Restless, troubled Rosamond Hunter has spent most of her life running away from the past, filled with guilt about her involuntary role in her mother’s death. When her nursing job brings her back to Fairfleet, her childhood home, to care for an elderly refugee, she is forced to confront the ghosts that have haunted her for so long.
Her patient, Benny Gault, first came to Fairfleet, England, in 1939, having fled Nazi Germany on a Kindertransport train.
As his health fails, he and Rosamond begin to confide in each other. At first their tentative friendship revolves around the love they both shared for Rosamond’s glamorous grandmother, Harriet, but as their trust in each other grows, guilty secrets are exposed and history is turned on its head.
I absolutely loved this book. It was well-written, well-researched, and kept me on my toes. I could never imagined the turns it was about to take, each twist was a shock. My heart ached with joy, distress, and longing as I watched Benny's life come to an end. But it was so much more than that - it was also watching his entire life and the lives of three generations of Fairfleet residents. It was a story of triumph, of failure, and of accepting in order to let go.
Rosamond's employer knew that she'd be the perfect match for Benny Gault, but probably didn't know how perfect. Not only were there a myriad of secrets for Benny to reveal before he could die in peace, there were many more to be revealed by Rosamond before she could live in peace. The two are perfect soul-bearers for each other, each able to understand each other more than anyone else alive could.
