When French perfumer Danielle Bretancourt steps aboard a luxury ocean liner, leaving her son behind in Poland with his grandmother, she has no idea that her life is about to change forever. The year is 1939, and the declaration of war on the European continent soon threatens her beloved family, scattered across many countries. Relying on the strength and support of Jonathan Newell-Grey, a young captain, she gathers the fragments of her impoverished family and flees to America. There she vows to begin life anew in 1940s Los Angeles.

Includes discussion questions [pages 567-569].