At first glance, this is yet another dual time line story set in modern day and in France during World War II. What the reader gets is so much more than that. This is a book about love, respect, family and betrayal in both time periods. It has strong loving families, a bit of mystery and a bit of romance - what more can you ask for in a good book.

Present time: Morane and her sister, Gwen. both adored their grandmother, Rozenn. She was always there for the sisters, took them to Paris and her home in Cornwell was their favorite place to visit. She was a strong but isolated woman who refused to talk about her past. When she died, she left her beautiful home in to Gwen and only left a gold compass to Morane. Morane was devastated at the turn of events but decided to make the best of it and help her sister redecorate the house. She finds some pictures and a partial letter that she's never seen before and decides to find out more about her grandmother's past in France during the war. What she finds is painful and she must learn to live with the truth.

1941. Rosenn and her family move from Paris to a small town in Brittany to save her brother from being put back into the German army or into a camp. As the family tries to keep her brother hidden, they are surrounded by German troops and nosy neighbors who want to learn more about the doctor's family that has moved from Paris. Rosenn's brother means the world to her and she starts working with some shady characters to get her brother out of France and safely to England. The deeper she gets into her plans, the more dangerous it becomes for her family. When she makes a split second decision, it changes the course of her entire life and that of her family.

This was an interesting look at a grandmother and her granddaughter and how they approached their lives and losses. I preferred the modern day story to the WWII story because I didn't particularly like Rosenn but I understood how the regrets of past affected the person that she became. The two story lines are both well written and give us more of an understanding of both women and their connections in different times.

My only problem with his book is that the first 20% is very slow. I almost gave up reading it but am very glad that I kept on and was rewarded with a great story. ( )

Two granddaughters are grieving for Rozenn Guillou Caradec, their dearly loved grandmother but only one granddaughter has inherited the home in Cornwall. Morane (Morie) wants to be happy for her sister Gwen but can't escape the twinges of jealousy as she remembers that her grandmother did seem almost desperate to communicate something to her during that last visit but simply could not. Was Morane's grandmother trying to teach her one more lesson in leaving her an old silver compass?

A mesmerizing account of a grandmother's past that is beautifully interwoven with the present as Morane discovers remnants of a letter hinting that there are answers simply waiting to be revealed. I felt my heart beating faster in wonder as it seemed that the answers were in St. Martin, France but how could Morane travel at a critical time for her business? I was totally absorbed with each step and with each decision of Morane's wanting to read as quickly as possible ever hopeful for the grandmother's past to be understood and yet reading carefully mindful that I was invested in the ease of her granddaughters' grieving hearts.

I found this expression of grief very meaningful as it captures so many heartfelt feelings that are hard to admit and share with others. “Everything I thought I wanted most was gone and I didn’t yet know how to replace it, to fill my life up again.”

The transition between the past of WWII and present-day is so skillfully written there are no knots in the threads of the storytelling. It is one of the most beautiful compositions portraying the intricacies of daily life in WWII while presenting a story transitioning seamlessly between past and present. Historical fiction this flawless helps us as readers understand the choices made were difficult as each choice made could change the possibilities of survival, choices made by family members could be different dependent on their role (parent/child/sibling) or relationship (parent/child, parent/parent, sibling/sibling, doctor/patient, friends), and that each person can experience the same event but have different remembrances and different ways of coping to move beyond the traumatic experiences.

My sincere thanks to Eliza Graham and Lake Union Publishing (Amazon US) for my complimentary digital copy of this title, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

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