The German Girl
Page 22
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Lily
www.lilygraham.net
The Child of Auschwitz
‘She touched the photograph in its gilt frame that was always on her desk, of a young, thin woman with very short hair and a baby in her arms. She had one last story to tell. Theirs. And it began in hell on earth.’
It is 1942 and Eva Adami has boarded a train to Auschwitz. Barely able to breathe due to the press of bodies and exhausted from standing up for two days, she can think only of her longed-for reunion with her husband Michal, who was sent there six months earlier.
But when Eva arrives at Auschwitz, there is no sign of Michal and the stark reality of the camp comes crashing down upon her. As she lies heartbroken and shivering on a thin mattress, her head shaved by rough hands, she hears a whisper. Her bunkmate, Sofie, is reaching out her hand...
As the days pass, the two women learn each other’s hopes and dreams – Eva’s is that she will find Michal alive in this terrible place, and Sofie’s is that she will be reunited with her son Tomas, over the border in an orphanage in Austria. Sofie sees the chance to engineer one last meeting between Eva and Michal and knows she must take it even if it means befriending the enemy…
But when Eva realises she is pregnant, she fears she has endangered both their lives. The women promise to protect each other’s children, should the worst occur. For they are determined to hold on to the last flower of hope in the shadows and degradation: their precious children, who they pray will live to tell their story when they no longer can.
A heart-breaking story of survival, where life or death relies on the smallest chance and happiness can be found in the darkest times. Fans of The Choice and The Tattooist of Auschwitz will fall in love with this beautiful novel.
Get it here!
The Island Villa
A story of two sisters, living in a time of fear and betrayal, and rumours of a stranger on the island. If you loved The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah or The Island by Victoria Hislop, you’ll devour this dramatic tale set in a beautiful Spanish villa where the walls whisper with secrets.
When Charlotte’s husband James tragically dies, he leaves her an unexpected gift – her grandmother’s beautiful villa, Marisal, on the Spanish island of Formentera.
As she begins to explore her new home, and heal her broken heart in the warm golden sunshine, Charlotte discovers that her grandmother Alba has been keeping secrets about her life on the island. Intrigued by her family’s hidden history, Charlotte uncovers a devastating love affair that put many lives at risk and two sisters torn apart by loss.
Can the heartbreaking truth of the island’s dark history finally be laid to rest? Or will the secrets of the past shake the new life and love that Charlotte is close to finding?
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Summer at Seafall Cottage
Get swept away along the beautiful Cornish coast, where a love story in a long forgotten diary has the power to change one woman’s life forever.
Victoria Langley’s world crumbles when her husband leaves, but she knows exactly where to go to mend her broken heart. The rugged shores of Cornwall will be her perfect sanctuary.
In the quaint, little village of Tregollan, nestled in the sea cliffs, Victoria is drawn to Seafall Cottage, covered in vines and gracefully falling apart. Inside she finds a diary full of secrets, from 1905.
Victoria is determined to unravel the diary’s mystery, but the residents of Tregollan are tight-lipped about Tilly Asprey, the cottage’s last owner. Just as she reaches a dead end, Victoria meets Adam Waters, the lawyer handling the cottage’s sale. He’s handsome, charming, and has a missing piece of the puzzle.
Tilly’s diary tells a devastating love story that mirrors Victoria’s own. Can Victoria learn from Tilly’s mistakes, and give herself a second chance at love? Or is history doomed to repeat itself?
An unputdownable and gorgeously romantic read about lost love and new beginnings set in the green hills and rocky cliffs of the breath-taking Cornish coast. Perfect for fans of Phillipa Ashley, Emma Burstall and Liz Fenwick.
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The Summer Escape
Amongst the beautiful olive groves and sea-front tavernas, summer has arrived on the sun-drenched island of Crete.
After losing the love of her life, Ria’s life has been on hold. So when her boss becomes completely unbearable she makes the snap decision to run away to the Greek island of Crete, armed only with her passport.
When Ria finds herself working for eccentric novelist Caroline, she meets handsome vineyard owner Tom. He’s charming, mysterious and Ria starts to wonder if it’s not just the beautiful Greek island that she’s falling for.
But as Ria gets to know Tom better, she uncovers a tangled web of secrets. What is he hiding? Ria has some secrets of her own. Can she open up to Tom and learn to live again?
This summer, escape to the sun with this charming and emotional story about starting over and grabbing happiness with both hands.
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Christmas at Hope Cottage
In the little village of Whistling, with its butterscotch cottages and rolling green hills, snow is beginning to fall. Christmas is coming, and Emma Halloway is on her way home.
When thirty-year-old food writer Emma Halloway gets dumped then knocked off her bike, she’s broken in more ways than one, and returns to her family’s cosy cottage in the Yorkshire Dales. Emma hasn’t been back in some time, running from her crazy relatives and her childhood sweetheart, Jack Allen.
Emma’s grandmother is determined to bake her back to health and happiness, as the Halloways have done for generations. Surrounded by old friends and warm cinnamon buns, Emma starts to believe in her family’s special talents for healing again. But then in walks Jack with his sparkling hazel eyes, stirring up the family feud between them.
