Alice looked at the young girl standing alone on the platform, sensing the same vulnerability she'd once felt entering the village she now called home. Then, as the child gripped her hand, the pain and sorrow Alice had held in her heart for so long softened... And in that moment, she vowed she'd always protect her - whatever the cost...

England, 1939: When Alice marries twinkly-eyed, kind-hearted vicar David, it means leaving everything from her old life behind and moving into the draughty vicarage in the beautiful but remote village of Goswell, Cumbria. Though homesick, Alice is determined to make a new life there for herself and her husband.

But soon tragedy strikes, and she is devastated when war breaks out and David chooses to sign up to fight. But everything changes when Alice is asked to take in a child evacuee, and she makes a promise to protect this girl, no matter what it costs her...

Now: When Jane and her family move to the small coastal village of Goswell where her husband grew up, she's afraid she might have made a huge mistake. Their new home - in what had once been the vicarage - feels a million miles from their previous fast-paced life in New York City, and Jane struggles with her empty days that seem lonely and purposeless.

But then she finds a small note, forgotten behind a shelf in the pantry. A note written in the Second World War. By a woman named Alice, whose incredible story has the power to change everything...

Two wives' stories - told over 70 years apart - about courage, finding a home, and how the unexpected arrival of someone else's story in your life can change your own. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Lucinda Riley and Barbara O'Neal.

This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.

Previously published as The Vicar's Wife by Katharine Swartz.

Readers love Kate Hewitt:

"WOW!!!!... Clear your schedules and grab the tissues as you will need them!!!... It had me in tears by the end and I do not cry easily!!!... An absolutely unputdownable, addictive and compelling devastatingly beautiful heartbreaking book!!! I LOVED it!" Bookworm86 ?????

"This book had me crying so badly. It broke my heart, never has any book been able to just wipe me out with such gut-wrenching sadness... BEAUTIFULLY DONE." NetGalley reviewer ?????

"Not only broke my heart but shattered it... When the tears [came] though, they didn't stop. It is such an emotionally charged novel... An absolute tear-jerker of a read for which I highly recommend having a box of tissues on standby." Goodreads reviewer ?????

"An emotionally charged story right from the first chapter... I knew once I started I would not be able to put this book down... I was up till 4AM reading fighting for my eyes to stay open... Gripping and captivating!" Sinfully Wicked Book Reviews ?????