A spellbinding tale of love, strength and sacrifice from the Sunday Times bestselling author. Based on the gorgeous island of Malta in WWII, this is a story about the power of fate, and how sometimes, in order to find yourself - and to find love - you must first lose everything else. . .

Fate has brought them together. Will time tear them apart?

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2025

Named after a star, war correspondent Maia knows how to find the brightest stories - the tales of survival and strength - hidden amongst the dark realities of combat.

Now, travelling to Malta to visit her estranged father, with one more chance to build a relationship with her last remaining relative, she's here to find her own story: never having found somewhere - or someone - she can call home, she's desperate for answers that might show her where she truly belongs.

But when she arrives on the beautiful mediterranean island, she realises her long-lost family is full of more secrets than she could possibly have imagined. . .

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1942

Maia wakes up to find herself on an island under siege, a city in ruins - and knows she must have been sent here for a reason.

Who has she been sent to save? Or is it Maia herself that needs saving? And just when she's finally found what she's been seeking . . . will time separate them forever?


Perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley, Santa Montefiore and Dinah Jefferies.

YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHORS LOVE ROWAN COLEMAN:
'An incredible story of love and hope' KATIE FFORDE
'It's so lovely to find an author you love' MARIAN KEYES
'Such a brilliant writer' JILL MANSELL
'I've always loved Rowan's writing' LUCY DILLON
'There is a lovely smooth glow to the writing' MATT HAIG
'Life-affirming and joyful' SARA SHERIDAN
'A time-travelling delight' EVE CHASE
'Gloriously romantic and deeply moving' LUCY DIAMOND
'A stunning book about what it takes to be truly alive' JULIE COHEN
'Wonderful . . . both emotional and utterly captivating' JILL MANSELL
'A book you will carry with you long after the last page' MILLY JOHNSON
'Up there alongside The Time Traveller's Wife' CAROLE MATTHEWS
'Captivating and completely unforgettable, Vita and Ben's love story made me believe the impossible might not be so far out of reach' JULIETTA HENDERSON

Rowan Coleman is the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of fifteen novels including the Richard & Judy bookclub choice, The Memory Book, the Zoë Ball ITV bookclub pick, The Summer of Impossible Things and The Girl at the Window. During her career to date Rowan has been a WHS Fresh Talent pick, RNA award winner, and Love Reading Reader's choice for Book of the Year 2014. Rowan's novels have been published internationally for more than twenty years.