England 1947. A young woman finds herself under close observation in an insane asylum, charged with a violent crime she has no memory of committing. As she tries to make sense of her recent past, she recalls very little.
But she still remembers wartime in Yugoslavia. There she and her boss risked everything to carry out dangerous work resisting the Germans -- a heroic campaign in which many brave comrades were lost. After that, the trail disappears into confusion. How did she come to be trapped in a living nightmare?
As she struggles to piece together the missing years of her life, she will have to confront the harrowing experiences of her special-operations work and peacetime marriage. Only then can she hope to regain the vital memories that will uncover the truth. Is she a violent criminal... or was she betrayed?
But she still remembers wartime in Yugoslavia. There she and her boss risked everything to carry out dangerous work resisting the Germans -- a heroic campaign in which many brave comrades were lost. After that, the trail disappears into confusion. How did she come to be trapped in a living nightmare?
As she struggles to piece together the missing years of her life, she will have to confront the harrowing experiences of her special-operations work and peacetime marriage. Only then can she hope to regain the vital memories that will uncover the truth. Is she a violent criminal... or was she betrayed?
Coventry 1939. Days before the outbreak of World War II, a terrorist bomb explodes on a busy street, killing and maiming innocent civilians. A man is hanged on the evidence given by a young witness. As time goes on she doubts her recollection, but her evidence has far-reaching consequences.
Over sixty years later, in the wake of the 7/7 bombings, Sara returns to her childhood home to find that her sister, Polly, missing for nearly twenty years, has finally come back, too. Why now? Where has she been? The sisters grew up under the fierce protection of their nanny, Bridie, herself haunted by a family secret. And there are other secrets that Bridie has kept from the two girls. Polly's return sets in motion events that will stretch the women's fragile bond to its breaking point.
Over sixty years later, in the wake of the 7/7 bombings, Sara returns to her childhood home to find that her sister, Polly, missing for nearly twenty years, has finally come back, too. Why now? Where has she been? The sisters grew up under the fierce protection of their nanny, Bridie, herself haunted by a family secret. And there are other secrets that Bridie has kept from the two girls. Polly's return sets in motion events that will stretch the women's fragile bond to its breaking point.
Restless, troubled Rosamond Hunter has spent most of her life running away from the past, filled with guilt about her involuntary role in her mother's death. When her nursing job brings her back to Fairfleet, her childhood home, to care for an elderly refugee, she is forced to confront the ghosts that have haunted her for so long.
Her patient, Benny Gault, first came to Fairfleet in 1939, having fled Nazi Germany on a Kindertransport train.
As his health fails, he and Rosamond begin to confide in each other. At first their tentative friendship revolved around the love they both shared for Rosamond's glamorous grandmother, Harriet, but as their trust in each other grows, guilty secrets are exposed and history is turned on its head.
Her patient, Benny Gault, first came to Fairfleet in 1939, having fled Nazi Germany on a Kindertransport train.
As his health fails, he and Rosamond begin to confide in each other. At first their tentative friendship revolved around the love they both shared for Rosamond's glamorous grandmother, Harriet, but as their trust in each other grows, guilty secrets are exposed and history is turned on its head.
After her soldier husband is seriously injured and her marriage disintegrates, Meredith returns to Letchford, the school run by her father, outwardly a typically English headmaster. This is a tranquil refuge for Meredith. Until a shocking discovery is made in the history room. The police are called but all is not as it seems. On her journey to untangle the truth Meredith will discover that a manipulative member of staff is controlling goings-on, and that her own father's reputation is now at risk. More than one person is hiding a past filled with complicated secrets.
As the bunting goes up for the Golden Jubilee party in a small village old family secrets are about to boil over. Ten-year old Jessamy Winter vanished from a Silver Jubilee party back in 1977. Her disappearance is woven into disturbing events in her family going back to the end of World War II. As the Jubilee cake is cut Jessamy's mother holds her breath to see whether her daughter will step out from the marquee and back into her life.
How do you rebuild your life when the world lies in ruins?
Alix and Gregor are two young people pushed apart by a war that will destroy everything they hold dear: family, friends and loyalty, as the competing horrors wrought by Hitler and Stalin devastate central Europe. A novel about love and betrayal, hatred and heroism - a reminder that, even in the worst of times, the most courageous acts of kindness are possible.
Two women, divided by fifty years, united by their grief. Minna comes to the Dorset coast to recover from a terrible bereavement. Walking on the beach with her husband she finds the skeleton of a dead GI, a discovery that will bring her into contact with the enigmatic Felix, a woman who also has to come to terms with the past.
The Times 12.6.2007
