Timothy Henzel has inherited his grandmother Christina's love of glass and his father's delicate talent as an engraver and he dreams of creating new and innovative glass. His twin sister Cordelia dreams of studying at Girton College. But when their father dies, their hopes for the future are threatened by their mother's obsessive love for her young son. Determined to break her hold, he persuades Cordelia to accompany him to America, to Corning, known as Crystal City. Life is hard at first, but Tim soon finds work in the industry he loves and Cordelia begins to share his excitement in this vibrant young country. However Cordelia must make a choice between two the American Jensen Novak, who threatens to steal her trusting heart despite his own secrets, and the brooding French immigrant Pierre, who brings with him a shadow of the past.
Donna Thomson was born in Gosport, near Portsmouth Harbour, England, UK. Growing up during the terrifying years of the Blitz in a two-up, two-down terraced house, the youngest of four, she aspired to be a writer from an early age.
As a young woman she worked in the Civil Service and moved to Devon to be near her sailor husband. They had a son and a daughter. When the marriage ended, she and her two children moved to the Midlands, where she happily married again to her second husband. After living in the Lake District for twelve years, she finally moved back to Devon, and now lives in a village on the edge of Dartmoor. She lost her son Philip in 2008, and has two grandchildren. A keen walker and animal-lover, she now has a dog and three ginger cats to keep her busy, along with a wide range of hobbies she enjoys.
She started signing her romance novels as Donna Baker and Nicola West, now she also writes as Lilian Harry (inspired by the first names of her grandparents). Among her works are historical novels, romances and even two books giving advice on how to write short stories and novels.