Author: Baynham, Jan

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 29 July 2025 by Choc Lit.

Paperback | 366 pages
128 x 200 x 27 | 294g

'Filled with tension and family secrets . . . If you're looking for outstanding historical fiction, you must read this book! I highly recommend.' Gosia Nealon, award-winning author of Her Secret Resistance

'The most compelling, evocative, heart-wrenching book I have ever read.' Reader review

A woman searching for somewhere to belong.

A child rescued from the rubble of a ruined island.

A secret buried in the heart of Kefalonia.

Greece, 1953. When a catastrophic earthquake reduces the beautiful island of Kefalonia to ruins, Cassia Makris risks everything to save a young girl buried beneath the rubble that was once her home.

In that moment, Cassia makes a life-changing decision that will bind their fates forever but force her to carry a devastating secret . . .

Wales, 1973. Eléni Davies has always felt there was something unspoken in her past - a silence at the heart of her childhood. When she discovers a hidden journal among her mother's belongings, it unravels an untold story of love and loss on a faraway island.

Drawn to the place where her story really began, Eléni travels to the now-rebuilt Kefalonia. Among the lemon groves and sun-bleached chapels, she begins retracing her mother's footsteps to piece together a story that was never meant to be told.

But in doing so, Eléni must decide whether some secrets are better left buried - or whether confronting them is the only way to finally heal.

This unforgettable dual-timeline historical page-turner will sweep you away to the olive groves and sapphire-blue seas of a sun-kissed Greek island. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Dinah Jefferies, Victoria Hislop, Santa Montefiore or Karen Swan.