Paris. 1940. In a city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses live their lives as best they can. But each of them hides her own secret. Scarred by the sights of war, Mireille joins the French underground forces; Claire is seduced by the advances of a German officer; Vivian cannot tell any of them about her involvement in the war.
Two generations later, Harriet, Claire's British granddaughter, arrives in Paris. Alone in the world, without roots, she is looking for a connection with her past. Living in the same building where her grandmother lives and working at Bru Cardinal, she discovers the truth, revealing a darker and more painful family history than she had ever described.
A fascinating story about three women facing impossible choices. The secrets of the three seamstresses put them in immediate danger. With the loyalty that unites them, and with the threat of betrayal hovering over them, will they be able to survive the dark age in history without the friendship between them being lost? How did the story of their lives affect future generations? Will history judge them?
Fiona Valfi is the author of many bestsellers, which have been translated into more than twenty different languages around the world.
She takes her inspiration from the stories of strong women, especially from the time of World War II. Her meticulous historical research enriches her writing with a sense of time and place that awakens all the senses. She spent seven years in France, and returned to live in Scotland, her homeland. Her love for both countries, their people and their history, finds its way into the books she writes.