When eight-year-old Nora arrives at the Park Ridge School for Girls in 1932, she is sure there’s been some mistake. She can’t imagine why she and her little sister, Patsy, were torn from their mother only to be subjected to the cruel whims of the house matron, Mrs. Morris. When their mother fails to rescue them week after week—and Mrs. Morris drops hints that their mother may be a “fallen woman”—Nora begins to doubt they will ever see her again.

Nine years prior, at seventeen, Gertie Gufftason runs off with Lorenzo, the barker for the traveling carnival passing through her small coal-mining town in Southern Iowa. Thinking she is embarking on a fantastic adventure, Gertie is bitterly disappointed by the life that follows and is thrown into despair when the State removes their two daughters.

Gertie eventually tracks down her girls at the Park Ridge, but, expecting a warm welcome, she is shocked by Nora’s cool reception. Nora reluctantly returns home with Gertie and Patsy, determined to live a more perfect life than her mother. It is only when she discovers a secret Gertie has kept hidden all these years that Nora begins to fully understand—and forgive—her mother’s tragic choices . . .

Perfect for readers who enjoy sweeping generational sagas featuring a mother-daughter bond tested across decades, sisters who survive a girls’ home together, a long-buried family secret, and Depression-era women fighting to reclaim what was taken from them.

Fans of Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours, Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train, and Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds will be swept up in this emotional, three-generation story of love, loss, and forgiveness.

“A compelling, poignant story. Michelle Cox writes flawed, fascinating women with understanding, compassion, and grace.”—Kate Quinn, New York Times best-selling author

“Cox offers a powerful saga that plunges into the complexity of family, love, forgiveness, and the cyclical nature of three-generational family dynamics.”—Booklife, Editor’s pick

“An addictive read!“—Kirkus Reviews

“A piercing historical novel about the gravitational pull that early memories exert on mothers and daughters.”—Foreword Reviews