In this emotional novel based on Greece's real history we follow three generations of one family, broken apart by secrets and war, as Olivia travels to the island of her mother's birth to piece together a century's worth of her family's past.
On the Greek island of Castellorizo young Sofía must put her big dreams on hold to support her older sister Maria with her large family. But World War II is looming and while the idyllic island may seem far from harm at first, there are unspeakable dangers on the horizon - perils that will change the sisters' lives forever . . .
Devastated by her divorce and the death of her dear mum, Olivia seeks solace on Castellorizo. Her Granny Sofía fled the beautiful Greek island during the war, but Olivia knows little else about her family's history. The only link to the Island she has left is her elderly great-uncle George. As his memory begins to fail, Olivia feels her one chance at uncovering the truth about her grandmother start to slip away.
As a mother's sacrifice echoes throughout the generations, will Olivia discover some things are best left in the past?
Present day
For the last twenty years, Summer has lived a solitary life, focusing on her career as a vet and trying not to think of the past. Every year she escapes for a few weeks to beautiful Greek islands, losing herself in photography and wreck diving.
When the junk room of her clifftop cottage is cleared to accommodate a carer for her father, Summer stumbles across the belongings of her great-grandmother, Gertie Smith. She finds a WWI nurse's uniform, a soldier's blanket, and a recording of Gertie's memoirs. As Summer listens to it, she learns about her great-grandmother's secret life, and might just find the strength to let go of her own tragic past.
1916
When eighteen-year-old nurse Gertie Smith signs up for the war effort, she is thrilled to learn that her destination will be Greece. With a head full of blue skies and handsome men, she boards the Titanic's sister ship, the hospital ship Britannic. Unprepared for the horrors of war, she heads for the Greek island of Lemnos on a mission to rescue three thousand wounded British soldiers.
The Britannic never reaches its destination. Gertie, who disobeyed her orders, blames herself. She is sent to the Greek island of Kea, where she meets and falls in love with a Greek fisherman, Manno - but she finds herself torn between him and her duty to an English soldier, and all too soon her past catches up with her.
The new novel from the author of Island of Secrets. Perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore and Lucinda Riley.
'I am Sofia. I am searching for my daughter, born 1st November 1972. Can you help me?'
On the beautiful beaches of Crete, an old woman is handing out scraps of paper. Sofia, eighty-five years old, unable to speak, is desperate to find a daughter she has never known. After a tragic childhood in Athens and a soaring career as a singer, the brutal treatment of the man she loved by a tyrannical regime forced her to give up her daughter mere days after her birth. Now she longs to be reunited with her child before it's too late.
Meanwhile in London, Zoe is searching too. In the months since the disappearance of her teenage daughter, Zoe's life has crumbled apart. Her husband has left her, her son feels forgotten, and every day is a struggle. But Zoe is desperate to track her daughter down, even if she doesn't want to be found . . .
She'll uncover the shocking secrets of her past in paradise . . .
Sent away to convent school at the age of six, Irini McGuire has never really known her celebrated archaeologist mother, Bridget, who lives on the paradise island of Santorini. So, when Irini receives news that Bridget has been injured at a dig and is in coma she knows it is time to return to the island of her birth.
Discovering her mother's notes, and driven by rumours that her mother's injury was no accident, Irini starts to reveal the dark secrets behind her family's separation.
Can she unearth the truth about her parents and her past before it is too late?
A thrilling, dramatic and completely engaging tale of love, hope, intrigue and revenge on the island of Rhodes during the Nazi occupation. From the top-selling author of debut Island of Secrets Rebecca Neumanner's marriage is on the brink of collapse, as her desire to be a mother becomes an obsession. Then she receives news from her estranged family in Rhodes. Called back to the beautiful Greek island of her birth, she realises how little she knows of the grandmother she has eluded for over a decade. Bubba has never spoken of the Nazi occupation during her youth, but there have always been whispers. What desperate measures did she take that terrible day in 1944 when her family was ripped apart? Can the rumour she had blood on her own hands really be true? But Bubba intends to take her secrets to the grave. However, as Rebecca arrives on Rhodes, bringing the promise of new life, this broken family must come together. The time has come to tell the truth about the darkest of days . . . Listeners loved Island of Secrets!'Island of Secrets is a book full of raw emotions, family vendettas, hidden secrets and three very strong women. It's a book I enjoyed very much and one which fans of Victoria Hislop are sure to enjoy' 'So well written and utterly heartbreaking . . . a story that needs to be told' 'Page-turning, enthralling and heartbreaking by turns''Made me laugh and cry, just couldn't put this book down'
Even when your life and faith seem broken, God loves you and wants you to enjoy a life abundant in blessings, freedom, and opportunity.
Motivational speaker, spiritual guide, and mentor to women, Patricia Wilson offers a wise and lighthearted take on the serious business of maturing in faith. Her deliciously candid descriptions of contemporary life reveal the ways we lose touch with God. Then she shows us how to reconnect and stick close.
"Sticking close to God is not as easy as I thought it would be," Wilson writes. "Not because God moved on to someone less difficult and demanding, but because I keep forgetting that my walk with God requires a conscious, daily decision. That's what this book is all about: how to stick close to God, even on those days and through those times when life comes unglued!"
If you allow it, God can begin to work in you wherever you are.
