The Wind Off The Sea: The Bexham Trilogy Book 2 - Couverture souple

It is 1947, the worst winter in England since records began, and even the sea is frozen. For the women living in the little fishing port of Bexham, the chronic lack of everything from fuel to food has left them reeling.

When Waldo Astley drives through thick Sussex snow into the village in his large American Buick, it is to find Bexham filled not just with grumbling residents, but with frustrated wives and mothers, forced back behind their stoves after the joy of the victory for which they fought so hard on the home front. Government directives have ensured that the returning men resumed the jobs their women managed so brilliantly through the gruelling years of war.

But Waldo is no ordinary character, and while he has come to Bexham on a personal mission, his effect on all the residents is as warming as the electricity of which there is still such a shortage. For Judy, whose marriage to Walter has been badly affected by long years of separation, for Rusty, whose miscarriage has been mind-shattering, for Mathilda, whose single motherhood has put her eligibility in jeopardy, and for Meggie, still not recovered from her ordeal as a secret agent. No matter what the age or circumstances of the person, Waldo Astley is not just a breath of fresh air - but the wind off the sea.

Charlotte Bingham comes from a literary family - her father sold a story to H. G. Wells when he was only seventeen - and Charlotte wrote her autobiography, CORONET AMONG THE WEEDS, at the age of nineteen. Since then, she has written comedy and drama series, films and plays for both England and America with her husband, the actor and playwright Terence Brady. Her published novels include the highly acclaimed bestsellers SUMMERTIME, THE SEASON, THE BLUE NOTE, THE LOVE KNOT, THE KISSING GARDEN, LOVE SONG, TO HEAR A NIGHTINGALE, THE BUSINESS, IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW, STARDUST, NANNY, CHANGE OF HEART, DEBUTANTES, THE NIGHTINGALE SINGS, GRAND AFFAIR, THE CHESTNUT TREE, THE WIND OFF THE SEA, THE MOON AT MIDNIGHT, DAUGHTERS OF EDEN, THE HOUSE OF FLOWERS, THE MAGIC HOUR, FRIDAY'S GIRL, IN DISTANT FIELDS and THE WHITE MARRIAGE.