"One mother's nightmare. One mother's secret."
In the maternity ward of Mercy Hospital, two women's lives collide in an act that will haunt them both for years to come. For Melissa Grout, a fifteen-minute shower becomes an eternal nightmare when she emerges to find her newborn daughter's bassinet empty. As police search futilely and her world crumbles under the weight of loss, she refuses to give up hope that somewhere, somehow, her baby is alive.
A few hundred miles away, Cheryl Winslow cradles the stolen infant, knowing each tender moment could be her last. Consumed by grief over her own baby's death, she makes a desperate choice that will require a lifetime of lies to protect. As little Piper grows, so do the walls Cheryl builds to keep her safe—and her secret hidden.
For sixteen years, these mothers dance an unconscious duet of loss and love. While Melissa channels her grief into a relentless search, sacrificing everything to find her stolen child, Cheryl creates an elaborate façade of normalcy, knowing that one wrong move, one careless word, could bring her whole world crashing down.
Two mothers. One daughter. Sixteen years of lies.
Genre: Literary Fiction
In the maternity ward of Mercy Hospital, two women's lives collide in an act that will haunt them both for years to come. For Melissa Grout, a fifteen-minute shower becomes an eternal nightmare when she emerges to find her newborn daughter's bassinet empty. As police search futilely and her world crumbles under the weight of loss, she refuses to give up hope that somewhere, somehow, her baby is alive.
A few hundred miles away, Cheryl Winslow cradles the stolen infant, knowing each tender moment could be her last. Consumed by grief over her own baby's death, she makes a desperate choice that will require a lifetime of lies to protect. As little Piper grows, so do the walls Cheryl builds to keep her safe—and her secret hidden.
For sixteen years, these mothers dance an unconscious duet of loss and love. While Melissa channels her grief into a relentless search, sacrificing everything to find her stolen child, Cheryl creates an elaborate façade of normalcy, knowing that one wrong move, one careless word, could bring her whole world crashing down.
Two mothers. One daughter. Sixteen years of lies.
Genre: Literary Fiction