GUERNSEY, CHANNEL ISLANDS, 1991 Ruth Samuels is moving to Guernsey. She feels alive again for the first time since her husband's death. Ruth recently met islander Matthew Frele and knew right away that their attraction is mutual. He is enigmatic and exciting, but there's something odd about him. She senses secrets and a disturbing inner anger barely controlled. Who is this man? What is he hiding? What is there in his past that holds him back from committing to a relationship? She guesses at abominations during his childhood under the German Occupation of the Channel Isles. Having fled the torments of Nazi Germany Ruth knows the terrible legacy of childhood trauma. When she presses Matthew for details of that time he refuses to discuss it. It's only when Nicol Rochet, a childhood friend, together with the one-time parish priest, the Abbe Saint Jude, bring pertinent facts to her attention that she's able to piece together the horrifying facts about Matthew's forbidden past. The details are more dreadful than she could ever have imagined. The vile act of barbarism she unearths put even Hitler's henchmen to shame. Can she save Matthew from those appalling memories? Or will they forever consume him, and destroy both him, and any hope of their future together?