‘One of the nation’s favourite wartime saga writers … warm and engrossing’ Lancashire Evening Post

Spring 1944, and the war shows no sign of stopping. In Hampshire, Elsie is desperate for a new start after her husband leaves her. When her friend Izzy, herself planning an escape from her abusive boyfriend, tells her about the wartime jobs going for women on the canal boats, she jumps at the chance.

Their new boss, Dorothy, is kind and fair, but it’s clear she has a secret of her own. Their crew is completed by Tolly, searching for a new vocation now that her dream job has been snatched away. The work is hard, but together they pitch in, and through shared ups and downs they forge close friendships that will see them through the darkest times.

What none of them could have predicted is just how much working on the canals will change their lives. Could it really be that what started as a means of escape will end up giving each of them everything they ever wanted?