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□□0 19684986 Looking for Love Joanna Toye Looking for Love follows the fortunes of Dan and Doris Archer’s children and grandchildren as they search for fulfilment in the changing world of the Seventies and early Eighties. Jennifer, struggling as an unmarried mother, thinks that marriage to the handsome Roger will he the answer to all her prayers. It isn’t, but Jennifer gets another chance. Lilian tragically loses her first husband, Nick, after only a few months of marriage. Recovering, she finds happiness with local squire Ralph Bellamy, only to find that his health is failing. Tony’s ill-matched engagement to Mary is broken off just in time for him to meet and marry Pat who, as well as helping to run the farm, manages to cope with their three children - and Tony himself! Christine has spent years trying to save her marriage. But when her husband Paul’s latest business venture hits trouble and he flees to Germany, she realises that she’s finally had enough. Shula’s choice of boyfriend often left her parents in despair. Even when she meets the eminently suitable Mark Hebden, it is years before she finally realises he is the only man for her. The course of true love is not set to run smoothly for the next generation of the Archers. Looking for Love, the second volume in this trilogy of novels published to celebrate the forthcoming fiftieth anniversary of The Archers, continues the story of BBC Radio 4’s most famous farming family. THE A M B R I D G E CHRONICLES THE A M B R I D G E C H R O N I C L E S PART TWO Looki ng for Love J OA N N A TOYE For Mary Cutler, with love, to mark her twenty years on the writing team. This book is published to accompany the BBC Radio 4 serial entitled The Archers. The Editor of The Archers is Vanessa Whitburn. Published by BBC Worldwide Ltd, Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London W12 OTT First published 1999 Copyright ©JoannaToye 1999 The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. N o part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without the permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. ISBN 0 563 55125 9 Commissioning Editor: Anna Ottewill Project Editor: Lara Speicher Designed byTim Higgins Text set in Adobe Plantin and New Caledonia Semi Bold Italic by Keystroke, Jacaranda Lodge, Wolverhampton Printed and bound in Great Britain by Butler &Tanner Ltd, Frome and London Jacket printed by Lawrence-Alien Ltd, Weston-super-Mare Contents Acknowledgements 7 The Archers Family Tree 8 Prologue 1967: Lost and Found 11 1 Sisterly Love 21 2 The N ext Generation 35 3 M aking Room 53 4 Ring in the New 65 5 Rites of Passage 83 6 The Boy Wonder 93 7 Working It Out 105 8 Choices 117 9 Comings and Goings 129 10 M ixed Feelings 143 Taken by Surprise 159 12 A Learning Curve 171 13 Discoveries 185 14 Endurance 199 15 Starting Afresh 209 Temptation 219 11 16 17 Losses and Gains 231 Contents 18 Inevitabilities 247 19 Liberation 259 2 0 A Parting of the Ways 273 21 Fighting Back 291 22 The End of an Era 301 Acknowledgements As ever, thanks are due to many people without whom I could not have begun to contemplate writing this book. On the production team of The Archers, the Editor, Vanessa Whitburn, has