Booklist: ". With soaring lyricism, Zackheim limns an exquisitely haunting portrait of an indelibly scarred, yet deeply passionate, woman."

From the day she is born, Sophie Marks’ life is marked by one tragedy after another. Her parents die when she’s an infant, leaving her in the care of her elderly grandparents. As a college student, Sophie falls in love for the first time, only to be abandoned by her lover after she discovers she is pregnant. When German bombs strafe Sophie’s village, burying both her grandparents and infant son beneath the rubble, the final blow is dealt to Sophie’s sanity. After spending years in a mental institution, where yet another lover commits suicide, Sophie reluctantly falls in love again with Luca Bondi, an Italian sculptor, who encourages Sophie’s own considerable artistic talents. Successful, adored, Sophie is not destined to be happy for long: the ghosts of her past losses prevent her from giving Luca the life he truly wants, and ultimately he, too, betrays her. With soaring lyricism, Zackheim limns an exquisitely haunting portrait of an indelibly scarred, yet deeply passionate, woman.