The Orphan's Gift: An absolutely heartbreaking historical novel

She allows herself to kiss her perfect child just once. She wraps the baby in her last gift: a hand-knitted cardigan, embroidered with a water lily pattern. 'You're better off without me, ' she whispers and although every step breaks her heart, she walks away.

1910, India. Young and curious Alice, with her spun-gold hair, grows up in her family's sprawling compound with parents as remote as England, the cold country she has never seen. It is Raju, son of a servant, with whom she shares her ...