First published 2014
Hope McKenna-Smith stands in her failing Cape Cod bakery at thirty-six, her life crumbling around her. Cancer took her mother, divorce took her husband, and debt threatens to take the family business. Her law degree dreams feel like ancient history as she struggles to raise her troubled preteen alone. Now her French grandmother Mamie slips deeper into Alzheimer's fog. But during one clear moment, Mamie shares fragments of her wartime past in Nazi-occupied Paris. She presses a handwritten list of names into Hope's hands before the memories vanish forever. Hope travels to France with only these cryptic clues to guide her investigation. She discovers her grandmother survived the Holocaust through extraordinary determination. The deeper Hope digs into seventy-year-old records and testimonies, the more she understands Mamie's incredible strength during humanity's darkest chapter. Her search becomes a mission to reconnect two lovers separated by war's brutality. Hope must find courage she never knew she possessed.
Genres: holocaust, historical-fiction, world-war-ii, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, found-family
Setting: Cape Cod, France, Paris, Nazi-Occupied Paris
Period: World War II, Present Day
409 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Booket
Content warnings: war