EDITORS’ CHOICE: HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY – “A historical novel for our times.”
“A story that soaks into the memory and stays there.” Katherine Mezzacappa, Author of The Maiden of Florence
An ordinary day in 2017. Jo receives a phone call about her 18-year-old daughter, Jessie. It is the call that every parent dreads.
Oxford 1940. 17-year-old Alice ties on her facemask and enters a laboratory to harvest a potential new miracle drug called penicillin.
The lives of these women become entwined when Jo finds Alice’s diary in a vintage handbag. Past and present overlap and merge as life-changing events resonate for them all across the gulf of time.
This is a story about a diary opening a door on the past, chronicling a young woman’s determination to succeed against all odds, while unknowingly inspiring others to step into a better life. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, the infancy of antibiotics and a modern medical emergency and its consequences, it not only reminds us how fortunate we are to live now, but also serves as a stark warning about the fragility of life and the dangers of complacency.
“Margot Shepherd knows how to tell a story and this one hits a nerve that connects women and mothers across the generations.”
Martine McDonagh, Author of Narcissism for Beginners
“An intriguing, touching story about the power of love – and science – to heal.”
Laura Wilkinson, Author of Crossing the Line
“A story that soaks into the memory and stays there.” Katherine Mezzacappa, Author of The Maiden of Florence
An ordinary day in 2017. Jo receives a phone call about her 18-year-old daughter, Jessie. It is the call that every parent dreads.
Oxford 1940. 17-year-old Alice ties on her facemask and enters a laboratory to harvest a potential new miracle drug called penicillin.
The lives of these women become entwined when Jo finds Alice’s diary in a vintage handbag. Past and present overlap and merge as life-changing events resonate for them all across the gulf of time.
This is a story about a diary opening a door on the past, chronicling a young woman’s determination to succeed against all odds, while unknowingly inspiring others to step into a better life. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, the infancy of antibiotics and a modern medical emergency and its consequences, it not only reminds us how fortunate we are to live now, but also serves as a stark warning about the fragility of life and the dangers of complacency.
“Margot Shepherd knows how to tell a story and this one hits a nerve that connects women and mothers across the generations.”
Martine McDonagh, Author of Narcissism for Beginners
“An intriguing, touching story about the power of love – and science – to heal.”
Laura Wilkinson, Author of Crossing the Line
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