First published 2015
Alma Belasco arrives at her aunt and uncle's San Francisco mansion in 1939, a Polish refugee fleeing Nazi occupation. In the gardens of their estate, she meets Ichimei Fukuda, the Japanese gardener's gentle son. Their secret romance blooms until Pearl Harbor changes everything. The government declares Japanese Americans enemies and forces Ichimei's family into internment camps. Alma and Ichimei spend decades finding each other again, only to hide their love from a hostile world. Years later, care worker Irina Bazili tends to elderly Alma at Lark House nursing home. Irina befriends Alma's grandson Seth as mysterious letters and gifts arrive for their patient. Together, they uncover the story of a forbidden love that survived war, prejudice, and seventy years of separation.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: San Francisco, Lark House
Period: 1939, Pearl Harbor
337 pages · Hardcover · Atria Books
Content warnings: racism