It's 1935 and adolescent Judith Dunbar faces being left behind in England while her mother and younger sister return to Ceylon where her father works. She will live with her Aunt Louise to attend school and has no real idea when she'll see the rest of her family again.

When her school friend, Loveday Carey-Lewis, invites Judith out to her family estate for the weekend, an abiding love begins for Nancherrow, the Carey-Lewis estate, for the family who fills in for her absent loved ones and especially for Loveday's brother Edward.

Judith comes of age in the opening years of World War II, a transforming experience made more shattering by the losses of war. When her parents invite her to join them in Singapore, Judith decides to remain in England, working and supporting the beleaguered country that's become the home of her heart.

But Rosamunde Pilcher's story is less about war on the homefront than about survival and renewal. She creates an intimate portrait of daily life in England, flawless in its fascinating detail. And she uses her story to affirm a wisdom easy to lose: home isn't a place you need return to, but a place you carry with you and rebuild wherever you are, no matter what's been lost. (Sept., 752 pp., $22.00)