While We’re Apart

In Ellie Dean’s 1942 novel “While We’re Apart,” Mary Jones had recently turned eighteen and bid farewell to her childhood sweetheart Jack. But during a tip-and-run raid, her house is directly targeted, killing her parents and destroying her house in the process. Mary distraught moves in with Jack’s folks. She finds her father’s trunk filled with a startling secret amid the wreckage.

In pursuit of clarification, Mary journeys to Cliffehaven on the southern coast, where she is accommodated by Doris, the formidable sister of Peggy Reilly. As kind Peggy becomes friends with Mary, secrets come to light and trouble is on the horizon.