A Light Beyond the Trenches

From the USA Today bestselling author of Churchill’s Secret Messenger comes a WWI novel based on little-known history,as four very different lives intertwine across Europe from Germany to France—a German Red Cross nursea Jewish pianist blinded on the battlefielda soldier tortured by deadly secrets of his ownand his tormented French mistress. This life-affirming tale of heroism and resilience will stay with you long after turning the final page. By April 1916the fervor that accompanied war’s outbreak has faded. In its place is a grim reality. Throughout Germanyessentials are rationed. Hopetoois in short supply. Anna Zellerwhose fiancéBrunois fighting on the western frontworks as a nurse at an overcrowded hospital in Oldenburgtrying to comfort men broken in body and spirit. But during a visit from Dr. Stallingthe director of the Red Cross Ambulance Dogs Associationshe witnesses a rare spark of optimism: as a German shepherd guides a battle-blinded soldier over a garden pathDr. Stalling is inspired with an idea—to train dogs as companions for sightless veterans. Anna convinces Dr. Stalling to let her work at his new guide dog training school. Some of the dogs that arrive are themselves veterans of warincluding Niaa German shepherd with trench-damaged paws. Anna brings the ailing Nia home and secretly tends and trains herconvinced she may yet be the perfect guide for the right soldier. In Max Benescha Jewish soldier blinded by chlorine gas at the frontNia finds her person. War has taken Max’s sighthis fiancéeand his hopes of being a composer. Yet despite all he’s given for his countrythe tide of anti-Semitism at home is risingand Max encounters it first-hand in one of the school’s trainerswho is determined to make Max fail. Stillthrough Anna’s promptinghe rediscovers his passion for music. But as Anna discovers more about the conflict’s escalating brutality—and Bruno’s role in it—she realizes how impossible it will be for any of them to escape the war unscathed . . .