416 pages Berkley publisher August 09,2022 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Connected through time to her great-grandmother by a shared English countryside home, an American nurse tries to piece together her family’s tangled history in this new historical novel from the acclaimed author of At Summer’s End.
England, 2014: Audrey Collins knows only two things about her beloved grandmother’s past: She was born into nobility and she immigrated to America at seventeen years old. So when Audrey inherits her gran’s home in North Yorkshire, she arrives expecting a sprawling country estate fit for lords and ladies. Instead, she finds an abandoned stone cottage perfectly preserved as Gran left it when she fled in 1941—ration book and all—and begins to uncover what secrets her family has been keeping.
France, 1915: Lady Emilie Dawes is working as a nurse on the Western Front, grateful to have escaped the restraints of her restrictive, privileged home life. But the independence she fought hard to earn is suddenly jeopardized when a familiar man shows up in one of her hospital beds. Facing him means facing her past, and the decisions she had made in fear. As the war rages around her, Emilie realizes she cannot continue running from who she is until she decides who she truly wants to be.
Over a hundred years apart, Audrey and Emilie each struggle to find purpose, love, and a place to call home in this enchanting family saga celebrating the courage of underestimated women—and the power a secret can hold across generations.
MY THOUGHTS
Having read another book by the author I was excited to read another by her.
Told from alternating points of view of 3 generations of a family.
An American woman’s nursing license is suspended when she is found intoxicated on the job, after this she battles alcoholism and tries to stay away from it.
When her beloved grandmother dies, she inherits her Yorkshire cottage. She doesn’t really know too much about her or understand why her grandmother kept a cottage no one knew she owned.
As she spends time in the UK this lovely book comes alive, and we see nursing skills demonstrated from WWI.
1915 France. Lady Emile is a nurse during WWII, she comes from royalty. Her family is strict, and they expect her to enter into a marriage with who they approve her. She ends up having a forbidden love affair.
2014 England, Audrey arrives to clean out her grandmother’s cottage and she discovers family secrets in this little cottage. Why did her grandmother immigrate to America as a seventeen-year-old when she seemed to have it all while being born into nobility?
I loved how the secrets were slowly revealed chapter by chapter as each family member’s story is told.
Recommended!
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Courtney Ellis began writing at a young age, and developed an interest in history from her grandfather’s stories of World War II. After obtaining her BA in English and Creative Writing, she went on to pursue a career in publishing. She lives in Western New York with her rescue dog.
Connect with Courtney online at @CellisWriter on Twitter, and courtneyellisauthor on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
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