Rural Life

The Chinese Economic miracle is happening despite, not because of, China's 900 million peasants. They are missing from the portraits of booming Shanghai, or Beijing. Many of China's underclass live under a feudalistic system unchanged since the 15th century. Wu Chuntao and Chen Guidi undertook a three-year survey of what had happened to the peasants in one of the poorest provinces, Anhui, asking the question: have the peasants been betrayed by the revolution undertaken in their name by Mao and his successors?

It's an invitation Steph can't refuse when she's handpicked to compete at the prestigious National Trust property Coleton Fishacre. With the country's top garden designers as rivals and a stunning historic estate for inspiration, it feels like a dream come true. But things quickly turn thorny when the youngest competitor falls mysteriously ill and Steph suspects foul play. Her fears are confirmed when a scream echoes through the gardens, leading her to the horrific sight of a dead body at the foot of the cliff.

Each month best friends Claudia, Sal, Ella and Laura meet for drinks, celebrating 45 years of friendship. Sal had spent a lifetime building her career, but she hadn't banked on the one thing over which she had no control. Claudia loved her urban existence. But, as many women will know, other people's needs always seem to come first. Ella is ready to try something different. But she hadn't bargained on quite such a radical change. And Laura succumbed to the oldest cliché in the book.

What Luck, This Life begins in the aftermath of the space shuttle's break-up, as the people of Piney Woods watch their pastures swarm with searchers and reporters bluster at their doors. A shop owner defends herself against a sexual predator who is pushed to new boldness after he is disinvited to his family reunion. A closeted father facing a divorce that will leave his gifted boy adrift retrieves an astronaut's remains. An engineer who dreams of orbiting Earth joins a search for debris and instead uncovers an old neighbor's buried longing.

Winnie was always a hopeful child, full of imagination and wild dreams. When she falls pregnant at a young age, she unexpectedly leaves town with the father of the child, Billy. After a long journey across the country, Winnie finds herself alone and with child in a strange new land. After a while she meets Colt, the handsome fisherman who owns the docks, and he quickly takes on the role of surrogate father to baby Sarah. Almost six years later, Colt and Sarah find themselves taking the long journey back to Winnie’s hometown.

Anna and Matt Butler were childhood sweethearts with a dream of owning their own land, a dream they achieved through hard work and determination. But as the seasons conspire against them and Matt is involved in a terrible accident, the couple face financial ruin and the loss of their farm. As they fight for everything they hold dear, they suddenly find themselves caught up in events much bigger and more dangerous than they could ever have imagined.

Gordon and Maxine's dreams of a blissful life of gardening, pub lunches and quiet retirement in the charming market town of Little Woodford are ruined when three very demanding members of their family come home. First up is daughter Abi and her unassuming partner Marcus. Abi is determined to move back to Little Woodford and only the perfect house will do. What could be better than parking with Mum and Dad, while she drives local estate agents and builders mad? Then comes Judith, Maxine's high-flying sister. A crisis has driven her, sobbing, to Little Woodford.

For Eve Nicholls, walking up the driveway of her childhood home stirs up a whirlwind of emotion. The horses she loved still dot the paddocks, but the house is empty and the silence allows the past to come flooding back. She’s glad to have her best friend Banjo the kelpie with her, along with a bottle of bourbon. Her plan is simple – sell the farm, grab the cash and get the hell out. Within days of her return, Eve runs into all the people she hoped to avoid: the uncle who can't forgive, the ex who moved on, and the best friend he moved on with.

After the untimely death of their biological father, triplets Eva, Rosa and Hannah find themselves the unlikely owners of Heatherly Hall, the vast manor house overlooking their home village of Westenbury. But the beautiful house comes with almost as much baggage as it does land, not least high running costs and expectations. It's up to the sisters to find a way to keep Heatherly Hall going and, most importantly, in the family. But with drama in their private lives and secrets about to emerge, can the sisters stick together to focus on the task at hand?

Long before fracking ever came to Minden, Pennsylvania, the fissures in the Pierson family were developing into major fault lines. Green Energy arrives, offering the rural community of Minden the dream of making more money from their land by leasing natural gas rights for drilling. But orchardist, Jack Pierson, fears his brother, Wade, who now works for Green Energy, has returned to town after a twenty-year absence so desperate to be the hero that he'll blind their hometown to the potential dangers.

Morgan Rosewood finds herself at a crossroads in her life after returning home to Forget-Me-Not Cottage to care for her ailing mother. She and boyfriend Ronan, had plans, big plans, but all these hopes and dreams are put on hold when Morgan's mum suddenly dies. Morgan’s emotions are in turmoil but she sets about the task of clearing the house and running her late mother’s vintage market stall.

Three generations. One summer that will change everything. Jenna has returned to the sunny shores of Lake Summers, tucked under the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, with her daughter Sophie to care for her aging mother, Sweet. Recently divorced, Jenna finds comfort in lazy afternoons along the water and long nights watching Sweet tell Sophie stories about her long-lost loves. When she meets Sweet’s new next-door neighbor, Troy, she recognizes him instantly as the boy with whom she shared her first kiss.

Spring has arrived at The Potting Shed and things seem to finally be going Maddie's way. Her relationship with lovable lawyer Ed is going well and the business is thriving with the help of her new friend Jo and his bright orange coffee van. But troubles are just around the corner... the upgrade of The Potting Shed from a nursery to a garden centre is at a critical point, turning part of Maddie's business into a building site. And just as she has to temporarily move out of her home, a major garden centre announces its grand opening only twenty miles away.

Wendell Combs is as local as they come. Born and raised in the small town of Saybrook, Connecticut, his venture into the larger world was met with heartbreak. Now, middle-aged and a confirmed bachelor, he seeks solitude from his tour of duty as a soldier back in his hometown, working as head caretaker for wealthy Alan Lancaster’s forty-acre estate, White Pines, a place he has come to love for its beauty, peace, and quiet.

Summer is approaching in the market town of Little Woodford, which can only mean one thing: the town fete! But the winds of change are blowing through the sleepy town high street and trouble is on the horizon... Two hot properties have come up for sale: The Talbot, Little Woodford's much-loved local pub and The Reeve House, a beautiful country manor cut off from the rest of the town and closed to the community. A 'for sale' sign means new members of the community, and gossip begins to fly about an offer on the Reeve House.

When three women are thrown together by unusual circumstances, ruffled feelings are just the beginning. A wise, sharply observed celebration of the life-changing power of female friendships.

Health and well-being brought Olive, Elsie, and Bree together. After five years, their bustling wellness center is demanding expansion. A beautiful federation house nestled among the picturesque backdrop of their small town is the perfect place to grow their business. But they don't count on their personal lives getting in the way. Practical and pragmatic, Olive keeps her past hidden from her friends. But when an old high-school flame shows up, the secrets she's worked so hard to bury threaten to tear her carefully constructed world apart.

It's finally time for Carmella to marry the love of her life—her best friend turned boyfriend turned fiancé, Cody. As she grapples with her new role as stepmother to Gretchen, she learns some surprising news about her own situation and finds herself rewriting a future she'd once thought would be aimless and incredibly lonely.

A story of a rich girl. Claudia has to learn humanity the hard way! She feels entitled, not only because of family ties, but because she's White.

The summers spent at Roseland, the sprawling ancestral home of her best friend, Eloise, were among the happiest of Cathy's life. Tucked away on the Cornish coastline and brimming with history, Roseland seemed to belong to another century. Cathy has barely been back since Eloise's death a decade ago. So she is shocked when Jack, the love of Eloise's life and father of her children, announces that he is getting married, and that the wedding will take place at Roseland.