Bringing readers into the vivid landscape of World War I as Birdsong did, while combining the drama of military intelligence with elements of romance and secrecy, GIFTS OF WAR announces a stunning new novelist.

During the Christmas Truce of 1914, a German gives a British soldier a photo and they make a pact. Hal, the British soldier, promises to find his enemy's English girlfriend, Sam, and let her know her fiancé is alive and thinking of her. Several weeks later, Hal - now injured - is discharged from the army and fulfills his promise. But things take an unexpected turn when he meets the woman in the photo and falls in love with her himself. As their romance blossoms, Sam shares with Hal her most private confidence: her newborn son is of German lineage, information that threatens her reputation and job as a schoolteacher. Fearful that he will lose Sam, Hal holds tight to the secret - and the photograph - that brought them together.

Mackenzie Ford sets the story of Hal and Sam's love affair against the broader landscape of England at war, and brilliantly captures the era and the fates of men and women caught in the sweep of history. A vivid tale of romance, adventure, and intrigue, GIFTS OF WAR is a remarkable narrative that explores what made War World I so tragic, so revolutionary, and so exciting.