From the author of the bestselling Seven Sisters series, Lucinda Riley's The Light Behind the Window crosses from World War Two to present day on a breathtaking and intense story of love, war and, above all, forgiveness.

Read by Miranda Raison (Lessons in Chemistry)

The present: Emilie de la Martiniéres has always fought against her aristocratic background but, after the death of her glamorous, distant mother, she finds herself alone in the world – and sole inheritor of her grand childhood home in the south of France. An old notebook of poems leads her in search of the mysterious and beautiful Sophia, whose tragic love affair changed the course of her family history. As Emilie unravels the story, she too embarks on her own journey of discovery, realizing that the château may provide clues to her own difficult past and finally unlock her future.

The past: London 1943. A young office clerk, Constance Carruthers, is drafted into a special operations team, arriving in occupied Paris during the climax of the conflict. Separated from her contact in her very first hours in France, she stumbles into the heart of a wealthy family who are caught up in a deadly game of secrets and lies. Forced to surrender her identity and all ties to her homeland and her beloved husband, Constance finds herself drawn into a complex web of deception, the repercussions of which will affect generations to come . . .

'A fast-paced, suspenseful story flitting between the present day and World War II . . . Brilliant escapism' – Red

This title has been published outside the UK under the title The Lavender Garden.