This is a gripping story of friendship and second chances from Christina Baker Kline, author of “Bird in Hand” and “The Way Life Should Be.”

    On the coast of Maine lives a rich 91-year-old woman named Vivian Daly. Yet in her attic* are trunks* that keep the secrets of her past.

    It is the year 2011, and nearby in the same town of Spruce Harbor lives a 17-year-old girl named Molly Ayer. She has moved from foster home* to foster home, and is now in a situation involving petty theft* that will require some kind of community service*.

    The story is told in alternate* perspectives, showing what has happened to each of them, and how the parallel lines of their lives now cross to spotlight the similarities between them.

    From Daly’s early childhood in Ireland, to New York City, comes her passage on the Orphan Trains in 1929. A journey that will take her to Minnesota, from one home to another, never really knowing what home feels like, as she is treated like a slave and seldom has enough of anything, much less love.

    What Ayer sees when she meets the elderly woman is a wealthy person who could not understand her or her troubles. But as the two of them clean out the boxes in the attic, the stories they share with one another reveal so much more than either could have thought of.

    Ayer discovers that she can help Daly find answers to mysteries* that have haunted her for her entire life — answers that will free them both.

    Rich in detail, this is a powerful novel of upheaval* and resilience*, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.

    (SD-Agencies)