The author of A Bridge Across the Ocean and The Last Year of the
War journeys from the present day to World War II England, as two
sisters are separated by the chaos of wartime... **
Current day, Oxford, England. Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant,
eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel
McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about
the war that she has kept for decades...beginning with who she really
is. What Kendra receives from Isabel is both a gift and a burden--one
that will test her convictions and her heart.
1940s, England. As Hitler wages an unprecedented war against London's
civilian population, hundreds of thousands of children are evacuated to
foster homes in the rural countryside. But even as fifteen-year-old Emmy
Downtree and her much younger sister Julia find refuge in a charming
Cotswold cottage, Emmy's burning ambition to return to the city and
apprentice with a fashion designer pits her against Julia's profound
need for her sister's presence. Acting at cross purposes just as the
Luftwaffe rains down its terrible destruction, the sisters are cruelly
separated, and their lives are transformed...