The stories of Addison and Flora are set 70 years apart. The two women have much in common: they share a love of botany, both have secrets that threaten to destroy their lives, and both are fascinated by Lady Anna Livingston, the late mistress of Livingston Manor, and the unanswered questions surrounding her mysterious death.
Flora, whose family bakery in the Bronx is on the verge of failing in 1940, agrees to travel to the English countryside to find the supposedly extinct Middlebury Pink camellia. The international flower thief who hires her assures her that all she needs to do is identify the plant and for them so they can steal it, leaving Flora with enough money to provide financial security for her parents. She doesn't plan on falling in love with the Livingston children or on the looming presence of World War II interfering with her plans.
In the year 2000, Addison, a garden designer, and her writer husband, Rex, head to England to spend the summer at his parents' newly purchased estate, Livingston Manor. Rex is surprised at his wife's sudden agreement to leave her business after her protests that she is too busy to abandon her work for so long, but Addison has secrets that threaten her present happiness and leaving the country seems to be the best solution. Desperate to hide the shame and horror of her unhappy childhood from her husband, Addison is shaken when she realizes that there is no easy escape from her past, even thousands of miles away from home.
Suspense, romance, intrigue, and history...this novel has it all. It's one of those novels that you can't wait to get back to (if you are able to put it down)! Jio is truly an exquisite writer and I look forward to reading the rest of her work.
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