Opening
The novel opens in two worlds: in present-day Florida, Alice Michaels fights through the daily gauntlet of caregiving for her nonverbal son, Eddie Michaels. In 1938 Poland, Alina Dziak and Tomasz Slaski dream of a future just as war gathers at their doorstep. A public meltdown, a hillside proposal, and an urgent hospital message collide to spark one question: Who is Tomasz, and what must be found before it’s too late?
What Happens
Chapter 1: A Meltdown and a Miracle
Alice reaches for yogurt in a grocery store when everything unravels. A packaging change triggers Eddie’s meltdown—screams, flailing, spilled food—while shoppers stare and the manager hovers. Already rushing to see her beloved Babcia after a stroke, Alice sinks to the floor, overwhelmed.
An elderly woman kneels beside them, meeting Eddie with calm and respect. She pulls toys from her handbag and spins a wooden dreidel. Eddie watches the whirring top, steadying. The woman explains the Hebrew letters mean “a great miracle happened there,” passes the dreidel to Eddie, and tells Alice, “You’re doing a good job, Momma.” Outside, Alice sobs in the car—crushed by Eddie’s distress, her husband Wade’s absence, and fear for Babcia—before driving to the hospital.
Chapter 2: A Promise on the Hill
Spring 1938 in Trzebinia. Fifteen-year-old Alina is in love with eighteen-year-old Tomasz, the doctor’s son, who is leaving for medical school in Warsaw. On their hilltop overlooking town, he promises their future, tells her he has her father’s blessing, and proposes. They vow that distance won’t change anything.
At the station the next morning, Alina says goodbye to Tomasz and reassures his father, Aleksy, and his sister, Emilia Slaski, that she will visit. That night, Alina’s mother gives her a family wedding ring—a plain gold band—as a pledge of the life to come, aligning Alina’s hope with Love, Sacrifice, and Loyalty. Alina begins her long wait, praying nightly for Tomasz’s safety.
Chapter 3: A Voice Through the Screen
At the hospital, Alice meets her mother, Julita Slaski-Davis, whose critical edge sharpens the tension. Babcia is awake but cannot speak or seem to hear, and despair fills the room. Eddie climbs into her bed and nestles against her—an immediate, instinctive connection. The doctor explains that a stroke has likely caused aphasia, making Communication and Silence the family’s new reality.
Then a breakthrough. Babcia reaches for Eddie’s iPad and uses his AAC app—first to “talk” to Eddie about the dreidel, then to type urgent, fragmented cues to Alice: “Find Tomasz,” “Emergency,” “Box,” “Camera,” “Paper.” Alice assumes confusion; Babcia’s husband wasn’t named Tomasz. Frustration rises until Julita realizes her mother may want an old box of keepsakes. Julita leaves to search, and relief softens Babcia’s face.
Chapter 4: The World Shatters
Summer 1939. Rumors harden into dread. Alina hears the German invasion is near and writes Tomasz to come home. On September 1, bombs fall. The family hides in the cellar as planes scream overhead and windows rattle; fear becomes the air Alina breathes, thrusting her into War, Trauma, and Survival. Afterward, Alina’s brothers search the ruined town and return with a shaken Emilia; Aleksy is alive but overwhelmed with the wounded.
Days later, the Nazis force everyone into the square. To crush resistance, they execute Aleksy and the mayor in front of the town. Alina clamps a hand over Emilia’s mouth, knowing a scream could get her killed. At home, Alina’s parents say they cannot take Emilia in permanently. Alina takes the girl’s hand anyway and promises to keep her safe until Tomasz returns.
Chapter 5: An Impossible Choice
With the town square still echoing in her ears, Alina brings Emilia to the home of her older sister, Truda, and her husband, Mateusz. Childless and steady, they agree to raise Emilia as their own. Life tightens under Nazi rule. On the street, SS officers evaluate Emilia for the Lebensborn program, a chilling reminder that even children can be stolen.
Then a decree: each family must send one child over twelve for forced labor. After a hushed, agonizing argument, Alina’s brothers, Filipe and Stanislaw, volunteer so their sister won’t be taken. At the station, Alina says goodbye, grief and guilt scoring the moment into permanence. She never sees them again.
Character Development
Across these chapters, private battles and public catastrophes force each character to step into roles they never aspired to but cannot avoid.
- Alice Michaels: From overwhelmed and isolated, she finds unexpected validation in a stranger’s compassion and becomes the crucial interpreter for Babcia, shifting from caregiver to detective.
- Alina Dziak: She moves from dreamy adolescent to wartime protector, binding herself to Emilia and facing loss with grim resolve.
- Eddie Michaels: His meltdown reveals his vulnerability, but his quiet attunement to Babcia shows intuitive empathy; his AAC device becomes the family’s lifeline.
- Babcia (Hanna): Physically frail yet fiercely purposeful, she fights aphasia to deliver a message that could reshape the family’s understanding of the past.
- Emilia Slaski: Orphaned in an instant, she is carried by Alina’s promise and Truda’s home, embodying both danger and hope under occupation.
Themes & Symbols
Communication and Silence shapes both timelines: Eddie’s nonverbal world and Babcia’s aphasia push the family to invent new channels of connection. The iPad becomes more than a tool; it is a bridge, proving language can live in screens, symbols, and touch. The title reverberates here—what cannot be said still demands to be heard.
Love, Sacrifice, and Loyalty binds Alina and Tomasz’s promise to the wartime choices that follow: Truda and Mateusz shelter Emilia; Filipe and Stanislaw lay down their freedom for their sister. These acts intersect with War, Trauma, and Survival, where public violence forces private heroism. The dreidel—a small toy in a fluorescent aisle—emerges as a symbol of improbable grace and endurance, its message of “a great miracle happened there” echoing across generations into Family Legacy and Intergenerational Connection, where an old ring, a typed plea, and a child’s calm presence thread past to present.
Key Quotes
“a great miracle happened there.”
The stranger’s explanation of the dreidel reframes a humiliating moment as an instance of grace. The phrase foreshadows survival and suggests that history’s unlikeliest mercies often arrive through small, human gestures.
“You’re doing a good job, Momma.”
This simple affirmation interrupts the chorus of judgment around Alice. It restores dignity, recenters her as a capable mother, and models the compassionate gaze the novel prizes over public scrutiny.
“Find Tomasz.” “Emergency.” “Box.” “Camera.” “Paper.”
Babcia’s fragmented messages, typed through Eddie’s AAC device, turn silence into a mystery. The clipped nouns carry urgency, implying evidence—objects and images—that will unlock buried history.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
The first five chapters establish a dual engine: a present-day caregiving drama and a wartime survival story, both propelled by a single name—Tomasz. The modern plot is intimate and logistical; the historical plot is mortal and public. Together they reveal how love endures under pressure and how the unspoken—whether due to disability, trauma, or time—demands witness. As Alice follows Babcia’s clues and Alina confronts occupation, the novel sets its emotional stakes: finding Tomasz means recovering a legacy strong enough to answer what the past could not say aloud.