Fallen Skies is an extraordinary story of the turmoil and ugly legacy of the First World War from the bestselling author of Wideacre. Lily Valance wants to forget the war; her father has been killed in France and several friends are dead or maimed beyond recognition. She wants to enjoy the world of the 1920s, a world of music, singing, laughter and pleasure. So when she meets dashing Stephen Winters, a decorated hero back from the Front, she is drawn to his wealth and status. But Stephen is a man deeply scarred, still troubled by nightmares of the fighting on the plains of Flanders, alienated from his comfortable home, his family firm of solicitors, and close to no-one but his shell-shocked mute batman, Coventry. When he marries Lily, he wants a wife who will help him forget, who will save him from the past and ease his sense of guilt at surviving where so many were lost. Such hopes prove ill-founded, for Lily is determined to continue her career as a music-hall singer and has the courage to confront Stephen and the hypocritical facade of his mother's house. With the help of her friend Charlie, Lily challenges the codes and restrictions of the silent Portsmouth home.