Fourteen-year-old Molly worries about school, friends, and her parentsÕ failed marriage, but mostly about her mother ElaineÕs growing depression. Molly knows her mother, who shuts herself off from human connections and instead buries herself in the lives and deaths of the strangers she writes about, is nursing her own carefully-kept secret. But in ElaineÕs raw and fragile state, Molly knows not to pry too deeply. Until her Uncle Stephen is thrust into the limelight because of his miracle cure of a young man and her mother can no longer hide behind other peopleÕs stories. As Molly digs into her motherÕs past, she finds a secret hidden in her motherÕs dresser that may be the key to unlocking a family mystery dating to 1918 New YorkÑa secret that could save or destroy their future.