"A compelling read." —Rosanne Korenberg, co-executive producer of the Oscar-winning film I, Tonya 
 

"Hawthorne, who has written eight nonfiction books, presents a powerful meditation on identity, family history and the legacy of war” —Sandee Brawarsky, The Jewish Week

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"With grace, precision and infinite tenderness, Hawthorne limns the dilemma of the so-called sandwich generation, caught between rambunctious, rebellious children and declining parents. Here is a wise, thoughtful novel to savor and an author to watch--and love." —Yona Zeldis McDonough, fiction editor of Lilith 

 

How many generations does guilt carry on?

For 50 years, Eleanor Ritter's mother Rose has refused to talk about how she survived the Holocaust in Poland and ended up in New Jersey. But now--just as Rose breaks her hip and starts speaking in long-forgotten Polish--Eleanor learns that the parents of her nine-year-old son's new friend are Polish Catholics, born and raised in that country.

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Eleanor starts digging into both families' stories, jeopardizing her already shaky relationships with her mother, her husband, and her children, even as her obsession pushes her to confront the existential questions of American Jews--indeed, of any group that has faced historical persecution.