Mary Nichols, Author of Historical Fiction

To be published by Allison and Busby in hardback, 20 February 2014

ISBN: 978 0 7490 1553 4

Paperback i978 0 7490 1603 6

Also available as an ebook.

The Second World War began when Hitler invaded Poland. The Polish Air Force had nothing to fight back with but outdated machines and huge courage. When it became obvious this was not going to be enough and the longed for help from Britain and France did not materialise, they were ordered to get themselves and their aeroplanes out of the country and fight on from abroad.

Jan Grabowski must obey orders, but in doing so he has to leave his wife, Rulka, in Warsaw. Rulka, a nurse, is there when Poland is overcome, and quickly joins the Resistance. Her war is one of constant danger, of near starvation, cruel reprisals and unbelievable heroism.  In this she is joined by a British prisoner of war who has escaped. Their relationship is based on mutual trust and a common aim and in the heat of war it blossoms into something more.

Louise Fairhurst's war is very different. She has been evacuated with her class of ten-year-olds from London to Norfolk and finds herself acting mother as well as teacher to the children. Settling city children down in a rural area tries her patience and diplomacy, but that is easy compared with trying to cope with her unhappy relationship with her father who thinks she should have stayed at home.  And then she meets Jan.

Jan, in a strange country with customs he does not always understand, worried about his country's plight, not knowing if Rulka is alive or dead, is glad to find someone sympathetic to talk to. He spends his leaves at the pub in Cottlesham where Louise is billeted. Love blossoms and Louise has a daughter, which estranges her forever from her father. And she knows that when the war ends, Jan must go back to Poland to look for his wife…

Charnwood Large Print

published by F A Thorpe

May 2015

ISBN 978 1 4448 2422 3

Also published by Soundings Audo Books in CD format 978-1-4079-4980-2

The reader is Penelope Freeman 

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