This is a beautiful story which takes place in Rome during WWII. Chiara, a 27 year old who cares for an older sister suffering from epilepsy, happens to be out early one morning as Jewish families are being loaded onto trains to concentration camps. In an instant she catches the eye of a young mother and makes a silent promise to keep the little boy, Daniele, in her arms safe. She claims the young boy as her own despite the fact that she is already caring for her sister with little to no income or provisions. The story picks up many years later when Chiara is much older and receives a call from a teenage girl in Wales who claims to be Daniele’s daughter. Maria has never met her father and decides to come to Rome to meet Chiara and search for her long lost father. I really loved the ending of the story, because it wasn’t drawn out and it wasn’t tied up . neatly with a bow. Though the story takes place during the Holocaust, it doesn’t focus solely on the devastation and death. Mostly, it’s a story of how family ties are powerful above all else, even when the family is not related by blood. I would highly recommend this novel, which is publishing September 29, 2015.
Librarian Laura 