Rosamunde Pilcher

It is a bleak winter in 1947. Snow covers the grounds of the decaying Cornwall estate, Nancherrow. Food is scarce, the servants are gone and Diana Carey-Lewis is mourning the loss of her husband, the long-time master of the house. The massive family home now passes to their rebellious daughter, Loveday. Yet the cold, damp walls of Nancherrow hold many secrets and demand a high price for all who live in its foreboding shadow.

England between the wars is the starting place for this epic tale of love, friendship and the discovery of womanhood. Judith Dunbar is left behind at boarding school by her parents and sister, who are posted overseas in the days leading up to World War II. She comes of age in a time of turbulence and danger, but finds comfort in the wealthy Carey-Lewis family, whose estate on the Cornish coast, Nancherrow, becomes her surrogate home.