Bluebird

In 1918, Corporal Jeremiah Bailey serves with the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company, laying explosives in the tunnels dug beneath enemy trenches. A blast leaves him gravely wounded, and he wakes in a Belgian field hospital under the care of Adele Savard, a Canadian nursing sister. The men call the nurses Bluebirds, a nickname that comes from their blue dresses and white headpieces. As Jerry recovers, he and Adele grow close. Adele comes from a community near Windsor, Jerry's home on the Detroit River, so she brings him a piece of home in the middle of the fighting. When he is sent back to the front, his only hope is that he will see his bluebird again. Both survive the war and return to Windsor, marked by what they endured overseas. Their paths cross again, and they have a chance to begin anew. But Prohibition has gripped the city, opening profitable routes alongside dangerous new conflicts that could undo everything they have fought to protect. In the present day, Cassie Simmons, a museum curator who loves uncovering the past, has a personal interest in the rumrunners who smuggled liquor across the Detroit River during Prohibition. When a stash of whisky labeled Bailey Brothers' Best turns up during renovations to a local home, she hopes it will reveal what she has been seeking about the legendary bootlegging family. The novel follows these two timelines, a century apart, and explores how love and resilience can draw people back home.