Waiting for yesterday - Grace Thompson

Shirley Downs has always known she's not just an ordinary girl -- after all, how else could she have tempted Freddy Clements away from his long-time fiancee, Beth Castle? But when she enters -- and wins -- a singing contest in the small seaside town of St David's Well, she begins to realise that her talent is really something special. It is 1941, however, and a career on the stage takes second place to rationing, to the threat of bombs and the reality of make do and mend. Nevertheless, Shirley is determined that singing and dancing will take first place -- above her daytime job, above her would-be lover, Joseph Beynon, and even above the friends who have helped her get where she is.

Meanwhile, Eirlys Price returns to Wales with her tail between her legs when her flight to the big city ends in disaster. Slowly she begins to build a new life for herself as manager of the Holidays at Home entertainments -- but is her new husband, Ken, as impressed with her achievements as the rest of the town? Or is his attention caught elsewhere?