Legacy of Silence

Book excerpt: In Legacy of Silence, New York Times bestselling author Belva Plain creates an unforgettable story of a remarkable family—and a deception that reaches across continents, oceans, and generations. Caroline Hartzinger flees wartime Europe with a shattered life and a devastating secret. Pregnant and unwed, she arrives in America in 1939. Joel Hirsch offers marriage and respectability, hoping one day to earn her love, if not the passion she feels for a man whose memory still haunts them both. With Joel, Caroline builds a new life, determined to bury the past—until her daughter Eve brings Caroline’s carefully crafted world crashing down again, driven by a rage to learn the truth. Now it is Eve’s secret, a legacy that taints her life and puts generations at risk. But with it comes a gift—a new sister, young enough to be her own daughter, who offers hope, then a truth that will finally break the hold of the past.