In arm’s reach of The Snow Child and The Light Between Oceans, author Corinne Beenfield brings us a breathtaking tale that reminds us the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary is often no difference at all.

Helen Danner never wanted to return to the empty seaside cottage. Yet six harrowing months after tragedy struck her family, she gets news. Operation Pied Piper, England’s attempt to save the children of the war, is sending young refugees to Wales. So she packs her bags and finds herself at the last place in the world she hoped to be. There, facing the ocean, she asks it to send her just one child. Someone to again love.

And then a strange little girl shows up in her life. Lyric, as Helen calls her, can swim beyond any adult’s ability, doesn’t feel cold, and foreign seashells often seem to be waiting for her. And why won’t she speak? Where is her luggage? There are no records of Lyric or a mother and father. With the belief that they are dead or undeserving, Helen begins to love the girl as her own. But as Helen unravels the truth about a world that wants her girl back, she must face a question she doesn’t know if she is still strong enough to answer.

Do you choose to love, even if you have to let go?