A heart-wrenching and beautiful First World War novel where, in the face of fear and division, love, courage and kindness allow life to go on after unthinkable tragedy

Shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards

‘Our national treasure . . . Hugely moving’ New Statesman

When Alfie Wheatcroft and his father find an injured girl alone on one of Scilly’s uninhabited islands, they have no idea where she’s come from or who she is. Able to speak only one word, ‘Lucy’, the girl is a mystery to everyone – even herself.

While the Wheatcrofts love her as one of their own, their fellow islanders are filled with wartime suspicion. As hostility mounts and hope dwindles, the key to Lucy’s lost memories may lie just beyond the shoreline . . .