Family Ties Books in Order

The Family Ties series is a newer strand in AnneMarie Brear’s work, rooted once again in Yorkshire but reaching into the upheaval of the First World War. It begins with a young woman in service who must rebuild her life when everything she knows is swept away.

In A Sister’s Sacrifice Olivia Brodie works as a parlourmaid at Hawthorn Manor. The house is grand, the Broadbent family demanding, but Olivia finds comfort in the rhythm of work and evenings spent with her blacksmith father and brothers at the family forge. Her quiet world changes the day Spencer Middleton, the Broadbents’ army officer grandson, arrives.

Olivia and Spencer are drawn to each other despite the gulf in class between them. Their connection is intense yet tentative, hemmed in by the strict rules that govern an upstairs downstairs society. When Spencer leaves, promising to return, Olivia dares to imagine a future where love might bridge that divide.

Life has other plans. A personal tragedy hits Olivia’s family hard, and the sale of the manor leaves her both homeless and without work. With her young brother Lachie to care for, she has little choice but to head for a nearby industrial town in search of employment. The noise, smoke and danger of the factories are a sharp contrast to the open countryside she loves.

A position as housekeeper to Stephen Sheridan, a gifted but reclusive pianist, offers fresh hope. Stephen is kind yet wary, and his own past griefs make him slow to trust. As Olivia keeps Lachie away from the coal mines and navigates the dark alleys of the town, she finds herself torn between the memory of first love and the steady comfort of new companionship.

The war looms in the background, threatening to pull men from forge, manor and music room alike. Olivia’s choices are made under the shadow of change, where any letter from the front could alter the course of her life.

The planned companion novel, Where the Poppies Dance, extends the Family Ties arc. While details belong to the book itself, readers can expect more of the same blend of tenderness and grit: families scattered by conflict, communities reshaped by loss, and women learning how to hold together what remains.

Together these stories look at love and duty from another angle within Brear’s wider world. Familiar elements return – Yorkshire villages, hard working households, the weight of class and reputation – but the series asks a fresh question: how do you rebuild when the old patterns have been blown apart by war?