Ann Bennett

Poland, 1944 When twelve-year-old Martha and her little sister Johanna are snatched while out shopping for food and pushed into an army truck with a swastika on the door, they are heartbroken.

Hampshire, UK, 2015. When Chloe Harper’s beloved grandmother, Lena dies, a stranger hands her Lena’s wartime diary. Chloe sets out to uncover deep family secrets that Lena guarded to her grave.

Munich, 1943. My heart breaks as I watch the smug couple carry the tiny bundle into their sinister black limousine. Carefully I write the baby’s name into my secret notebook. No matter the danger, I will do everything I can to reunite him with his mother…

An emotional and uplifting reminder that incredible acts of courage can change the course of history, Ann Bennett’s powerful tale is inspired by the lives of the children who lived at her great-grandfather’s orphanage....

Devon, 1940: When 15-year-old Daisy is evacuated from her home in London, she knows she must look after her younger sister, Peggy. She is the only one who can reassure Peggy that life will go back to normal....

India 1935: Amelia Collins, a missionary’s daughter left destitute by the death of her parents, leaves their home in the Himalayan foothills to find work in Darjeeling. There she meets District Officer Reginald Holden, a powerful older man who spirits her away from poverty....

1941: When Nancy’s world is blown apart by the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, she volunteers to travel to the Philippines to serve at the front. She soon finds herself working in a field hospital on the Bataan Peninsula in the thick of the fighting, experiencing the horrors of war first hand.

Iris Walker, daughter of a British Political Agent in Ranipur, is a volunteer nurse, caring for soldiers wounded fighting the Japanese on the border with Burma. One evening, the maharajah invites Iris and her parents to a dinner at the Lake Palace, where she meets Edward Stark....

Inspired by the lives of the forgotten orphans of World War Two, this heart-wrenching and moving tale is about fighting for your loved ones when all hope is lost....

French Indochina, 1945: Arielle, the daughter of a French father and Vietnamese mother, is working for the colonial government. Because of her native blood, she’s spared imprisonment when the Japanese storm Hanoi. Forced to work for the enemy, Arielle is contacted by a Viet Minh agent....

Paris, 1941. As we drive down the cobbled street, I take in the red banners with swastikas covering every building. Suddenly, a group of guards appears. I duck beneath the window of the car, and my heart thumps as my hand jumps to my chest....

Indochina 1939, Colette, a young French woman, falls in love with Henri Bossière the Chief Curator of the mysterious temple, Angkor Wat, in Cambodia. She starts a new life with him in an idyllic villa perched on the edge the great lake of Tonlé Sap.

Wealthy landowner, Hadan Rose, is dying. His daughter, May, rushes to his country estate, Rose Park, with her daughter, Rachel, to nurse him through his final days. In the afternoons, while Hadan sleeps, May tells Rachel about her wartime experiences.

1938: Juliet and her sister Rose arrive in Penang to stay with an aunt, after the death of their father. Juliet quickly falls under the spell of Gavin Crosby, a plantation owner, who despite his wealth, charm and good looks is shunned by the local community.