Four generations of women experience love, loss, war and hope from the rise of Nazism to the Cuban Revolution and, finally, the fall of the Berlin Wall in this sweeping novel from the internationally bestselling author of The German Girl.



Sydney Morning Herald Best Reads of the Year for 2023



Berlin, 1931: Ally Keller, a talented young poet, is alone and scared when she gives birth to a mixed-race daughter she names Lilith. As the Nazis rise to power, Ally knows she must keep her baby in the shadows to protect her against Hitler's deadly ideology of Aryan purity. But as she grows, it becomes more and more difficult to keep Lilith hidden, so Ally sets in motion a dangerous and desperate plan to send her daughter across the ocean to safety.

 

Havana, 1958: Now an adult, Lilith has few memories of her mother or her childhood in Germany. Besides, she's excited for her future with her beloved Martin, a Cuban pilot with strong ties to the Batista government. But as the flames of revolution ignite, Lilith and her newborn daughter, Nadine, find themselves at a terrifying crossroads.

 

Berlin, 1988: Nadine has spent her entire life avoiding the truth about her own family's history. It takes her daughter, Luna, to convince her to uncover the truth about the choices her mother and grandmother made to ensure the survival of their children. And it will fall to Luna to come to terms with a shocking betrayal that changes everything she thought she knew about her family's past.