Book excerpt: 1940. Molly Swift, at 27, has already suffered the tragic loss of her two-year-old daughter Emily, to the flu outbreak of 1935. Now she waits for news of her shopkeeper husband Ted, who volunteered for the British Expeditionary Forces. Molly helps run the general store with the help of her retired father, Bill Keen. But after the building is hit during a bombing raid and Bill is severely injured, Molly faces difficult times. As she shelters from the Blitz, she meets Andy Miller and his two young children. Molly offers the homeless group safe lodgings for the following night, and soon their lives are entwined, bringing unexpected joy and heartache.