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by Tilly Grey
Set in the late 1950s, Jenny, a teenage girl struggling with systemic Lupus, meets Ethan Mathis, a Holocaust survivor, in a New York City hospital. The two meet again on an ocean liner carrying them to different destinations: He to teach for a year in Rome, she to enter an experimental medical program in a Swiss hospital. From then, their lives intertwine.
Rich with historical details, the story tells how Ethan survives in a World War II prisoner camp, and how Jenny survives by entering her fantasy world. Their burgeoning friendship eventually changes their lives. Woven among the story are fascinating points of culture as both young and old characters experience very human needs.
Adding mystery, and compelling Ethan and Jenny forward, is the search for Ruth, his younger sister, who was lost in the death camp – or was she?