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In a time of war....

can they sacrifice everything for love?

Welcome to the Hearts of Glass series.

A person in a vintage outfit, featuring a white blouse and a black hat adorned with flowers, stands in profile against a green background. The lower part of the image is obscured by a red distortion effect.
Book cover for "The Artist's Apprentice" by Clare Flynn. Features a woman in period clothing and a hat. The text reads: "Passion tore them apart. Destiny will bring them together. A totally captivating novel of love and art before WW1.
The Artist's Apprentice
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In this heart-wrenching and utterly spellbinding story of love and artistic ambition, a young woman fights to be true to herself in a world where duty, money and class jeopardise her dreams.

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England, 1908: Alice Dalton never intended to rebel against her aristocratic parents. But after her father’s failed attempt to arrange a marriage for her with Edmund Cutler, son of a wealthy stockbroker, she flees the family home humiliated – and determined to make a life for herself as an independent woman.

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When she takes a position as a stained-glass artist’s apprentice, Alice is stunned to meet the man she’ll be working for: the hateful Edmund Cutler. It seems he too has turned his back on his family and has followed his passion for art, and at terrible cost.

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But as they work together, mixing paints and composing their stained-glass window commissions side by side, she can’t ignore the sparks that fly between them. With family conflict brewing and war on the horizon, soon Alice finds that loving Edmund proves the hardest fight, and greatest adventure, of her life.

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A gripping historical novel for fans of Fiona Valpy, Rhys Bowen and Lucinda Riley.

The Artist's Wife
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July, 1914: In their sunlit Hampshire workshop, Alice Dalton mixes paints for the stained-glass artwork she and Edmund are working on, pausing only to joyfully cradle the soft swell of her stomach.

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But the looming war threatens her hard-won happiness. When a knock at the door announces the arrival of Victor, her estranged brother, returning after six long years in America, her elation at being reunited is short-lived when he enlists and is sent to Gallipoli.

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Then Alice begins to notice the impact the war is having on Edmund, too, as he tries to safeguard the world they’ve made for themselves. Every day he’s torn between duty to his country, his moral compass and the desperate need to protect Alice from his powerful father, who could destroy their lives in an instant.

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As the war gathers pace and threatens everything she holds dear, can Alice fight to hold onto love in a world torn apart by violence?

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From the gilded world of high society London to the perilous battlefields of Gallipoli, The Artist’s Wife is an utterly gripping and richly evocative story of an Edwardian family fractured by war, betrayal and heartbreak. Perfect for fans of The Venice Sketchbook and The Nightingale.

A woman in a white blouse and blue skirt, wearing a dark hat, stands in front of a colorful sky. There is a teal brushstroke across the middle of the image, partially covering her. The background features soft clouds and a hint of a field.
Book cover of "Artist's Wife" by Clare Flynn. It features a woman in a white blouse and blue skirt, wearing a navy hat, standing against a backdrop of pink clouds and a blue sky. The title is prominently displayed over the image.
A person in a white dress stands in a field of red flowers, wearing a wide-brimmed hat. The sky is painted with warm hues of pink and orange during sunset, and a gentle breeze appears to be blowing.
Blurred image of a book cover titled "Artist's War" by Clare Flynn. It depicts a person in a white dress and straw hat standing in a field against a purple sky.
The Artist's War
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Hampshire, 1916: Alice traces her hand over the cold glass of the window as the pale morning light slips into the empty room. The pain of loss is worse than a physical one. Reminders of Edmund are all around her. The coldness of the sheet on the other half of the bed. The unrelenting silence in the cottage when her stepdaughter Lottie is tucked up asleep at the end of another day.

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How did Alice ever imagine she could run their workshop in Edmund’s absence? Keeping up with their stained-glass commissions takes every ounce of her strength, and as Lottie becomes more withdrawn, Alice worries desperately about how best to care for the troubled girl.

Alice takes comfort from renewed closeness with her brother Victor, whose injuries prevent him from re-joining the fight, and who is enmeshed in undercover work for the Ministry of Munitions. She must go on, for Lottie, for Edmund, and for the life as artists they’ve built together. But with the news from the Front more desperate every day, she knows that the chance that she’ll ever see her husband again is slipping away from her.

And then the telegram arrives…

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From the trenches of France to the fraught Home Front in rural England and London, The Artist’s War is an unforgettable story of a society in the midst of devastating upheaval, and of courage in extraordinary times. Fans of Fiona Davis, Rhys Bowen and Kristin Hannah will adore this gripping historical love story.

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