The Double Shadow

Sally Gardner

In the wasteland it is eternal day, no clocks mark the passing hours. In 1937 clouds of war gather over Britain.

Fifteen-year-old Ezra meets the rich, beautiful and undeniably spoiled Amaryllis Ruben, recently expelled from boarding school. Amaryllis has been playing the rebel since she was nine years old and Ezra is both disturbed and enchanted by her. But Amaryllis is hiding a secret even she does not understand.

On the grounds of her father Arnold's decadent mansion a memory machine take shape. Despite Arnold's brash playboy exterior Arnold Ruben is seeking to master time. But time is running out for him.

And then, on her 17th birthday, Amaryllis vanishes.

The years that follow reverberate with the events of that summer's day. As Britain is shaken by war Ezra pieces together the fragments of his shattered memory in the name of love, loss and hope.