In the summer of 1946 a Canadian farmer in Paris, Ontario finds a severed finger lying in his field. It points to a grisly murder that occurred nearby. It also points back in time to a young French woman, sixteen year old Adele Georges, the daughter of a well-respected doctor in war-torn France. Living in German-occupied France and with her beloved father missing in action, Adele meets a young German clerk called Manfred Halder who tries to help her and she makes the mistake of falling in love. They carry on a clandestine affair. Adele is terrified that her secret will be discovered by her brother who is fighting in the French underground and that she'll be exposed as a collaborator. In their youthful naivete Adele and Manfred agree to run away together, but before they can put their plan into action the Allies land on the beaches of Normandy and Manfred is swallowed up in the raging battle that ensues.

James W. Nichol is best known to CBC Radio listeners as the author of two popular and long-running mystery series: "Midnight Cab" and "Peggy Delaney." He has been writing for radio, film, television, and theatre since 1964, and is the author of the critically acclaimed play Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. His 1989 radio adaptation of The Stone Angel was so successful that he wrote a stage version, which continues to be performed in theatres across Canada. This mesmerizing radio dramatization, originally released on cassette and now in a CD edition, features such well-known actors as Janet Wright, Richard Donat, and Ted Dykstra, as well as a haunting musical score.

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"Transgression is writing that gets under your skin and remains there. It's a must-read for 2009."

Hamilton Spectator

"The vivid prose, harrowing plot and the defiant Adele will keep readers invested in this love story-cum-murder mystery until the very last page."

Publishers Weekly