Title: Three mothers
Description: Fleeing Nazi occupation in Austria, Helene is evacuated to London, where she falls for Charles, a dashing British Intelligence officer, and they are soon married. Helene falls pregnant, but Charles is posted abroad almost immediately. Much later, Helene is summoned to join him in India, and feels an almost indescribable sense of loss as she is forced to leave her new baby behind. Her daughter, Vera, will later discover the downside of 'free love' as her loving but helplessly faithless husband betrays her trust time and again. Seeking refuge in her relationship with her own daughter, Susie, she discovers that motherhood brings its own rewards and challenges. Susie, now a grown woman, has never been able to understand the animosity that exists between her mother and grandmother. With the terrible news that Vera has been diagnosed with cancer, Susie becomes determined to unravel their tangled family history before it is too late. As she delves further into the past a fascinating, mercurial narrative emerges.
Subjects: Cancer, Fiction, Patients, Mothers and daughters, Family relationships, Identity, Women, Mothers and daughters, fiction, Fiction, sagas, Fiction, general
Places: London (England)