But the residents of Shacklehurst have no way of knowing how dangerous Elinor's war work had been, or that their mysterious neighbor is haunted by her past. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a 'grace and favor' property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation. The private, quiet “Miss White' as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, England, and to her fellow villagers seems something of an enigma. This book follows the coming of age and maturity of former wartime operative Elinor White-veteran of two wars, trained killer, protective of her anonymity-when she is drawn back into the world of menace she has been desperate to leave behind.Ī reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government. But will well-intended lies and self-deception be of use when they come face to face with the enemy?

Even Tom’s fellow soldiers in the trenches enter and find solace in the dream world of Kezia’s mouth-watering, albeit imaginary meals. Each must find a way to endure the ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.Īs Tom marches to the front lines, and Kezia battles to keep her ordered life from unraveling, they hide their despair in letters and cards filled with stories woven to bring comfort. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield, the farm becomes Kezia’s responsibility.

When Kezia and Tom wed just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Thea’s gift to Kezia is a book on household management-a veiled criticism of the bride’s prosaic life to come. By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden, friends since girlhood, have become strained-by Thea’s passionate embrace of women’s suffrage, and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to Thea’s brother, Tom, who runs the family farm.

Jacqueline winspear