In 1939, Polly, Walter, Calypso and Oliver spent their summers with their aunt in Cornwall, as they did every year. They are kept company during the long, hot days by the twins of the local pastor and a Jewish couple from Austria who fled from the Nazis. On the fragrant chamomile meadow by the sea, the sun lets the tender buds of first love bloom, while on the horizon the threatening clouds of war are already piling up, bringing this last innocent summer to an abrupt end. In the midst of war-torn England, the tight corset of artificial decency and learned conventions is loosened, and the young people enjoy life while they still can. It is not until forty years later, when they return to the house by the sea, that they realize what they owe to the war. Biography (Mary Wesley)