[close] In her #1 international bestseller Hanna's Daughters, Marianne Fredriksson brilliantly evoked three generations of mothers, daughters, and the men in their lives. Now in her haunting new novel, she traces the extraordinary relationship between a mother and son, and the remarkable family they inhabit, exploring an emotional landscape of restless souls and resilient hearts.

Ever since childhood, Simon Larsson has struggled with inexplicable feelings that something from his past was not quite right. The expansive sea bordering his Swedish homeland fills him with longing--for connection, for freedom. But freedom from what? And why does Simon feel so lonely in the center of a loving family? His devoted mother, Karin, the backbone of the house, is the person everyone turns to in time of need; Erik, his father, harbors the simple dream of one day owning a boatyard. Yet history forces them to conceal a shattering secret from Simon--one that, if ever revealed, threatens to destroy them all.

As the shadow of World War II falls across Europe, and Erik is drafted into the fight, Simon forms a friendship with his Jewish classmate, Isak Lentov. It is a relationship that will forever change both their lives, as the Larssons and the Lentovs are irrevocably drawn together to create a makeshift family all their own, striving to endure shame, betrayal, war, even madness.

But no one will remain untouched . . . or unchanged.

The search for who we are and where we came from; the yearning for reconciliation between parent and child; the ever-shifting nature of what makes a family; the realization that truth can be found in what is unspoken--Marianne Fredriksson weaves these elements into a powerful story of survival and transcendence, sacrifice and forgiveness--showing how even the most damaged heart can heal in the most unexpected ways. [close]