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Learn moreAn RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominee.
In the autumn of 1940, four children meet on a train. Behind them is London, under heavy aerial attack; ahead of them is a ship bound for the safe shores of Canada. Arthur has promised his mother not to let his little brother, Philip, out of his sight. Pippa and Dora are on their own: polar opposites, brought together by the adventure of a lifetime. But disaster strikes mid-Atlantic, and in the chaos one of the children makes a choice that will determine the course of their lives forever.
As the years pass and the survivors become adults—forging their futures and falling in love—they are still haunted by the events of that night at sea. It’s not just what was lost that darkens their lives: what was rescued casts a long shadow, too. One of them has a terrible secret that they thought sank with the ship. But a secret is just a truth waiting to be revealed, and this secret could shatter everything.
Jane Bailey is the author of five novels and a book of comic verse. Her first novel was shortlisted for the Dillons Prize. She is writer-in-residence for Cheltenham Festivals First Story, which promotes creative writing in schools serving low-income communities. Jane lives in Gloucestershire.
Reviews
“A wonderful novel: beautifully written and a real page-turner.” —Katie Fforde, bestselling author
“From its tragic opening, based on true wartime events, Jane Bailey has woven a vivid emotional tale of terrible loss and thwarted love.” —Kate Riordan, author of The Girl in the Photograph and The Shadow Hour
“A cat’s cradle of a read, where truth and lies, love and deception twist and interweave. It is about cause and effect; of how seeds, planted in childhood trauma, branch out unexpectedly in adulthood as Bailey’s characters try to differentiate between love and desire, jealousy and betrayal.” —Jamila Gavin, Whitbread Book Award winner and Royal Society of Literature Fellow
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