The runaway Australian bestseller about love and loss in wartime Germany, inspired by a true story

Growing up in Hitler's Germany, Charlotte von Klein has big dreams for the future. Her mind is full of plans for a sumptuous wedding to her childhood sweetheart Heinrich while working for the Luftwaffe, proudly giving her all for the Fatherland.

But in 1943, the tide of the war is turning against Germany, and Lotte's life of privilege and comfort begins to collapse around her. As Hitler's Reich abandons Germany and the country falls to the Allied forces, Lotte is forced to flee from the unfolding chaos to the country with the darkly attractive Erich Drescher, her Luftwaffe superior.

Amid the danger, pain and heartbreak of a country turning on itself, Lotte must forge a new life for herself. But as the country struggles to find its future, shadows of the past come rushing back and Lotte finds herself questioning everything she has fought for - love, duty and freedom.

The choices she makes will change her life forever.

"Captures the intensity of a brutal and unforgiving war, successfully weaving love, loss, desperation and, finally, hope into a gripping journey of self-discovery." The Courier Mail

"An epic tale, grand in scope...Packs an emotional punch that will reverberate far and wide." The Weekly Times

"A tumultuous journey across the country, from order to bedlam, and from naive acceptance of the status quo to the gradual getting of political wisdom." Sunday Age

"Stellar debut Aussie fiction combining historical tragedy, romance, and true stories...Superb and enriching" Better Reading