“What a keen eye for a brilliant story! Bestselling author Kirsty Manning sure knows how to breathe life and heart into historical events. Here, she takes a real-life historical story and weaves it into a compelling and multifaceted novel.”

“Kirsty Manning weaves together little-known threads of World War II history, family secrets, the past and the present into a page-turning, beautiful novel”

“Australian author Manning makes her American debut with this superb take on a lesser known aspect of WWII: some European Jews, fleeing from the Nazis, received asylum in Japanese-occupied Shanghai after being denied it elsewhere ... With breadth and intelligence, this exquisite novel portrays a resilient community and a secret kept to protect another.”

“Detailed and evocative, a beautiful multi-layered story of friendship and love, family and loyalty. The smells, sounds and tastes of wartime Shanghai are richly re-imagined but it’s the courage of the young women - past and present — which makes the book unforgettable.”

““Meticulous research, stories with social importance, pioneering characters and effortless flitting from one epoch and city to another underpin Kirsty Manning’s cut-above historical fiction novels ””

““Page-turning treasure hunt””