First published 2012
Justine Nolan makes documentaries for a living, but she never expected her own family to hide such explosive secrets. Ten years after her grandmother Gabri's supposed death, Justine accidentally opens a letter meant for her mother Deborah. The contents shatter everything she believed about her family. Gabri is alive and living in Istanbul. Deborah, a cold interior designer who always prioritized her career over motherhood, has been lying for years. She deliberately cut off contact with Gabri and let Justine believe her grandmother was dead. Justine travels to Istanbul to find the one person who ever truly loved her. There she uncovers family secrets that reach back to World War II. Each revelation strips away another layer of deception her mother constructed. As Justine pieces together the truth about Gabri, she also confronts hard questions about her own life and what she really wants from it.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Istanbul, World War II
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
432 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press