Its called Rough Music and is about a country rock band in the US in the 1970s and 80s. The band are just beginning to have some success after being a bar band. Now they have wives and children and are not sure what more they want out of life.

available on Amazon... music world story

Beds and Blue Jeans is a story, novella length about a young bar singer in Nashville in the 2010s.. who has found himself being pursued by a lot of lady fans. He has a girlfriend who has just had his baby, but the relationship with Patty isn't going too well. Sam lets himself be caught by various pretty ladies but can he learn to appreciate Patty and settle down with her and their baby. On Amazon.