Rebecca D’Harlingue delves into the repercussions of family secrets and our attempts to reveal ourselves. Her writing explores the complexities of human connection and the persistent drive for self-discovery. Through her narratives, she shares a profound appreciation for storytelling, engaging both young children and long-time book club members. D’Harlingue invites readers to contemplate their own lives and relationships through the lens of her compelling prose.
In 1660 Amsterdam, Anneke longs to create a new map, but cartography is the domain of men. Still, she persists, and eventually it seems her goal may actually be in sight-until family secrets, infidelity, and even murder threaten her dream.
A young girl flees seventeenth-century Madrid, in fear for her life. Three centuries later and a continent away, a woman comes across old papers long hidden away, and in them discovers the reason for the flight so long ago, and for her own mother's enigmatic dying words.