In this spellbinding historical novel from theNew York Timesbestselling author ofA Long Petal of the SeaandThe House of the Spirits, a young writer journeys to South America to uncover the truth about her father—and herself.In San Francisco in 1866, an Irish nun, abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman.To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of seventeen, she begins to publish pulp fiction using a man’s pen name. When these fictional worlds can no longer satisfy her sense of adventure, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor atThe Daily Examinerto hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan.As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, as do
