A dozen years after her grandmother Sala's death, Hadley Freeman stumbled upon a shoebox full of the very private woman's secrets— including photos, letters, a telegram from the Red Cross, and a drawing signed by Picasso—launching a very personal, twisty, and enlightening investigation. From an eastern European shtetl in the early 1900s to WWII-era Paris and beyond, Freeman vividly recounts the astonishing paths taken by Sala and her siblings, all the while exploring themes of identity and assimilation that still resonate today. It's a powerful family saga and a timely contemplation of "the other."