People 'Be prepared to surrender-to Liardet's gorgeous prose, her haunting storyline, and the question that will lodge in your heart long after you've finished: What would I have done? For anyone who has ever loved a child, this stirring debut will work its way indelibly into the folds of your memory, and of your heart.'-Georgia Hunter, New York Times bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones 'Dazzling. Beyond distance, beyond time, beyond life itself. Spanning the sweep of the twentieth century, We Must Be Brave explores the fierce love that we feel for our children and the power of that love to endure. But with the end of the fighting comes the realization that Pamela was never theirs to keep. As the war rages on, love grows where it was least expected, surprising them all. Ellen has always believed she does not want children, but when she takes Pamela into her home, the child cracks open the past Ellen thought she had escaped and the future she and her husband Selwyn had dreamed for themselves. Little Pamela, it seems, is entirely alone. In Upton village, amid the chaos, newly married Ellen Parr finds a girl asleep, unclaimed at the back of an empty bus. As German bombs fall on Southampton, England during World War II, the city's residents flee to the surrounding villages. Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Spanning World War II and the sweep of the twentieth century, We Must Be Brave explores the fierce love that we feel for our children and the power of that love to endure. The past has a way of clinging on to us, and even as James embarks on new beginnings, finding friends – and even love – among the people of Upton, the secrets he has held on to so tightly for years threaten to break loose.Book Synopsis THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A powerful story that proves how love itself requires courage. James’s own war was in the Western Desert, where he fell in love, first with the thrill of being a hurricane pilot and then with Yvette Haddad, the captivating, enigmatic young Alexandrian with a penchant for dangerous driving. As his grief over the death of his wife eases, he hopes to find new purpose as the vicar of this small, Hampshire parish, still emerging from the long shadow of the war.

James Acton has come to the village of Upton to begin again. I can’t for the life of me remember seeing it before. A piece of cloth, a handkerchief perhaps? No, a woman’s headscarf. When I open my eyes I see a small dark shape at the end of the pew under the window. A heartbreaking new novel of love, war and betrayal from the international bestselling author of We Must Be Brave.

Frances liardet author