Journey (Cox)

The gravestone's inscription reads, "A man of courage. He made the greatest sacrifice of all. " At the final resting place of Barney Davidson, in the hills of Bedfordshire, Ben Morgan first encounters Lucy and her grown daughter, Mary, on a snowswept afternoon in 1952. It is a meeting that will profoundly change all three -- a mother bowed but unbroken by stark tragedy, a young woman strangely untouched by the harshness of the world, and a loner seeking sanctuary in a simpler existence. But it is a shocking mystery from decades earlier that will truly bind them, heart and soul, as a long-hidden truth about the life and death of one extraordinary man slowly comes to light -- revealing the steps of a remarkable journey of strength, commitment... and undying love.

This bestseller from the country's number one storyteller is a deeply moving and powerful tale of love and courage. Three strangers are thrown together by chance. It's an encounter which is destined to change all of their lives forever. When Ben Morris comes to the aid of Lucy Baker and her daughter Mary, he is intrigued by the story behind their frequent visits to the local graveyard. Later, invited into their home, an old Edwardian place suffused with secrets of the past, Ben hears Lucy's remarkable tale - one she must tell before it's too late. The story of Barney Davidson, his family and the part Lucy played in his extraordinary life, is one of a deep, abiding love and an incredible sacrifice.

Following the fortunes of the much-loved characters from her bestseller 'The Journey', Josephine Cox's powerful novel spans continents, decades and generations of one family. Like a ghost from the past, she walked along the platform towards them... It has been over twenty years since Vicky Maitland set foot on English soil. Twenty years since she left Liverpool with her three children, bound for a new life in America, leaving her beloved husband Barney behind. But this long journey home is the hardest of all. She is here in search of the truth, afraid of what she may find. Why did Barney turn against his family so suddenly, so cruelly? Only her old friend Lucy Baker knows what happened. And Lucy promised Barney she would never tell his secret. Is it time she broke her silence and explained the events of so long ago?

It has been more than twenty years since Vicky Maitland last set foot on English soil. Two decades ago she left the city of Liverpool with her three children-leaving behind the husband she dearly loved, who had cruelly and inexplicably turned against them all-to begin a new life in America. Now nervous and apprehensive, with a fateful letter burning a hole in her pocket, Vicky has finally come home in search of the truth and the shattering secrets behind Barney's shocking betrayal-secrets only Vicky's old friend, Lucy Baker, knows but swore never to reveal...