by Cesca Major
First published 2016
Irina works alone in her coastal village workshop, fixing broken furniture and avoiding the family secret that drove her into isolation. When someone delivers an antique bureau without leaving their name, Irina feels something wrong about the piece. She starts digging into where it came from and what memories it might hold. The story shifts back to the 1950s and Abigail, a young woman who spent one summer falling in love and planning her future. Abigail had no way to predict the disaster coming her way. That catastrophe would reshape multiple lives forever. As Irina pieces together the bureau's past, she uncovers connections between Abigail's story and her own hidden pain. The furniture holds more than old wood and metal. It carries the weight of choices made decades ago and consequences that still echo in the present.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, secrets
Setting: Coastal Village, Russia
Period: 1950s, Present Day
368 pages · Paperback · Corvus