Dinah Jefferies

1930, Rajputana, India. Since her husband's death, journalist Eliza's only companion has been her camera. When she is sent to an Indian princely state to photograph the royal family, she's determined to make a name for herself. But when Eliza arrives at the palace she will have to make a choice between doing what's expected, or following her heart...

France, 1944. Deep in the river valley of the Dordogne, in an old stone cottage on the edge of a beautiful village, three sisters long for the end of the war. Hélène, the eldest, is trying her hardest to steer her family to safety, even as the Nazi occupation becomes more threatening. Elise, the rebel, is determined to help the Resistance, whatever the cost. And Florence, the dreamer, just yearns for a world where France is free. Then, one dark night, the Allies come knocking for help. And Hélène knows that she cannot sit on the sidelines any longer. But secrets from their own mysterious past threaten to unravel everything they hold most dear. Book one in the series.

An island of secrets. A runaway. And a promise...

A rebellious daughter
1925. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer's job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets.

A sister with a secret
1944. Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before.

A rift over generations
Betrayals and secrets, lies and silence hang between the sisters. A faded last letter from Rosalie is Florence's only clue, the war an immovable barrier - and time is running out...

Belle Hatton has embarked upon an exciting new life far from home, a glamorous job as a nightclub singer in 1930s Burma. Then she finds an old newspaper clipping in her parents' belongings after their death, saying that the Hattons were leaving Rangoon after the disappearance of their baby daughter, Elvira. Belle is desperate to find out what happened to the sister she never knew she had. Is her sister really dead? Or could there be a chance Belle might find her?

Ceylon, 1935. Louisa Reeve, the daughter of a successful British gem trader, and her husband Elliot, a charming, thrill-seeking businessman, seem like the couple who have it all. Except what they long for more than anything: a child.

While Louisa struggles with miscarriages, Elliot is increasingly absent, spending much of his time at a nearby cinnamon plantation, overlooking the Indian ocean. After his sudden death, Louisa is left alone to solve the mystery he left behind. Revisiting the plantation at Cinnamon Hills, she finds herself unexpectedly drawn towards the owner Leo, a rugged outdoors man with a chequered past. The plantation casts a spell, but all is not as it seems. And when Elliot's shocking betrayal is revealed, Louisa has only Leo to turn to...

Malaya, 1955. Lydia Cartwright returns from visiting a sick friend to an empty house. Where is her husband Alec? Her young daughters, Emma and Fleur? Panic stricken, she embarks on a dangerous journey to find them through the hot and civil-war-torn Malayan jungle - one that only the power of a mother's love can help her to survive.

1952, French Indochina. After her mother's death, eighteen-year-old half-French, half-Vietnamese Nicole is given an abandoned silk shop in the Vietnamese quarter of Hanoi. But when Nicole is awakened to the corruption of the militant rebels who want to end French rule, her own family's involvement shocks her to the core...

Nineteen-year-old Gwen Hooper steps off a steamer in Ceylon, eager to join her new husband. But the man who greets her at the tea plantation is not the same one she fell in love with in London. Burying a secret at the heart of her marriage, Gwen is more isolated than ever. When the time comes, how will her husband ever understand what she has done? Richard & Judy Bookclub.

In 1943, Contessa Sofia de' Corsi's peaceful Tuscan villa is upturned by the arrival of German soldiers. Desperate to fight back, she agrees to shelter a wounded British radio engineer in her home, knowing that she is putting all of their lives at risk. When Maxine, an Italian-American working for the resistance, arrives on Sofia's doorstep, the pair forge an uneasy alliance. Before long, the two women find themselves entangled in a dangerous game with the Nazis. Will they be discovered? And will they both be able to save the ones they love?