Starred review from June 22, 2020
Lester (The Paris Orphan) entrances with this lush romance set in WWII Britain and present-day Australia. In 1940, pilot Skye Penrose becomes one of the first women to join the Air Transport Auxiliary, a civilian flying service that ferries planes from factories to Royal Air Force bases. On one of her missions, Skye comes face to face with her long-lost childhood friend Nicholas Crawford, a member of the American Eagle Squadron. Though Nicholas is already engaged to Margaux Jourdan, a stunning woman who works for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, he and Skye fall deeply in love. In 2012, Margaux’s granddaughter, Kat, an Australian fashion conservator, travels to England for work, stopping to check-in at her grandmother’s cottage in Cornwall. Kat is amazed to discover a closet of vintage Dior dresses that hint at a different life-story for her grandmother than the one Kat knows. Back in Australia, Kat is contacted by Elliott Beaufort, an author researching a book on WWII who believes that Margaux was actually a high-powered spy for the French Resistance. As Kat helps Elliott with his research, they embark on a sensual romance—but their love affair is interrupted when Kat discovers the real reason Elliott is searching for her grandmother. Lester’s magnetic characters, lyrical writing, and extensive historical research breathe life into this riveting tale. This is a stunner. Agent: Jacinta di Mase, Jacinta di Mase Management.