She was twenty-three when her husband died, leaving her with three small daughters and nothing else. The day came when she was so hungry, so tired and worried, that she was reduced to going to Akersfield market and asking Dick Fletcher for help - Dick who had loved her years ago, who was now running his own successful market garden - and who was engaged to someone else. It was Dick who took her back home to her village in the dales, gave her a job, helped her to gain her self-respect again. But the time came when she knew she must stand on her own - make a life for herself and her daughters without him, and use all her courage and determination to become successful. It was to take many years, and all the tragedy of the 1914 war before Eleanor was able to repay Dick Fletcher for the great debt she owed him.
Elvi Rhodes was born and educated in Yorkshire.
She is the author of many bestselling novels including Opal, Doctor Rose, Ruth Appleby, The Golden Girls, Madeleine, The House of Bonneau, Cara's Land, The Rainbow Through the Rain, The Bright One, The Mountain, Portrait of Chloe, Spring Music, Midsummer Meeting, The Birthday Party,
Mulberry Lane,
A Blessing In Disguise and The Apple Tree.
A collection of stories, Summer Promise and Other Stories, is also published by Corgi Books.