January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front, a photo of the Opera Garnier in Paris. On the back, the names of Anne Berest's maternal great-grandparents, Ephraim and Emma, and their children, Noemie and Jacques--all killed at Auschwitz. Fifteen years after the postcard is delivered, Anne, is moved to discover who sent it and why. Aided by her chain-smoking mother, family members, friends, associates, a private detective, a graphologist, and many others, she embarks on a journey to discover the fate of the Rabinovitch family: their flight from Russia following the revolution, their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris.
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