Book description
Lest we forget…
A poignant new tale from the English Maeve Binchy.
It's 2003 and at over 100 years old, Selma Dixon is the last link to
the hidden truth behind her village's refusal to honour its war dead.
1914 saw the Yorkshire village of West Sharland send its men off to
fight, including Selma's brothers and her sweetheart Guy. But when Guy
is badly wounded and returns home on leave, the horrific reality of war
is fully realised in the village. By none more so than Guy's mother,
who, in a fit of protective madness, secretly sends Angus, Guy's
identical twin brother who was medically unfit to enlist, back to fight
in his place. Horrified, Guy tries to reveal the truth about his identity.
Back in France, reckless and naïve Angus is bitterly unprepared for
war, and when his actions seal not only his fate but that of Selma's
brother, whose name becomes tainted in the village, Selma's life is
changed forever.
Forced to start a new life in America, Selma is oblivious to why her
family's name is mud back at home. Until the past comes back to haunt
her and the names of the dead must be spoken once more… Praise for The
Girl From World's End and The War Widows:
'A beautiful, almost poetically-written tale of love and tragedy in the
Yorkshire Dales mainly set during the Second World War. The characters
are real flesh and blood and the reader shares their ups and downs with
genuine empathy.'
Maureen Lee, bestselling author of Mother of Pearl.
'An epic tale of hardship and tragedy straddling the Second World War.'
The Bookseller
'A heartwarming read.'
Closer Leah Fleming was born in Lancashire of Scottish parents, and is
married with four grown-up children and five grandchildren. She usually
writes full-time from a haunted farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales, but
has recently completed a gap year for grown-ups living on the slopes of
an olive grove in Crete. She is currently working on her next novel,
Winter's Children, to be published in 2010.
