The epic new novel from the bestselling author of Birdsong

'Wistful, yearning and wise' Elizabeth Day

1914: Aspiring journalist Anton arrives in Vienna where he meets Delphine, a woman of deep secrets. Anton is entranced by the light of first love, until his country declares war on hers.

1927: For Lena, life in a small town has been cosseted and cold. When her love affair with a young lawyer crumbles, she leaves to take a post at the snow-capped sanatorium, the Schloss Seeblick.

1933: Anton is sent to write about the mysterious Schloss Seeblick. In this place, on the banks of a silvery lake where the roots of human suffering are laid bare, two people will see each other as if for the first time.


'Fascinating... A rich, dark story' The Times