Children don’t require of their parents a past and they find something faintly unbelievable, almost embarrassing, in parental claims to a prior existence.

Creating characters and their history seems to be what [a:Kate Morton|615274|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1444262471p2/615274.jpg] does best. She interweaves the present with spiraling layers of the past, all tethered to three women, separated by circumstance, time, or distance.

As with [b:The Forgotten Garden|3407877|The Forgotten Garden|Kate Morton|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1455283767s/3407877.jpg|3448086], I was able to deduce, early on, the huge plot twist that gets revealed late in the book. However, unlike with The Forgotten Garden, I didn't mind one bit here. Being fairly certain of this secret was like having a pretty darned good idea of what your Christmas present is going to be. You're still excited and can't wait to open the wrappings and reveal the truth which you know it to be. But, you're patient, because somewhere in there, the waiting is half the fun. There were details within this reveal that I wasn't able to discern ahead of time, and that only made the knowledge even juicier upon its appearance.

But, as I say, Morton's characters are the gems of the story. Everyone gets picked up, turned over, and peeked at from all angles. So complete are these characters, especially in this particular book, that I almost didn't want it to end. The nuanced and detailed personalities are a blessing, and writing such fleshed out people only makes it harder to say goodbye.

The historical aspects are a blessing too. With such vividness, Morton paints each scene with care and depth. I felt transported, on the wings of her characters, to the different eras in time, each building upon the knowledge of the preceding pages.