First published 2015
Rachel Rabinowitz lives with her family in a cramped Lower East Side tenement in 1919. She is four years old and full of life. Tragedy tears her from her brother Sam and lands her in a Jewish orphanage. There, Dr. Mildred Solomon uses Rachel for medical research, subjecting her to X-ray treatments that leave her body scarred. The other children torment her for years. At fifteen, Rachel escapes to Colorado to search for Sam. She finds relatives she never knew existed. Decades later, Rachel works as a nurse at Manhattan's Old Hebrews Home. Her patient turns out to be Dr. Solomon, now elderly and dying of cancer. Rachel becomes consumed with forcing the doctor to admit her crimes and face punishment. But caring for Solomon day after day reveals unexpected truths about both women. Rachel must decide whether to seek revenge or show mercy. Her choice will determine whether she becomes someone who harms or someone who heals.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, abuse, 20th-century, adoption
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Lower East Side, Colorado
Period: 1919
416 pages · Kindle Edition · William Morrow Paperbacks
Content warnings: abuse, medical-trauma