They survived the Great War, but will life ever be the same?

Spring 1919: WW1 is over and a fragile peace has descended over the country. Now living in Cambridge with husband Edmond, Amy Derwent is settling into her new life as wife and mother to little Beth. But the shadow of the Great War looms large, particularly as the injuries Edmond sustained at Ypres still take their toll on him today.

Edmond’s cousin, Vicky, has now grown into a fine young woman, eager to help her country. Throwing off her privileged background to train as a nurse, she spends her days tending to the many soldiers still suffering the after-effects of their time on the battlefield.

Meeting Maxim Duclos, a young Frenchman who has arrived in Larchbury, fills her heart with joy - but when it is discovered that Maxim may be hiding the truth about his past, Vicky is faced with an impossible choice. Follow her heart’s desire and risk her family’s disapproval or keep her family – but deny herself the chance of true love?

The war may be over, but Edmond, Amy and Vicky must all face a new battle, finding their own peace in a country wounded by loss.

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Excerpt
At last, there were flowers opening in their little back garden. Amy Derwent seized the moment while Beth took her afternoon nap; she flung on her tweed coat, picked up her scissors and stepped out into the cool air of early April.

Previous tenants must have planted these, she thought.

She bent down and began to pluck the daffodils from the cool earth. There were traditional yellow trumpets, along with pale narcissi with dark golden centres and a delightful perfume. How lovely they look together. She picked all the ones coming into flower and a few leaves to keep them company.

Back in the little house, their modest living room was beginning to warm up, for she had already lit the fire. She hung up her coat and went to the kitchen for her one vase, the pale green china one they had recently bought. She arranged her blooms carefully – there, a little glimpse of spring. The winter had dragged on, and even the fact that the war was finally over had not entirely raised people’s spirits. There were too many sombre memories.

She took out her large saucepan, for she had a steak and kidney pudding all ready to boil, and if she started it directly it should be ready by the time Edmond got home.

Soon her meal was bubbling away on the stove. Amy hurried upstairs and found Beth stirring, ready to wake from her nap. Her nursery was warm, like their parlour, though Amy and Edmond’s bedroom went without a fire now it was less cold than a few weeks earlier, relying on the heat rising from downstairs.

Amy was thankful she could walk almost normally now her ankle had been set successfully at the second attempt. Carefully, she combed Beth’s fair curls and carried her fifteen-month-old daughter downstairs.

It was a quiet afternoon, for today was not one of the days when Grace the maid came and helped her with the heaviest chores, and Ellen, the nanny, was no longer employed. Amy had been glad of her help while her ankle healed, but she had always intended to bring up her daughter herself. Beth could walk well now, and there was time for them to play and look at the cloth book Aunt Sophie had given her for her first birthday. Amy fed Beth some mashed up vegetables for her tea.

Ashley Street, where they lived, was quiet, but more traffic began to pass as the university and few local businesses closed for the day, and not quite everyone used bicycles. She peeped outside into the cool dusk; soon it would be time to draw the curtains. A young man’s footsteps echoed from the brickwork and she saw a soldier marching past with his kitbag. Is he finally returning home, she wondered, or just on leave? She knew that, under the terms of the treaty, soldiers would still be posted abroad to enforce the peace, particularly along the Rhine.

Then her spirits rose as she heard the sound of Edmond’s motorbike, and saw him swoop towards their house. He alighted from his beloved vehicle, hurried indoors and rushed to embrace the two of them. He was tall and still thin, never having quite recovered his robust appearance from before he had been injured.