Publisher's Synopsis
They discovered the empty cottage in 1940 - when they were still at school, four teenage friends from wildly different backgrounds and with the war casting its shadow over their lives. The cottage became a place of refuge for them - symbolising their loyalty to one another which held in the face of jealousy, passion, tragedy, and betrayal. It was to the cottage that Monica came, pregnant, alone, frightened, and it was there that their story really began. For Bessie, born secretly and shamefully to one of them, raised by another, and loved by them all, came to represent what was the very best in their lives.
