In the 1930s, Chiara emigrates from Italy to forge a new and better life in Wales. She encounters bigotry and xenophobia as she and her employer battle to keep their Italian cafe in business in the shadow of World War II. But all that's soon eclipsed by a love triangle that threatens to destroy everything.
Meanwhile, present-day Welsh-Italian Frankie struggles to find the money and hope to hold her family together in the same Valleys community. Along the way she has to decide how far she's prepared to go to do that – and whether what she has is actually worth the fight.
The two women never meet. but as their joint experiences begin to resonate down through time, their journeys intersect. And each becomes as real to the other as if they'd physically breathed the same air.
An intriguing and immensely entertaining novel, vividly contrasting life in the 1930s and 1940s with life in the present day through evocative and vibrant prose. This sophisticated dual-narrative story will have you gripped from the start.
