When a new school teacher settles in Cookley Green with her young son Sammy, she finds herself neighbours with old Pearl, a former workhouse inmate whose memory goes back to the Great War, when Cookley Green was a village nestling innocently in the Suffolk countryside. Pearl recalls everyone - Lord Summerfield and Lady Madeleine, and their son and heir Neville; the artisans - Josh the wheelwright, Bendy the cobbler, Billy the blacksmith; and Bossy Bertha the mid-wife, who brought Neville Summerfield into the world on a bale of hay. When Neville disappears at the front, the future of the Estate lies open to predators, and especially to one rather close to home. It is Gerald, the son of an industrialist and Neville's best friend, who has set his sights on ownership. Not only of his land, but also of his beloved, the wilful Stella . ow Pearl is old, several secrets still lie locked in her memory - one in particular, of the Pacifist George, who was cast out by the villagers during the war and hounded by Fascists. Will we ever learn the full whole story of George's actions? he old ways of Cookley Green are fast disappearing, and Pearl has seen them all. Her fascinating history brin