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

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