Note to readers: In the UK, this book is published under the title The Light Behind the Window . An aristocratic French family, a legendary château, and buried secrets with the power to destroy two generations torn between duty and desire. La Côte d’Azur, 1998: In the sun-dappled south of France, Emilie de la Martinières, the last of her gilded line, inherits her childhood home, a magnificent château and vineyard. With the property comes a mountain of debt—and almost as many questions... Paris, 1944: A bright, young British office clerk, Constance Carruthers, is sent undercover to Paris to be part of Churchill’s Special Operations Executive during the climax of the Nazi occupation. Separated from her contacts in the Resistance, she soon stumbles into the heart of a prominent family who regularly entertain elite members of the German military even as they plot to liberate France. But in a city rife with collaborators and rebels, Constance’s most difficult decision may be determining whom to trust with her heart. As Emilie discovers what really happened to her family during the war and finds a connection to Constance much closer than she suspects, the château itself may provide the clues that unlock the mysteries of her past, present, and future. Here is a dazzling novel of intrigue and passion from one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. When Emilie de la Martinieres, the sole surviving member of an aristocratic French family, returns to her childhood home to settle her mother’s estate, she expects to confront a number of long-buried memories. She never expects to meet Sebastian, a charming young art dealer with an all-too-perfect connection to her family. As Emilie’s relationship with Sebastian deepens, more questions about her family’s history begin to surface. With sections alternating between Emilie’s discoveries in 1998 at the family estate and the time her grandmother spent in 1944 in Paris, The Lavender Garden is a sweeping, engrossing work. Riley is talented, delighting in the small details of aristocratic luxury and the pastoral countryside. The sections focusing on Emilie’s grandmother, a young clerk working as an undercover agent for the Allied cause in Nazi-occupied Paris, are particularly engaging. The heroines of The Lavender Garden struggle to master circumstances seemingly beyond their control, a common thread in Riley’s work. A tale of family secrets, wartime espionage, and loyalties gained and gambled, The Lavender Garden will appeal to fans of historical fiction, Kate Morton, and Helen Bryan. --Stephanie Turza "A tale of family secrets,wartime espionage, and loyalties gained and gambled, The Lavender Garden will appeal to fans of historical fiction, Kate Morton, and Helen Bryan." ― Booklist “A magnificent novel…enchanting and full of heart.” ― Naples Daily News "A sweeping, engrossing work... Engaging." ― Booklist Lucinda Riley was the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, including The Orchid House , The Girl on the Cliff , and the Seven Sisters series. Her books have sold twenty million copies in thirty-five languages globally. She was born in Ireland and divided her time between England and West Cork with her husband and four children. Visit her website at LucindaRiley.com. The Lavender Garden 1 Gassin, South of France Spring 1998 Emilie felt the pressure on her hand relax and looked down at her mother. As she watched, it seemed that, while Valérie’s soul departed her body, the pain that had contorted her features was disappearing too, enabling Emilie to look past the emaciated face and remember the beauty her mother had once possessed. “She has left us,” murmured Phillipe, the doctor, pointlessly. “Yes.” Behind her, she heard the doctor muttering a prayer, but had no thought to join him in it. Instead, she stared down in morbid wonder at the sack of slowly graying flesh which was all that remained of the presence that had dominated her life for thirty years. Emilie instinctively wanted to prod her mother awake, because the transition from life to death—given the force of nature Valérie de la Martinières had been—was too much for her senses to accept. She wasn’t sure how she should feel. After all, she had played this moment over in her head on many occasions in the past few weeks. Emilie turned away from her dead mother’s face and gazed out the window at the wisps of cloud suspended like uncooked meringues in the blue sky. Through the open window, she could hear the faint cry of a lark come to herald the spring. Rising slowly, her legs stiff from the long nighttime hours she had been sitting vigil, she walked over to the window. The early-morning vista had none of the heaviness that the passing of the hours would eventually bring. Nature had painted a fresh picture as it did every dawn, the soft Provençal palette of umber, green, and azure gently ushering in the new day. Emilie gazed across the terrace and the formal g