by Pip Williams
First published 2026
France, 1915. An English nurse works in a military hospital where German prisoners receive treatment. When she meets a German doctor among the captives, attraction sparks between them despite the war raging around them. She has always ignored conventional rules. He remains a prisoner of war. Their relationship grows intense and physical, yet circumstances make any future impossible. An Australian artist secretly sketches their stolen moments together. More than a century later, a woman discovers these drawings and becomes captivated by the images of intimacy they contain. She begins investigating the identity of the lovers and their fate. The sketches reveal a hidden story within the larger tragedy of war. As she pieces together clues from the artwork, she uncovers how desire persisted even in the darkest circumstances. Williams creates a dual narrative that moves between the forbidden wartime romance and the modern quest to understand what the drawings reveal about love during conflict.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, historical-romance, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, lyrical, melancholic, thought-provoking
Tropes: dual-timeline, forbidden-romance, mystery-investigation, star-crossed-lovers
Setting: France, Military Hospital
Period: 1915, 21st Century, World War I
352 pages · Paperback · Affirm Press
Content warnings: sexual-content, war