A captivating tale of forbidden passion and wartime friendship from the bestselling author of THE WILLOW POOL and ONE SUMMER AT DEER'S LEAP. It's 1940 and Britain expects daily to be invaded, but the isolated Yorkshire hamlet of Nun Ainsty remains relatively untouched. That is until the Army arrives and everything is turned upside down, especially for Lorna Hatherwood. Married to a man ten years her senior, Lorna's life has lacked excitement, but when she volunteers to read to blind soldiers at the nearby Manor, she cannot imagine how much it will suddenly change. There, she meets handsome medical officer Ewan MacMillan and as they get increasingly close, Lorna realizes it could spell disaster for them both. Life takes another unexpected turn with the arrival of Land Girl, Ness Nightingale, who is billeted with Lorna. Ness is trying to forget a disastrous love affair, but she soon meets Mick Hardie, a conscientious objector, and has to remind herself that she had vowed never to trust another man...