The Hidden Palace

An island of secrets. A runaway. And a promise…

A rebellious daughter
1925. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer’s job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets.

A sister with a secret
1944. Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before.

A rift over generations
Betrayals and secrets, lies and silence hang between the sisters. A faded last letter from Rosalie is Florence’s only clue, the war an immovable barrier – and time is running out…

Praise for The Hidden Palace

‘Completely swept me away to another place and time. Dinah is the queen of sumptuous settings, transporting the reader effortlessly from chocolate-box Devonshire to the cabaret clubs of 1920s Paris and war-torn Malta. A marvellous, multi-layered story, populated with characters to really care for’ HAZEL GAYNOR

‘Dinah Jefferies wields her storytelling magic on the island of Malta . . . It’s engrossing and sensual, full of the heat of the Mediterranean sun’ GILL PAUL

‘Powerful, passionate and profoundly moving . . . this compelling mix of love and tragedy vibrates with warmth and pain, and captures the intense dislocation of war’ KATE FURNIVALL

‘Sweeping and sumptuous with a gorgeous described sense of place. A marvellous adventure’ TRACY REES

‘A richly atmospheric tale of grief, determination and hope’ Woman’s Own

‘True escapism’ Best

Daughters of War hit #5 in the Sunday Times bestselling charts on 26th September 2021.

Reviews

Praise for Daughters of War

‘A wonderfully evocative and sensual writer’ SANTA MONTEFIORE

‘A warm and engrossing tale of passion and courage. I loved it’ RACHEL HORE

‘Love, grief, abandonment, betrayal and secrets … I adored it’ LIZ NUGENT

‘A stirring, richly-imagined novel about bravery and love and family loyalty tested to its limits’ RACHEL RHYS

‘As layers of long-hidden family secrets emerge, you are sure to be hooked to the very last page’ LIZ TRENOW

‘Rich in courage, love and sacrifice, but chilling and taut in its portrayal of the horrors of war’ KATE FURNIVALL

‘Lushly descriptive, exciting and vivid, this is a warm and exciting tale that will pull you in and refuse to let you go’ TRACY REES

A tender, moving and at times heartbreaking story’ SINEAD MORIARTY

About the author

Dinah Jefferies began her career with The Separation, followed by the number 1 Sunday Times and Richard and Judy bestseller The Tea-Planter’s Wife. Born in Malaysia, she moved to England at the age of nine. When she began writing novels, deeply influenced by her Eastern childhood, she was able to return there on annual research trips for each new novel.

With her most recent bestseller, her seventh novel The Tuscan Contessa, she has moved to writing about a European setting for the first time and continues that in this new series.

She is published in 28 languages and over 30 countries and has twice been a Richard and Judy bookclub pick.