In the spring of 1914, fourteen-year-old Lucie Du Bois tends her garden in Picardy with her dear friend Annette, trading songs in French and English, unaware that summer will bring war to their doorstep. But the shadow is already lengthening across Europe, and soon Lucie's father must leave for the front, leaving her to hold the family together with nothing but courage and a child's fierce promise to be brave. Through tender friendships and small acts of defiance, Lucie's story captures the poignant loss of innocence as the world remakes itself around her. This is historical fiction at its most intimate: not battles won or lost, but what endures in a young girl's heart when everything familiar begins to crumble. Perfect for readers who savor quiet heroism and the kind of coming-of-age narratives where simply surviving becomes an act of extraordinary strength.
