Carly grew up in the late twentieth century in the home of her independent mother. Scarred by a childhood trauma, Carly decides to face her fears head on by joining the Army, where she finds love. Wounded, she is sent home to Ivy Manor and the care of three generations of women who endured their own types of war.

Elizabeth “Bette” Leigh Black comes of age in the years before World War II. Although money is scarce in the aftermath of the Depression, her home life is happy and filled with love, and Bette dreams of one day having her own family. But as the war taints their sheltered world, Bette begins to realize life is sometimes cruel—and not everyone has the happiness she does. Eagerly and secretly, she becomes involved in anti-Nazi espionage, even though...