The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge

From the million-copy Sunday Times bestseller comes a timeless love story, lost in letters of the past . . .<BR><BR> Secrets from the past, unravelling in the present… Uncovering secrets that span generations, Rachel delivers intriguing, involving and emotive narrative reading group fiction like few other writers can.<BR><BR>Can a chance encounter unlock one woman's past? <BR><BR> On holiday in Italy, Briony Wood becomes fascinated by the wartime story of a ruined villa hidden amongst the hills of Naples. Not only is it the very place where her grandfather was stationed as a soldier in 1943, but she also discovers that it harbours the secret of a love long lost.<BR><BR> Handed a bundle of tattered letters found buried at the villa, Briony becomes enraptured by the blossoming love story between Sarah Bailey, an English woman, and Paul Hartmann, a young German. The letters lead her back almost seventy years to pre-war Norfolk.<BR><BR> But as Briony delves into Sarah and Paul’s story, she encounters resentments and secrets still tightly guarded. All too quickly it is clear that what happened long ago under the shadow of Vesuvius, she suspects, still has the power to cause terrible pain . . .<BR><BR>Praise for Rachel Hore's novels:<BR> 'Compelling, engrossing and moving' SANTA MONTEFIORE<BR> 'Simply stunning . . . I savoured every moment’ DINAH JEFFERIES<BR> 'A story that stirs the deepest emotions'WOMAN & HOME<BR> ‘An emotive and thought-provoking read’ ROSANNA LEY<BR> ‘Hore tackles difficult subjects with a clever, light touch and a sunny positivity. Her women are brave and good and you desperately want them to win’  DAILY MAIL<BR> ‘A novel thatstirs the deepest emotions’ WOMAN<BR> ‘An elegiac tale of wartime love and secrets’ TELEGRAPH<BR> ‘A tender and thoughtful tale' SUNDAY MIRROR

The UNMISSABLE novel from the million-copy Sunday Times bestseller. Secrets from the past, unravelling in the present… Uncovering secrets that span generations, Rachel delivers intriguing, involving and emotive narrative reading group fiction like few other writers can.<BR><BR> ‘A gorgeous and deeply absorbing story’ Tracy Rees, author of The House at Silvermoor<BR><BR>A young mother's sacrifice. A child's desperate search for the truth . . .<BR><BR> London, 1917 When nineteen-year-old Alice Copeman becomes pregnant, she is forced by her father and stepmother to give up the baby. She simply cannot be allowed to bring shame upon her family. But all Alice can think about is the small, kitten-like child she gave away, and she mourns the father, a young soldier, so beloved, who will never have the chance to know his daughter.<BR>  <BR> Edith and Philip Burns, a childless couple, yearn for a child of their own. When they secretly adopt a baby girl, Irene, their life together must surely be complete. Irene grows up knowing that she is different from other children, but no one will tell her the full truth.<BR>   <BR> As two extraordinary stories intertwine across two decades, will secrets long-buried at last come to light?<BR>  <BR>Brilliantly evoking the changing attitudes of the time, The Love Child is a novel about love, family, separation, despair and hope, full of tenderness and deep feeling.<BR><BR> 'Simply stunning . . . I savoured every moment of this moving story of love, loss and, ultimately, forgiveness’ DINAH JEFFERIES<BR> 'A story that stirs the deepest emotions' WOMAN & HOME<BR> 'A poignant story, rich in period detail' SUNDAY MIRROR<BR> ‘An emotive and thought-provoking read’ ROSANNA LEY<BR> 'Hore tackles difficult subjects with a clever, light touch and a sunny positivity. Her women are brave and good and you desperately want them to win’  DAILY MAIL<BR> 'A wonderfully moving tale of love and loss, hope and eventual reconciliation' BARBARA ERSKINE<BR> 'I found her writing warm, compassionate in this story about one girl's search for her true identity amidst the secrets and dynamics of her adopted family. It had a realism about the poignancy of illegitimacy in this pre-war setting' LEAH FLEMING<BR> 'A hugely compelling, poignant and moving read. Rachel has great skill as a storyteller and readers are sure to be engrossed and swept away by her clever double-stranded tale' JANE JOHNSON