Summary

Part One: Preservation

Untitled Prologue – Forty-five minutes after Great Britain declares war on Nazi Germany, eighteen year-old Mary North quits finishing school and joins the military. She is sent to the War Office in London, where the city is alive with talk of war. Ten thousand women are enlisting, and Mary is determined to do her part. She is assigned to teach children at Hawley Street School. She does so without complaint, but she wonders if there has been a mistake. The War Office assures her there has not been a mistake.

September, 1939 – Mary is ordered to evacuate and take her class to the country by Headmistress Vine, for London will certainly become a bombing target for the enemy. Mary is stunned, however, when she learns that zoo animals will be evacuated from the city first. A young black boy, Zachary Lee, is upset...