In 1989, when her father enters a nursing home, Katie Nelson finds a distinctive Austrian stamp dating from World War II among his possessions. The stamp leads her to the story of Kristoff, apprentice to a Jewish stamp engraver in Austria, who joined the Resistance after his master disappeared during Kristallnacht. From the author of Margot, a LibraryReads pick; rights sold to five countries.

In Cantor's latest novel (after The Hours Count and Margot), a mysterious letter with an unusual stamp reveals a family secret from World War II. Katie Nelson's life is not going well when she delivers her father's stamp collection to an appraiser in 1989 Los Angeles. Her father is suffering from Alzheimer's, and she has spent the past year getting him settled into an assisted-living facility. Her husband, who also happens to be her boss, has filed for divorce. The appraiser, Benjamin, however, does find one possible treasure—a letter with a German stamp from Nazi-occupied Austria, containing a hidden edelweiss flower. When Katie mentions this letter to her father, his agitated reaction propels her and Benjamin on a search for its meaning. Little does Katie realize that the quest for both the intended letter recipient and the stampmaker will lead her to her own family history. VERDICT Full of heartbreak and tragedy, this novel about love lost and found and the importance of memories, is ultimately uplifting and would be a great choice for readers who enjoy stories set during World War II. [See Prepub Alert, 1/8/17.]—Catherine Coyne, Mansfield P.L., MA

Cantor uses a mysterious Austrian stamp of an edelweiss hidden within a church steeple as the subject of her affecting new novel, which unfolds in dual story lines. For what reason was the flower added, after Hitler annexed Austria, to a stamp already in circulation? Why, as Katie Nelson discovers decades later, did her increasingly senile father seek out the stamp, still affixed to an unopened letter? Furthermore, what explains his outburst upon learning that Katie took his collection to appraiser Benjamin Grossman? It's all about the symbolism of the edelweiss, "an expression of love proof of unusual daring," and a gentile artist named Kristoff, who lived with his mentor, renowned Jewish engraver Frederick Faber. The Faber family's Judaism, like the intense faith of Katie's father, stands in stark contrast to her secular lifestyle in 1989 Los Angeles. As Katie and Benjamin methodically trace the stamp's history and the letter's intended recipient, the Berlin Wall is being pulled down. Its destruction is a metaphor for the barriers that fall in the story, walls erected within families and built on secrets, barriers created for emotional self-preservation. Cantor (The Hours Count) integrates her historical research well and effectively harnesses the story's emotional resonance, slowly building tension before resolving the mystery and converging the two story lines. (June)