On holiday in Italy, Briony Wood becomes fascinated by the wartime story of a ruined villa hidden amongst the hills of Naples. Not only is it the very place where her grandfather was stationed as a soldier in 1943, but she also discovers the secret of a love long lost.

Handled a bundle of tattered letters found buried at the villa, Briony becomes enraptured by the blossoming love story between Sarah Bailey an English woman, and Paul Hartmann, a young German.  The letters lead her back almost seventy years to pre-war Norfolk.  But as Briony delves into Paul and Sarah’s story, she encounters resentments and secrets tightly guarded. All too quickly it is clear that what happened long ago under the shadow of Vesuvius still has the power to cause terrible pain.