S W Perry worked as a broadcast journalist with several radio stations, including Independent Radio News and LBC, before retraining as an airline pilot. He then spent almost three decades flying holidaymakers to sunny climes before turning to writing novels. He is the author of six books in the highly acclaimed Jackdaw Mysteries series. His debut novel, The Angel's Mark, was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger and was a Walter Scott Prize Academy Recommended Read 2019.
What a love story and what a setting. Engrossing, superbly detailed, unsentimental but very moving, it brilliantly deconstructs the chaos and blight that war and its aftermath brings -- Elizabeth Buchan, bestselling author of THE NEW MRS CLIFTON and BONJOUR, SOPHIE I've loved S W Perry's Jackdaw series, but this second-world-war novel is something apart. Beautifully written, humane, entirely convincing and authentic. I admired and loved it. Highly recommended. -- Leonora Nattrass, author of BLACK DROP A gripping and heartfelt story, brilliantly imagined, filled with fascinating characters living through some of the greatest turmoils of the twentieth century -- Elisabeth Gifford, author of THE GOOD DOCTOR OF WARSAW This novel swept me to several enthralling historical locations. I was particularly taken by the wonderfully evoked silent film era in Hollywood; I loved the pre-war setting of Vienna with Hitler's reach hanging over every step, southern France, its nature, a refreshing balance to the Vichy regime, and then the exuberance, chaos and revelations in Berlin as the Wall came down in 1989. Perry is meticulous in his research. His novel is a complex and ambitious story of lovers and spies and Jewish survivors. It will keep you page-turning all through the night. -- Carol Drinkwater, bestselling author of THE OLIVE FARM I was completely gripped - believability, tension and a twist in the ending ... an unforgettable novel. Very highly recommended. -- Deborah Swift, author of THE SILK CODE