Publisher's Synopsis
Diane Kruger narrates this gorgeous historical drama from number one New York Times best-selling author Gayle Forman.
It's July 1946, and after a decade of Depression and war, life in America is returning to normal. But for Charlotte and Mary Oswald, one tumultuous summer will unearth all their secrets and upend their world, once again.
Charlotte Oswald's life is dictated by rules. Where she can go. Whom she can speak to. How she can spend her long, dull summer days. It's a small, closeted existence, but necessary to protect Charlotte, who has suffered from debilitating fits since childhood. Her sole escape is in story: the elaborate tales she makes up, and the ones she listens to each day on her favorite radio serial, an addictive romantic drama called The End of My Heart.
Mary Oswald's life is dictated by duty. As the head housekeeper for the wealthy Thwaites family, her European refinement is what makes her an "indispensable" employee and also what makes the lowly position chafe. This isn't the role Mary was raised for, but it's the one she has chosen to keep her daughter safe.
Over the course of the hot, sultry summer, Charlotte makes unexpected friends with two film-obsessed boys, and inspired by the movies of Alfred Hitchcock, the ongoing Nuremberg Nazi trials, and Charlotte's own wild imagination, the three begin plotting their own screenplay. Meanwhile, Mary, left behind in the nearly empty Thwaites mansion, begins a steamy affair with the charming industrialist Prescott Thwaites, and as she reveals the hidden parts of herself, begins to fall in love.
The last days of summer rapidly approaching, Charlotte's freedom coming to an end, and the Thwaites family soon returning, mother and daughter hurtle toward a point of no return as the long-buried memories resurface, blurring the line between fantasy and reality, and threatening to expose the secret that could be the end of them all.
Diane Kruger's rich narration and a full-cast radio serial elevate this story from internationally best-selling novelist Gayle Forman into an immersive, unique, and unforgettable listening experience.
