A beautiful book, almost made me cry, and was so heavy that it weighed down on my spirits, but was really worth it.

This book is a lovely, sunshiny coming of age story set in the English countryside. It is set in the present just after the outbreak of a war affecting most of the world against an un-named enemy.

American girl Daisy is sent to England to stay with her aunt. She is mesmerised by her cousin Edmond and during an idyllic few weeks of English country summer falls in the love with him and becomes convinced that they share a telepathic link.

The five cousins are split up in the turmoil at the start of the war and the book tells how Daisy and Piper, the littlest cousin, set out to find the others.

It is dark — any book about war will be. But the darkness is punctuated by lush descriptions of the English countryside and Daisy’s fierce strange love for her cousins make it shine.