To any passer-by, Eleanor Lee might be almost invisible - just another elderly lady - but beneath the surface lies a powerful secret she has kept hidden for decades . . . At the dawn of the Second World War, Eleanor is a fiercely independent young woman, determined to write her own future, rejecting marriage for passion security for adventure. But now, seventy years later, alone in her big old house, she is anxious to erase the past. Peter Mistley, a young man escaping his own ghosts, is employed to help Eleanor sort through her lifetime of possessions. For amongst them are things that her children and grandchildren must never find. Together, Eleanor and Peter uncover traces of another life - words and photographs revealing a story of forbidden love, betrayal, guilt and self-sacrifice. But by releasing her memories at last, can Eleanor still protect those who must never know the truth? Praise for Nicci Gerrard: 'Beguiling, poignant, wonderful.' Sunday Express 'Acutely observed and beautifully written.' Woman & Home