Book excerpt: As Hannah Pearl's memories of her 1940 escape to England from war-torn France all but erase her more recent American life, each of her daughters struggles with facing the mystery of Hannah's unspoken memories of grief. Hannah’s daughter Miranda attempts to bring her mother into the present, yet finds herself pulled deeper into a past that Hannah kept secret. In the meantime, Miranda’s daughters, Fiona and Ida, confront the shadows of their grandmother’s heartbreaking history in their own manner. As the revelation of Hannah’s memories uncover a woman they can only imagine, each woman must ask how well anyone can know the inner life of another person – even someone one cherishes.