The author of Heidi returns to the landscapes of childhood in this poignant novel about two girls whose lives could not seem more different, yet whose fates intertwine near the Rhine. Nora, the delicate daughter of the Stanhope family, wastes away behind windows, watching the roses bloom and the river glisten while illness confines her to the house. In a neighboring village, Elsli carries the weight of her family on young shoulders, her strength spent keeping her younger siblings clothed and fed. Spyri's genius lies in the spaces between these parallel lives: the unlikely friendship that forms when Nora's mother arranges for the sick girl to spend time with Elsli, the way children recognize in each other what adults cannot see. This is a book about what poverty does to the body and what wealth cannot buy for the soul. A story of childhood in all its tender cruelty and accidental grace. For readers who fell in love with Heidi and for anyone who believes that the truest friendships cross every boundary we build.
