How would you feel and react whilst living in a country under occupation by invaders? It is an enduring dilemma and none more so for France when the Nazis arrived in 1940.
Fast-forward fifty years. When Monique announces that she intends to wear ‘something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue’ for her forthcoming wedding, she and her older sister, Elodie delve into the contents of their deceased grandmother’s old trunk stored in the attic. They discover love letters and a medallion, memorabilia inspiring them to trace their family history. Unwittingly, they release decades of tragic secrets that had remained buried since the Second World War; their innocent enquiries trigger devastating consequences.
The story opens in the present with Elodie, the older sister contemplating the tragic events that had destroyed their lives. She meets an author who offers to ‘ghost’ write her tragic tale. The novel exposes the events through Elodie’s reminiscences whilst taking the reader back in time to discover the story as it unfolded. The re-living of her memories revitalises Elodie, bringing some relief to her distraught sister and cementing a friendship with her potential saviour, the author she meets on a rainy afternoon by the river Vienne in Limoges.