How many secrets can a family bear?

Krakow, in the spring of 1939, all signs point to war, as the German Reich relentlessly pushes ahead with its plans to attack Poland. But young Marie is preoccupied with completely different questions: Who is her mother? Why did she disappear when Marie was a toddler? And why does her father, a renowned doctor, refuse to talk about her? When she can no longer stand the uncertainty, Marie decides to take a drastic step.

Marie pulled a hairpin out of her blonde hair. So far, she had no experience as a burglar, but Olaf, a local rapscallion who rode the streetcar to school with her, had boasted to her that week that it was easy to pick a lock with a narrow piece of metal. "Just slide it in and jerk it back and forth a little," he had boasted.
Marie eyed the brass wire and smiled. Usually people saw a hairpin as just an accessory to tame one's hairstyle. Marie saw something else in it - a key.

When Marie breaks open her father's room and searches it, she risks gambling away his trust by doing so. But she has no choice: she must know what became of her mother ...

Rachel Givney tells an impressive story about what makes a family. A novel that is deeply moving and resonates.