Three generations of women hover between wishful innocence and a more knowing resilience against the cruelty that hidden secrets of the past propel into the present.

Mary-Beth Hughes is the author of the bestselling novel¿Wavemaker II, äNew York Times¿Notable Book, and the acclaimed collection¿Double Happiness, which earned a Pushcart Prize. Her latest book, The Loved Ones, was a New York Times Editors' Choice. Her stories have been published in The Paris Review,¿Ploughshares,¿Georgia Review, and¿A Public Space. She lives in Brooklyn and Rhinebeck, New York.