First published 2017
Alexandra Boyd travels to Sofia, Bulgaria, seeking refuge from grief over her brother's death. After helping an elderly couple into a taxi, she discovers she has kept their bag by mistake. Inside sits a wooden box containing an urn of human ashes marked with the name Stoyan Lazarov. Alexandra decides to return the urn to its rightful family, but her search draws her into the story of a gifted musician destroyed by political oppression. Her quest to understand Lazarov's fate leads her through Bulgaria's dark history and puts her in unexpected danger. As Alexandra digs deeper into the past, she must confront both the country's buried secrets and her own unresolved loss. The investigation becomes a journey through Bulgarian culture and landscape, where stories from different eras collide and the weight of history threatens the present.
Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, investigation, quest
Setting: Bulgaria, Sofia
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
478 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books