Restless and unable to sleep, Anna picks up a sepia photograph of her grandmother, Hanna, as a young woman. It is like looking in a mirror and Anna sees not the tetchy old woman of family stories but a woman who might love, cry, hate, just as she does. For the first time, Anna sees herself and her mother, Hanna's daughter, not just as a family, but as real people whose lives have rich and complex stories to tell.
Set amidst the lakes and forests of Scandinavia, against a time of tremendous change, this is the story of three generations of women, their sons and lovers, mothers and daughters, which will appeal to everyone who loves "Wild Swans" and the novels of Amy Tan.