She thought the worst was behind her . . . Life is tough in Lancashire in 1905 - and especially so for fifteen-year-old Mary Ann, who was born out of wedlock. When her new stepfather begins to abuse her, Mary Ann doesn't know how much more she can take - until the worst happens and she is sent away to bear his child. After the birth, she manages to escape to Blackpool with the help of her new friend Gabriel. Years later, the Great War brings Mary Ann many new opportunities, and brings Gabriel back into her life - but circumstances mean they can never be together. When her mother dies, Mary Ann decides it's finally time to return to Lancashire and uncover the secrets of her past. But an unknown danger threatens both her and the child she thought she'd lost forever . . . Will history repeat itself - or will Mary Ann's courage win her the happiness she deserves? ************************ What readers are saying about OUR MARY ANN 'Spellbinding' - 5 stars 'I couldn't put this book down. A tale of a strong woman who managed to keep her head and heart up against adversity' - 5 stars 'First class!' - 5 stars

So, what would Mary Ann do? As the sweet, polite, and thoughtful Mary Ann Summers from Kansas in the hit series Gilligan’s Island, Dawn Wells created an unforgettable and beloved character that still connects with people fifty years from the show’s debut in 1964. As the “good girl” among the group of castaways on a tiny island, she was often positioned against the glamorous and exotic Ginger Grant, played by Tina Louise, prompting many to ask: Are you a Ginger or a Mary Ann? This book not only helps readers answer that question for themselves but also sends the inspirational and heartwarming message that yes, good girls do finish first. Part self-help, part memoir, and part humor—with a little classic TV nostalgia for good measure—What Would Mary Ann Do? contains twelve chapters on everything from how Mary Ann would respond to changes in today’s culture to addressing issues confronting single women and mothers. Wells brings along her fellow characters from Gilligan’s Island to illustrate certain principles, such as incorporating the miserly Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) in a discussion on money. Anecdotal sidebars also describe fascinating facts and compelling memories from the show, as well as some trivia questions to challenge fans and followers. Illustrated with photographs from Wells’s private collection, this book provides inspiring lessons from TV’s favorite good girl.

Mary Ann or Ginger? Tonya or Lara? Betty or Veronica? For boys on their way to manhood or for men on their way back to boyhood, such complex choices in women have for centuries caused men to scratch their heads and wonder who is better: the bad girl, the good girl, or a mix of both? In his entertaining memoir, professed admirer of bad girls, Barry Rothman, recounts his romantic adventures over the past fifty years while exploring both the humorous and serious sides of relationships and sharing words of wisdom along the way. Rothman was five when he had his first serious brush with a member of the opposite sex. After he kissed a girl’s hand in the kindergarten cloakroom one day, he caused a scandal of great proportions. More importantly, however, he purposely propelled himself into the complex world of male-female interactions. From the stripper to the scary geisha and from the street urchin to a string of ballet dancers, Rothman unveils all the secrets of his lengthy and fervent journey to find a soul mate. Mary Ann or Ginger reveals an inside glimpse of one man’s foray into the often complex world of dating as he alluringly reflects on his amorous choices.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2019 'A lyrical tour de force' Guardian Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2019 2019 Walter Scott Prize Academy recommendation If you tell a story oft enough So it become true As the nineteenth century draws towards a close, Mary Ann Sate, an elderly maidservant, sets out to write her truth. She writes of the Valleys that she loves, of the poisonous rivalry between her employer's two sons and of a terrible choice which tore her world apart. Her haunting and poignant story brings to life a period of strife and rapid social change, and evokes the struggles of those who lived in poverty and have been forgotten by history. In this fictional found memoir, novelist Alice Jolly uses the astonishing voice of Mary Ann to recreate history as seen from a woman's perspective and to give joyful, poetic voice to the silenced women of the past.

Goodnight, Mary Ann, a heart-tugging adventure, is an oral history of the early Sage family who settled in Shawnee and Wabaunsee County, Kansas. In the 1850's, much of Kansas was still Indian territory. Settlers lived "up" and "down" Mission Creek southwest of Topeka, which later became Dover in 1870. Alfred Sage, who was the owner of the Historic Sage Inn was married twice, both times to a woman named Mary Ann. Through the eyes of these two women, the reader learns about not only the trials of the Sage family, but about the early history of Kansas during the territorial years and the Civil War.

Randy had always looked at the world differently than most, and was quietly disappointed in nearly everything he saw. Then, he met Mary Ann Doyle, a wild spitfire on the opposite end of his untroubled spectrum. Most had written her off, and few dared to look beyond her rugged past, but Randy was no ordinary fellow. From Johnny's Tavern through the quaint college town of Lawrence and a rare, blue-collar portrait of the Kentucky Derby, they catapulted a string of adventures that landed them more in love than they ever thought possible. But there's a sad reality behind dreams of outlasting a tough world, and Randy's observations are both breathtaking and heartbreaking; but he shoulders his instincts and follows the path of the battlers, his beloved "mad ones" en route to self-discovery and true meaning amidst chaos and romantic confusion.

Mary Ann was an innocent working girl who got dirty and had got caught up into immigration fraud and breaking the law by making moonshine and selling it in the backwoods of Georgia.