As the twinkly lights are strung between the streetlamps, Emma remembers just why she fell for Jack in the first place… and why a Halloway should never date an Allen.
The infuriating new lodger, Sandro, doesn’t believe anyone should have to choose between love and family. With a little bit of Christmas magic, can Emma and Jack find a way to be together, or will Emma find herself heartbroken once more?
An utterly gorgeous Christmas romance about the importance of family, freshly baked biscuits, and learning to trust your heart. Perfect for fans of Phillipa Ashley, Debbie Johnson and Debbie Macomber.
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A Cornish Christmas
Nestled in the Cornish village of Cloudsea, sits Sea Cottage – the perfect place for some Christmas magic…
At last Ivy is looking forward to Christmas. She and her husband Stuart have moved to their perfect little cottage by the sea – a haven alongside the rugged cliffs that look out to the Atlantic Ocean. She’s pregnant with their much-longed for first baby and for the first time since the death of her beloved mother, Ivy feels like things are going to be alright.
But there is trouble ahead. It soon emerges that Stuart has been keeping secrets from Ivy, and suddenly she misses her mum more than ever.
When Ivy stumbles across a letter from her mother hidden in an old writing desk, secrets from the past come hurtling into the present. But could her mother’s words help Ivy in her time of need? Ivy is about to discover that the future is full of unexpected surprises and Christmas at Sea Cottage promises to be one to remember.
This Christma
s warm your heart and escape to the Cornish coast for an uplifting story of love, secrets and new beginnings that you will remember for many Christmases to come.
Order here!
Author Note
Asta and Trine’s story was inspired by the remarkable true story of the Elsinore Sewing Club, a code name given to a group of people who helped save the lives of around 700 to 1,400 (reports vary) Danish Jews by helping them flee occupied Denmark and certain death or transportation to Nazi concentration camps by creating a network that transported them safety across the narrow strait, the Øresund, to neutral Sweden.
The group was initially formed of four friends – Erling Kiær, Thormod Larsen, Børge Rønne, and Ove Bruhn – and during this difficult period many more would join. One of the members, Kiær, was a skipper, and Bruhn was a police clerk. The Danish attitude towards the Jews was that they were considered friends, neighbours and citizens – and while to a large part the Elsinore Sewing Club helped to inspire this story, it is the real bravery and integrity of the Danish and Swedish people who have done so as well – it is estimated that Denmark helped to save over 7,000 Jews. While in reality the members of the group used aliases and carried out their operations in secret, I wanted to highlight their names in my story – please forgive this inaccuracy.
I also was inspired by Peter Prager’s story and his interview with the USC Shoah Foundation. Peter describes his childhood growing up in Berlin, including the school years as the Nazis came into power – one memorable and chilling event being the day that a biology teacher told him that Jewish heads were ‘inferior’. Listening to Prager’s story, that moment in particular made me wish that he had back then a mother like the twins’, who would have assured him at the time of what nonsense and prejudice that was. Thankfully he came to the same conclusion shortly afterwards himself. Prager survived by using the Kindertransport and went on to live in England for the rest of his life.
Acknowledgements
Writing a novel is always hard but this one almost didn’t happen; there were just so many times I genuinely considering hanging up the towel. The fact that it is a novel at all is thanks to my incredibly kind and patient editor, Lydia Vassar-Smith, who has encouraged me every step of the way while I battled crippling self-doubt. I think as readers we see an author’s name on the cover, and think that’s where it stops and starts – but it really doesn’t. Editors should have their name in lights, truly. All this to say: thank you, Lydia, you are, as ever, the best and I’m sorry for the headaches, thank you for the patient coaxing and hand-holding, for moving the schedules and for never making me feel like I should actually give up and become a dog-walker (this was a persistent fantasy for the past year, grin).
My deepest thanks to the team at Bookouture for their incredible support, for the beautiful covers, incredible patience, kindness and just being so lovely to work with.
Thank you, as ever, to my husband, Rui, who is always there offering support and encouragement.
To Fudge, my snore monster bulldog, you have definitely helped keep me sane.
Last and especially not least, thank you so much to the readers and bloggers who have reached out to me over the years, thank you so much for your support and kindness for my writing; it means the world.
We – both author and publisher – hope you enjoyed this book. We believe that you can become a reader at any time in your life, but we’d love your help to give the next generation a head start.
Did you know that 9% of children don’t have a book of their own in their home, rising to 13% in disadvantaged families*? We’d like to try to change that by asking you to consider the role you could play in helping to build readers of the future.
We’d love you to get involved by sharing, borrowing, reading, buying or talking about a book with a child in your life and spreading the love of reading. We want to make sure the next generation continues to have access to books, wherever they come from.
Click HERE for a list of brilliant books to share with a child – as voted by Goodreads readers.
Thank you.
*As reported by the National Literacy Trust
Published by Bookouture in 2021
An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
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Copyright © Lily Graham, 2021
Lily Graham has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-83888-933-3
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events, other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.