The Chestnut Tree. (The Bexham Trilogy: 1): a powerful novel of strength and sacrifice from bestselling author Charlotte Bingham

A compelling and touching evocation of the wartime spirit by the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author Charlotte Bingham, for fans of Louise Douglas and Dinah Jefferies.'A perfect escapist cocktail for summertime romantics' - MAIL ON SUNDAY'As compelling as ever' - WOMAN & HOME'A holiday read that will keep you glued to your sun lounger' - SAFEWAY MAGAZINE'The author perfectly evokes the atmosphere of a bygone era' - WOMAN'S OWN'A compulsive read with the attitudes, mores and conditions of the 1940s accurately portrayed' - THE HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW'I can't tear myself away from this trilogy'-- ***** Reader review**************************************************************************WAR LOOMS, BUT WHAT WILL BE THEIR GREATEST SACRIFICE?It is the summer of 1939, and like the rest of Europe, the residents of the little idyllic Sussex fishing port of Bexham are preparing for war.
The women of Bexham are all in their very individual ways determined to play an active part in the defence of their country. In this manner the little Sussex village, facing as it does the coastline of Nazi-invaded France, finds its closely sewn social fabric gradually unstitch, inch by little inch as traditional roles are radically changed. None of them are the same, and yet, with the men returning from war, they are expected to slip back into their simple roles of mother, daughter, grandmother.
This, more than anything perhaps, is their greatest sacrifice. Having been freed by war, they have now to relinquish that very independence that gave them the liberty for which they once fought. Only the chestnut tree planted by Corrie at the edge of the village flourishes in the accepted manner, finally becoming the uniting symbol of all that has passed forever...