As the Storm Clouds Gather

In a world full of darkness, can love prevail? An emotionally gripping and heartbreaking WW1 novel.

May, 1915. Nineteen-year-old Ilse Marie Stahl experiences tragedy travelling on board the RMS Lusitania with her parents from New York to a new life in England, when the ship is sunk by a German U-boat. Ilse survives, but is all alone. She distracts herself from the pain by becoming a nurse tending to the casualties of war on the front line at Ypres.

Meanwhile, young Roland Hawkins is nursing his own grief when his father is caught up in the Black Tom explosion in New York Harbour. Full of anger, he quietly sets off for England and straight to a recruiting station. Soon, he is on the front line himself, determined to get his revenge.

The Belgian battlefields of the Great War will bring Ilse and Roland together, though there is no love lost between a wounded soldier and his nurse of German descent. But as the storm clouds grow ever darker, can they find love and comfort in one another?

An utterly compelling, thought-provoking and unflinching novel of two young people drawn together through war and their incredible bond is full of courage, heartbreak, resilience, love and hope that will stay in the memory long after the final page. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale and The Midwife of Berlin.