The House Of Flowers: (The Eden series:2): a thrilling novel of service, strength and suspicion in wartime Britain from bestselling author Charlotte Bingham

Présentation de l'éditeur Fans of Louise Douglas, Dinah Jeffries and Kristin Hannah will love this uplifting and moving wartime saga by the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author Charlotte Bingham. "'The author perfectly evokes the atmosphere of a bygone era" -- WOMAN'S OWN"As comforting and nourishing as a hot milky drink on a stormy night" -- DAILY EXPRESS"A rip-roaring combination of high romance and breathless excitement" - MAIL ON SUNDAY"These are characters you will really care about" -- ***** Reader review"Very enjoyable and hard to put down" -- ***** Reader review"Incredibly well written and engrossing" -- ***** Reader review*********************************************************EVERYONE IS DOING THEIR BIT FOR THE WAR EFFORT. BUT WHAT SIDE ARE THEY ON? 1941: England is at its lowest ebb: under-nourished, under-informed and terrified of imminent invasion. Even at Eden Park, the beautiful country estate where Poppy, Lily, Kate, Marjorie and her adopted brother Billy are working in espionage, confidence is at an all-time low, and that is before the authorities discover there is a double agent operating from its MI5 unit.As agents are gradually wiped out by the informant at Eden Park, Poppy leaves to train as a pilot. But as she closes the wooden shutters at the House of Flowers, the old folly where she and her husband Scott began their married life, she realises that they were made over a century before to keep out another invader...England survived then - will it survive again? Have you read Daughters of Eden, the first in the series? Extrait Part One ENGLAND, 1941Chapter One Major Folkestone frowned and shuffled the papers at which he was pretending to stare so hard. On the other side of his desk Cissie Lavington stood with her trademark long cigarette holder stuck jauntily out of the side of her mouth while she regarded him with her one good eye, the other hidden as always behind her other trademark, a handmade black silk eye-patch. Even though the matter before them was of a serious nature, as always Cissie's expression was one of benign indifference, as if she had only a passing interest in what the world might throw at her. 'You'd rather I told her?' Cissie volunteered, finally growing impatient with the way Anthony Folkestone was hiding behind his paperwork. 'I don't see why you would think that,' Anthony Folkestone muttered, pretending to find the latest sheet of paper in his hand of particular interest. 'But it does have to be done.' 'I expect you feel, Major, I expect you feel that - well,' Cissie replied, tapping the end of her cigarette into the tin ashtray on the desk, 'that this sort of stuff comes a lot better from a woman.' Cissie took one last draw on her cigarette, removed the stub and inserted a fresh smoke deftly in her holder, while never taking her eye off the man on the other side of the desk. As she had noted over the past few weeks spent training agents in H Section of what was discreetly described in Top Secret documents as 'the War Office', jobs involving the breaking of bad news always seemed to come a lot better from a woman. 'The point is I'd do it myself if I had the time. But just at the moment, all this paperwork . . .' Folkestone shook his head sadly, at the same time collecting the loose pages up and tapping them into a tidy pile. 'I understand Lady Tetherington's in lodgings in Benton,' he added, handing Cissie a sheet of paper bearing the address. 'Taking some leave.' 'Rather well earned, considering. The top brass are very pleased with what we did - apparently it cheered the Old Man up no end. Not that we expect it to be the only attempt on his life, by any means, but there you are. One down, that's something at least. Quite apart from anything else it would have been invaluable propaganda. Although I understand the Old Man has a few doubles waiting in the wings for that moment, if it ever comes.' Major Folkestone nodded. H Section had done brilliantly to thw