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.

Nancy Mitford

Linda settles down in Alconleigh, where Dorothy,"the Bolter", Fanny's mother has also turned up to seek refuge..with a Spanish boyfriend. Davey and Emily are also there. The Alconleighs are not aware of the break up of Linda's second marriage... or that she has a new lover. Dorothy, who has left several husbands, has heard gossip, and teases Linda about her French duke. Linda is not very well, and Fanny worries about her since she was not supposed to have another baby. Fanny is also pregnant and so is Louisa, Linda's older sister. Spring comes and Linda only has one letter from Fabrice which she cannot read. Then, she has her baby, a boy, and dies in giving birth. Fanny has another son and she and Alfred contact Christian and offer to adopt Linda's child. Fabrice is shot during doing resistance work. Fanny and Davey tell the parents that Linda was in love with Fabrice, and had his baby. They accept their new grandson.... but they all miss Linda

Nancy Mitford VI

Linda finds him attractive and realises that her feelings for her 2 husbands were not very strong. He offers her a flat and though she protests that she has to go back home, she accepts it. Davey and Lord Merlin visit her to see if she is all right, and promise not to tell her parents that she is living with a French lover. They tell the Alconleighs that Linda is still with Christian. War breaks out and Linda decides to stay in Paris because Fabrice has a job in Military Intelligence and is not at the Front. He tells her if it becomes dangerous, he will get her out of France. After several months of happiness with him, she has to go home and goes back to London to her own small house. Dunkirk happens and she is desperately worried. Then one day Fabrice turns up and they spend some time together but he has to return to France. After Dunkirk, Fanny and her children, and Louisa both go to Alconleigh, to live with the Radletts. Alfred is in the army, and Fanny goes up to London to get his equipment. She visits Linda who refuses to go home. She rarely even leaves her house as she wants to stay close in case Fabrice calls. Her daily help looks after her but Fanny is worried when Linda tells her she's pregnant again. She asks the daily lady to phone her if anything happens. Linda was advised to have no more children when her first child was born, and shortly after visiting London, Fanny gets a call to say that Linda's house had been bombed. She was all right, and didn't miscarry, but she now agrees to go to Alconleigh.

Kris Kristoffersen Dead

Kris has died at the age of 88 after long career as song writer, singer and actor. RIP. Kris was born in Brownville, Texas and spent time in the military. He was also a Rhodes scholar and became a janitor in Nashville to try to sell his songs.

Nancy Mitford V

The Alconleighs are upset by his running away, though Uncle Matthew is not too angry about it, as he admires him for being active at something, especially for fighting. Linda has become an ardent Communist, and supports Christian's beliefs. Polly's baby is due, and when the child is born, it dies almost immediately. Fanny goes to see her and finds that she seems indifferent about the baby's death. Cedric and Lady Montdore come to visit and patch up the quarrel. Lady Montdore and Polly seem to get over their estrangement fairly easily. Fanny realises that Boy is very pleased to be friendly with Lady Montdore again. She can also see that Cedric is taking an interest in this new friend. Lady Montdore seems to be a little in love with Cedric herself but she is not aware of his true sexuality, and does not understand about the young men he gives jobs to at Hampton. In spite of getting on again with her mother, Polly has by now moved on, and has become friendly with the Duke of Paddington. His ancestor is the subject of Boy's latest book.. He is an older man, and soon he falls in love with Polly... So she leaves Boy to marry him while Cedric takes up with Boy. We learn in another Mitford book that Polly loses her looks but has several children and is happy.. and that Lady Montdore dies just before the war. She had been persuaded by Cedric to have plastic surgery. He becomes the Earl, but goes abroad when the war breaks out, which annoys the local gentry. But he is not naturally soldier material. After the War, he permanently left England and settled in a sunny part of the world. Linda's husband Christian decides to go to France, to work with Spanish refugees and Linda joins him. When she gets there, she does her best to do welfare work. She meets Lavender Davis, her old neighbour at home, who is now a welfare worker. Soon she realises that Christian has fallen out of love with her and is now closer to Lavender..... She leaves the South of France, leaving a letter for her husband, and goes back to Paris, but her ticket is out of date and she cannot get back to England. While she is sitting at the station, crying, she meets a middle aged, well dressed Frenchman who speaks English, and he takes her to lunch. He tells her that his name is Fabrice and that he is a duke, and well off.