Beneath the Cypress Tree

A sweeping saga of friends and lovers, set in Crete during the Second World War.

<p><i>A war that could turn friends into enemies, lovers into fighters . . .</i><br><br>Summer 1935. In Margaret Pemberton's <i>Beneath the Cypress Tree</i> best friends Kate Shelton, Ella Tetley and Daphne St. Maur are on the cusp of a new life, having graduated with Classics degrees. <br><br>Kate is desperate to start work on an archaeological dig straightaway and she is thrilled to be given a position at the famous Knossos palace site in Crete. However, she doesn't bargain for working with gruff site director Lewis Sinclair – nor for her own complex feelings towards him.<br><br>In Yorkshire, Ella's family expect her to marry Sam, her steady friend who is training to be a doctor, but Ella too feels pulled to the Mediterranean by the promise of freedom. When she meets Christos, life as a country GP's wife seems even less appealing . . . <br><br>Daphne however throws herself into London's high society, falling madly in love with diplomat and heir Sholto Hertford – but then his work brings them to Crete, and Daphne becomes enchanted by the island as well.<br><br>Meanwhile, the threat of war rumbles on, as reports of Hitler's rapid expansion across Europe become impossible to ignore. It seems that nothing can touch the perfect, glittering sea and snow-capped mountains, but Kate, Ella and Daphne know that the island haven they now call home will never be the same again.</p>