From the author of the highly praised Days of Awe: a sweeping, achingly beautiful new novel that moves between Germany on the eve of World War II and present day Wisconsin, unspooling a story of love, longing, and the ceaseless push and pull of motherhood.
Anelise is a dreamer: happy to contemplate an unrequited crush while working at her parents' popular bakery in Feldenheim, Germany, anticipating all the delicious possibilities yet to come. There are rumors that the Nazis are rising to power, but Anelise and her family can't quite believe that they're true-and if they are, that it will affect them at all. As Anelise falls in love, marries, and gives birth to her daughter, the world outside grows more and more unsettling: a brick thrown through her window; Jewish teachers dismissed from schools; men beaten in the streets by increasingly present soldiers. Now, when Anelise and her husband have the opportunity to leave for America, they must decide if they're willing to abandon the rich life they've built for themselves.
Two generations later, in a small Midwestern city, Clare falls in love for the first time. The object of her affection is British and has a small son in London, a place Clare can imagine one day calling home. Until, a trove of letters found in her grandmother Anelise's house reveals a shocking story that changes Clare's entire understanding of family.
