(Introduction)
'There are no winners in war.
In Miles Franklin-nominated author Favel Parrett’s third novel, teenage twin sisters – vibrant, smart, mostly happy – are wrenched apart at the beginning of World War II. Four decades later, in 1980, one is still in Prague and the other lives in Melbourne, each tasked with looking after her grandchild. Each sister also holds in her heart a quiet resentment for the other: the one in Prague has endured war and Communism, while her twin has struggled to build a new life and family while also learning a new language. (Introduction)
'A man tends to his shop alone as he clings to the desperate hope that his sons will one day show interest and take over his business. A divorcee shrugs off advice from her family, who tell her to find another man or stay out of the sun to protect her once-pale skin. A woman worries that the life that she and her family have built in a new country will be for naught.' (Introduction)
