Annie Groves lives in the North-West of England and has done so of all her life. She is also the author of Ellie Pride, Connie’s Courage and Hettie of Hope Street, a series of novels for which she drew upon her own family's history, picked up from listening to her grandmother's stories when she was a child, and Goodnight Sweetheart and Some Sunny Day. Her two novels and The Grafton Girls are based on Annie’s extensive research of the Italian community in Liverpool during the war as well as wartime recollections from members of her family who come from the city. Annie Groves also writes under the name Penny Jordan and has written over 170 books and sold over 67 million copies.
Annie Groves was the creation of the much-loved writer, Penny Halsall, who died in 2011. Penny was born and lived in the north-west of England all of her life and the Annie Groves novels drew on her family’s history, picked up from listening to her grandmother’s stories as a child.
Penny’s legacy of heart-warming and uplifting novels lives on through writer Jenny Shaw – who knew Penny personally for many years.