This is a story of sibling rivalry, poverty and war--of unrequited love and a Canadian dream but much more than that, it is a story that takes today's reader through the most momentous period of our history--a time when millions, having barely survived the misery and deprivation of the greatest financial crisis in history, were almost immediately plunged into the greatest military conflict in world history. Being set in London's east end, that bore the brunt of Hitler's Blitz serves in many ways to bring the sacrifices of that time into sharp focus giving the reader an insight into how the people were forced to deal with tragedy and loss in a way that today's generation might find almost callous. But then it was a time that personified Shakespeare's immortal words--"The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" and how that outrageous fortune can send us down paths and in directions we never dream of. Above all, it is a story told by someone who lived it.