Seventeen-year-old Sarah Robertson is smart, quirky, spoiled, and stubborn. When she spots her great aunt's dusty old trunk in the hazy glow of an attic window of her palatial home, her curiosity overrides her father's warnings that it is "off-limits" and "There would be consequences. . ."
As soon as she raises the lid, Sarah senses she has not only disregarded her parents' trust but violated the sanctity of her great-aunt and namesake's privacy. But, having nearly destroyed the old latches with a screwdriver, she decides it is too late to try and hide her crime.
Inside, she finds old leather journals written in German. Two have covers that are badly stained with what she realizes is blood. A tattered tote bag holds a heavy pistol and a clip of ammunition. There are badly burned photos and numerous sketch pads with drawings rendered by a talented artist. In a small, ambered plastic box, she finds the picture of a young German soldier standing next to a motorcycle, looking out at the camera with a smile; a cigarette dangles from the corner of his mouth. There are also medals, including a World War II-era Iron Cross with a red, black, and white ribbon.
The initial journal entry was made on April 28, 1945. Sarah was able to glean that she and her namesake shared the same birth month and date and that she was also seventeen when she made the entry. She put everything back in the order she found it, except the first journal.
When Sarah enlists the aid of a German exchange student to help with the translation, he stuns her with the revelation that her relative is a Jewish escapee from a Nazi concentration camp.
When she finally approaches her mother about her misdeed, Sarah learns that her parents' marriage is ending, and they must flee from her abusive father. That is when Sarah's real journey of discovery begins.
This is a tale about coming of age, stirring the sleeping passions of the heart, and pushing back the curtains of time to reveal the hidden secrets that define the fundamental elements of what can make up a family.