THE book begins in 1942 in war torn London when Kate’s sister, Sarah, arrives at the nightclub where Kate is working and asks Kate to help her out by returning to Dorset to act as a nanny to her daughter, Lizzy.

Kate does the sisterly thing and returns to the family home in Dorset to look after her niece thinking she would only be there for one month. Little did she know! The story then revolves around Kate’s past in Dorset, her sister’s wartime job and the effect of World War II on the family.

Milly Adams’s knowledge of Dorset is very detailed, and I did think she was a resident of Dorset but apparently she lives in Buckinghamshire. Village life in Dorset during the lean war years really came alive for me with Adams’s descriptive story telling. The story contained all the usual village characters including the vicar, who plays a major part, and the family doctor. When Sarah leaves her daughter with Kate and the story transfers to France, Adams gives her readers a very accurate description of not only the landscape but also the part played by the Resistance in World War II.

The story is most unusual and I found myself unable to put the book down after the initial few chapters. I soon realised that World War II is Adam’s specialist subject for her novels and that she had done so much research for this book. I will definitely be ready for more of her books and enjoying the excitement and fear that her novels create.

8/10

BARBARA DAVIS