The Gipsy's Baby

This collection of stories by one of Britain's most beloved novelists depicts domestic life during World War II as seen through the eyes of both children and adults In "The Red-haired Miss Daintreys," four six-foot-tall sisters capture the imagination of young Rebecca when she and her family are on holiday. Beautifully crafted and informed by Lehmann's eye for telling detail, it is a moving meditation on familial ties, romantic love, and the end of an era. In "When the Waters Came" and "A Dream of Winter," both the deprivations of war and a swarm of bees take their toll on the inhabitants of a small English village—afflicting one family in particular. "Wonderful Holidays" is the tale of a divorced woman who cares for two children while a wounded veteran of World War I longs for his absent wife. And the title story is an exploration of the unlikely friendship between two families—one privileged, one poor—and the tragedy that ensues when a...