Lilian Harry

Lilian’s earliest memory is of getting snatched out of her bed by her sister at the first ominous wail of an air raid siren, and being rushed to the Anderson shelter at the bottom of the garden. It’s that memory, along with others of World War II, the roar of exploding bombs, searchlights criss-crossing in the sky, barrage of balloons floating up above, and the German parachute which landed in the garden, which informs her books with such a vivid atmosphere. When she was a young woman she worked in Civil Service and moved to Devon in order to be near her sailor husband.

The best place to start is The Glassmakers Saga series, the earliest of Lilian Harry's multi-book series: it opens with Crystal (1988) and runs to 3 books across 1988–1989, ending with Chalice (1989). Lilian Harry's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Lilian Harry has 171 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1977 and 2017. 130 of them belong to 8 named series — the largest being the How to Do Everything series with 95 books — and 41 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Lilian Harry's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are The Glassmakers Saga (1988–1989, 3 books), Carpetmakers' Trilogy (1990–1999, 3 books) and Cumbrian Saga (1993–1994, 2 books), plus 5 more.

This guide splits Lilian Harry's 171 books into 8 named series and 41 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: How to Do Everything (95 books, 1999–2015); Burracombe Village (14 books, 2006–2017); April Grove, a Street at War (8 books, 1994–2005); Carpetmakers' Trilogy (3 books, 1990–1999); Corner House (3 books, 2000–2002), plus 3 further series.