A gripping tale of impossible love, discover the hotly anticipated No. 1 Italian bestseller now available for the first time in English. Legend speaks of the Maker of Tears: a man with eyes like glass, who crafts all the fears that dwell in people's hearts. What will it take for star-crossed orphans Nica and Rigel to face him and his creations?

Growing up within the walls of Grave's Orphanage, Nica's imagination burns with fantastical stories, including that of The Tearsmith, a mysterious craftsman guilty of having forged all the fears and anxieties in the world. When at seventeen, she's adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Mulligan, Nica thinks she's leaving her world of dark fairy tales behind her. But the Mulligans also adopt Rigel, an orphan who is as mesmerizing and handsome as he is troubled. They share a past filled with grief and isolation, and the ever-gentle Nica starts to fall for her forbidden love.

However, it isn't long until the fears and the darkness of her childhood threaten to unravel her future. Can Nica find the courage to embrace the future, forget her past, and fall for her secret love?.