Secrets of a Charmed Life [Paperback]

The author ofA Bridge Across the OceanandThe Last Year of the Warjourneys from the present day to World War II England, as two sisters are separated by the chaos of wartime...

Current day, Oxford, England.Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about the war that she has kept for decades...beginning with who she really is. What Kendra receives from Isabel is both a gift and a burden—one that will test her convictions and her heart.

1940s, England.As Hitler wages an unprecedented war against London’s civilian population, hundreds of thousands of children are evacuated to foster homes in the rural countryside. But even as fifteen-year-old Emmy Downtree and her much younger sister Julia find refuge in a charming Cotswold cottage, Emmy’s burning ambition to return to the city and apprentice with a fashion designer pits her against Julia’s profound need for her sister’s presence. Acting at cross purposes just as the Luftwaffe rains down its terrible destruction, the sisters are cruelly separated, and their lives are transformed...Praise for Secrets of a Charmed Life
 
“Rich with vividly drawn characters, places, and events...It’s themes of reinvention and redemption will strike a chord with readers.”—Booklist
 
“Simply told, yet powerful in its depth...This vivid, well-researched story, depicting the horrors of the Blitz, the beauty of the countryside and the heartbreak and loss of a loved one will remain in your mind long after it ends.”—RT Book Reviews
 
“This story of choices and consequences takes readers on a heartrending journey through war-torn London, the quiet Cotswolds and far-off America...[An] impressive and emotiol#Ö