Growing up at Ellinghurst, their crumbling family estate, all three Melville children dream of escape. Headstrong Jessica yearns for the glitter and glamor of London while Phyllis longs to attend university. The adored Theo, meanwhile, eclipses everyone around him. None of the children take much notice of Oskar Grunewald, their mother’s science-obsessed godson, who instead seeks refuge in Ellinghurst’s enormous library.

But when the cataclysm of the Great War devastates the Melvilles’ world and reshapes their futures, Jessica and Phyllis must forge new paths in a world that no longer plays by the old rules. As Oskar is drawn reluctantly back into the Melville family fold, his life entwines with theirs in ways that will transform all of their futures forever.
 
In WE THAT ARE LEFT, Clare Clark brings us a new story of an old family whose reckoning with change will haunt and resonate for many generations.