Secrets She Kept

In a small North Carolina mountain town in the early 1970s, Hannah Sterling struggles with questions of forgiveness after her mother's death. Taking leave from her job as a high school teacher, Hannah rummages through her emotionally distant mother's old home, only to find letters connecting her grandfather to the Nazi party. Hannah embarks on a journey through Germany to uncover the secrets of her family's past, a task her octogenarian grandfather and his close associate are only too eager to block. Told from both Hannah's viewpoint and that of her mother as a young woman, this well-researched epic depicts life under the Nazi regime with passionate attention. While the Sterling family story serves as a warning about digging into the past, it is also a touching example of the healing power of forgiveness and the rejuvenating power of faith. (Sept.)