When the Summer Was Ours

This epic World War II tale of star-crossed lovers separated by class, circumstance, and tragedy—from the internationally bestselling author of the “gripping…filled with passion and hope” (Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author) The Girl They Left Behind—explores the impact of war on civilian life and the indestructible resilience of first love.Hungary, 1943: As war encroaches on the country’s borders, willful young Eva César arrives in the idyllic town of Sopron to spend her last summer as a single woman on her aristocratic family’s estate. Longing for freedom from her domineering father, she counts the days to her upcoming nuptials to a kind and dedicated Red Cross doctor whom she greatly admires. But Eva’s life changes when she meets Aleandro, a charming and passionate Romani fiddler with a love for painting. With time and profound class differences against them, Eva and Aleandro still fall deeply in love—only to be separated by a brutal act of hatred. As their lives diverge and they are each swept into the tides of war and its aftermath—they try to forget what they once shared. But as the years pass, the haunting memory of their romance will re-shape their destinies and drive them to decisions which are felt through generations. From the horrors of the Second World War to the tensions of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and beyond, When the Summer Was Ours is a sweeping story about the toll of secrets, the blurred lines between desire and loyalty, sacrifice and obsession, and the endurance of the human spirit.