{"product_id":"the-shattered-tree-9780062386274","title":"The Shattered Tree","description":"\u003cp\u003eWorld War I battlefield nurse Bess Crawford goes to dangerous lengths to investigate a wounded soldier's background--and uncover his true loyalties--in this thrilling and atmospheric entry in the bestselling \"vivid period mystery series\" (\u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the foot of a tree shattered by shelling and gunfire, stretcher-bearers find an exhausted officer, shivering with cold and a loss of blood from several wounds. The soldier is brought to battlefield nurse Bess Crawford's aid station, where she stabilizes him and treats his injuries before he is sent to a rear hospital. The odd thing is, the officer isn't British--he's French. But in a moment of anger and stress, he shouts at Bess in German.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Bess reports the incident to Matron, her superior offers a ready explanation. The soldier is from Alsace-Lorraine, a province in the west where the tenuous border between France and Germany has continually shifted through history, most recently in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, won by the Germans. But is the wounded man Alsatian? And if he is, on which side of the war do his sympathies really lie?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOf course, Matron could be right, but Bess remains uneasy--and unconvinced. If he was a French soldier, what was he doing so far from his own lines . . . and so close to where the Germans are putting up a fierce, last-ditch fight?\u003c\/p\u003eWhen the French officer disappears in Paris, it's up to Bess--a soldier's daughter as well as a nurse--to find out why, even at the risk of her own life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTodd, Charles:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eCharles Todd is the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestselling author of the Inspector Ian\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eRutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003emysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, Caroline passed away in August 2021 and Charles lives in Florida.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50317967360274,"sku":"9780062386274","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5d4eb66d-70f7-4812-a7ae-ca825f8de0ff.jpg?v=1727544188","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-shattered-tree-9780062386274","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}