The 1952 Coast Guard mission to save the crews of two oil tankers that were torn in half by the force of one of New England's worst nor'easters.

Two lives. One hour. A lifetime consequence. I believe in choice, not fate. I chose to nurse a broken heart at the kitschy country bar that night. I chose to let Isaac Cordova buy me a drink. I chose to spend one hour with a near stranger in an attempt to soothe my pain. No last names, no details about our lives, just one hour where I was allowed to forget, and then we would never see each other again. But was it a choice when I ran into him five years later? I needed help, and he was the only person equipped to give it. Our instant attraction doesn¿t feel like much of a choice either, but it doesn't matter. Everything has changed. Now my choices impact other people.And what will I choose? Do I keep Isaac out?Do I dare to let him in?

This book recreates the tensions and uncertainties of the events of 1940.

Donated.

Longlisted for the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction.

Ralph, hoping to impress the local bicycle racing team, uses his secret rocket engine in a race against his friend Dudley, but afterwards only Dudley is asked to join the team.