From the relationship of an old farmer, a Victorian zealot, and a precocious three-year-old comes the advice, “Life is what it is, Child. Deal with it, or accept it and let it be.” 

      But a child wants to know “Why?” 

      Katie's coming of age revolves around her search for answers to ties broken, half-distorted memories, and irrational fears that will lead her from abandonment and betrayal only to more questions.

     How do we reach goals that seem too far away to even try? How do we forgive what we can’t understand? Can deep wounds ever heal? Can we change love and make it new? Will a reluctant reunion set her free? The lesson: by forgiving others and yourself, you can keep the past from ruining your future.

     This tender depiction of a child’s mind makes us think twice about what we say when we assume children cannot yet understand, or they will not remember, and how their innocent perceptions of what we say are revealed in their life choices. 

      Frank McCourt said of Angela’s Ashes, “Children are almost deadly in their detachment from the world ... They are absolutely pragmatic, and they tell the truth.”

      Katie tells the truth as she sees it, and tries to adapt herself to its uncomfortable demands. Perhaps we are never meant to know the why of a matter in order to survive it. Perhaps the old farmer was right.

            This novel has the compelling honesty of an intimate conversation. Knowing the hearts of her characters, showing them with compassion, humor, and illuminating generosity, Katie finds that forgiveness is survival.