It begins at the stroke of midnight on the first day of 1997....

Both a war novel of the first order and a love story of devastating power, In the Light of Morning is a magnificent new work by one of Britain\"s finest writers, Tim Pears, the highly acclaimed author of Disputed Land and Landed. It is May 1944 and in Eastern Europe the Second World War is reaching a dramatic and bloody crescendo....

Leonard and Rosemary Cannon summon their middle-aged offspring, along with partners and children, to the family home in the Welsh Marches for the Christmas holiday....

Brought up in the Anglo-Welsh borders by an affectionate but alcoholic and feckless mother, Owen Ithell\"s sense of self is rooted in his long, vivid visits to his grandparents\" small farm in the hills. As an adult he moves to an English city where he builds a new life, working as a gardener. He meets Mel, they have children....