First published 2020
When Hans Neumann dies, he leaves his daughter Ariana a mysterious box containing letters, diary entries, and photographs. For ten years, Ariana cannot bring herself to explore its contents. She knows only that something terrible happened to her father during the war, something so traumatic he built an industrial empire in Venezuela but never spoke of his past. When she finally has the letters translated, Ariana discovers that twenty-five of thirty-four Neumann family members were murdered by the Nazis. Her father Hans survived by fleeing to Berlin, where he hid under the Gestapo's nose. The first family member taken was arrested in 1941 for bathing in a river forbidden to Jews, transported to Auschwitz, and dead within eighteen days. Armed with these fragments, Ariana embarks on a worldwide investigation to piece together her family's story. She uncovers portraits of relatives who loved, searched for meaning, and fought to survive during humanity's darkest chapter.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, found-family
Setting: Berlin, Auschwitz, Venezuela
Period: 1941, World War II
336 pages · Paperback · Scribner
Content warnings: death, violence