Patterns of life - Janet Wright Matthews

But when seventeen-year-old Catherine Harrison's beloved mother dies, all hopes of a college education vanish as she is forced to travel with her father to Cornwall to make a new start. Life is difficult as, unbeknown to Catherine, Walter Harrison is a deserter, living in fear of being discovered.

Through her younger brother, Catherine meets and befriends Gunter Steiner, a half-German ex-prisoner-of-war, and she encourages him to start up a silk factory, his German family's business, in a group of fisherman's cottages situated on his late mother's land. The business thrives, but Walter is against the relationship and tries to stop it. He also knows that Francis Ransom, a soldier he attacked and injured for his papers when he deserted -- a crime still punishable by death - is tracking him down, and when Ransom eventually catches up with him, Walter kills him.

To try to cover up his crime, Walter decides to stir up anti-German feeling in the town. After all, what better way to dispose of a body than in the flames of Gunter's silk factory? It is up to Catherine to try to prevent a potentially tragic outcome and to acknowledge the love which has grown for a man who is still perceived by most as an enemy.