The Very Thought of You: A Novel [Paperback]

“One of those books you’re likely to remember all your life.” —Alexandra Shulman,Vogue(UK)

For readers ofThe Orphan TrainandThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Societycomes “not just a story of love but a story of loss, one whose voice will touch even the coldest of hearts.” —BookPage

England, 31st August 1939: The world is on the brink of war. As Hitler prepares to invade Poland, thousands of children are evacuated from London to escape the impending Blitz. Torn from her mother, eight-year-old Anna Sands is relocated with other children to a large Yorkshire estate which has been opened up to evacuees by Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton, an enigmatic, childless couple. Soon Anna gets drawn into their unraveling relationship, seeing things that are not meant for her eyes and finding herself part-witness and part-accomplice to a love affair with unforeseen consequences.

A story of longing, loss, and complicated loyalties, combining a sweeping narrative with subtle psychological observation,The Very Thought of Youis not just a love story but a story about love.Prologue


May 1964

My dearest,

Of all the many people we meet in a lifetime, it is strange that so many of us find ourselves in thrall to one particular person. Once that face is seen, an involuntary heartache sets in for which there is no cure. All the wonder of this world finds shape in that one person, and thereafter there is no reprieve, because this kind of love does not end, or not until death—

From Baxter’s
Guide to the Historic Houses of England (2007)

Any visitor travelling north from York will pass through a flat vale of farmland before rising steeply onto the wide upland plateau of the North Yorkshire Moors. Here is some of the wildest and loveliest land in England, where high rolling moorlalÓ+