From the Costa Award-winning author of The Skylarks' War, a moving WWII story of family and friendship on opposite sides of a devastating conflict. Four ordinary lives connected by extraordinary circumstances, Hilary McKay's stunning companion novel to the Costa Award-winning The Skylarks' War features the next generation of characters as they move from childhood to the threshold of adulthood amid the chaos and conflict of the Second World War. Erik and Hans admire swallows over the rooftops of Berlin, little thinking that one day they will be flying above England, risking their lives in a war they both detest. Ruby and Kate, great friends despite their differences, find themselves racing towards a danger that neither of them could possibly have imagined. Meanwhile Rupert and Clarry work secretly for peace – and a brighter future for them all . . .