Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities. She then worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry - during which time she also wrote her debut, The Book of Lost and Found. Lucy now writes full-time, and is busy travelling (for research, naturally!) and working on her next novel.

Visit her Facebook page at facebook.com/LucyFoleyAuthor and follow her on Twitter @lucyfoleytweets

Escape with this epic holiday read of secrets and forbidden love

'This will sweep you away for the summer. Lucy Foley blends a rich history, haunting secrets and a timeless love story' Santa Montefiore, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Deverill series

'This will sweep you away for the summer. Lucy Foley blends a rich history, haunting secrets and a timeless love story' Santa Montefiore, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Deverill series

ISTANBUL, 1921

Before the Occupation, Nur's city was a tapestry of treasures: the Grand Bazaar alive with colour, trinkets and spices; saffron sunsets melting into the black waters of the Bosphorus; the sweet fragrance of the fig trees dancing on the summer breeze . . .

Now the shadow of war hangs over the city, and Nur lives for the protection of a young boy with a terrible secret. Stumbling through the streets, carrying the embroideries that have become her livelihood, she avoids the gazes of the Allied soldiers. Survival is everything.

When Nur chances upon George Monroe, a medical officer in the British Army, it is easy to hate him. Yet the lines between enemy and friend grow fainter.

She and the boy would both be at risk. Nur knows that she cannot afford to fall - impossibly and dangerously - in love . . .