An evocative, page-turning debut about jealousy, loyalty, and the secrets we keep to protect those we love 1955- In an apartment on the Lower East Side, school teachers Dovie and Gillian live as lodgers. Dancing behind closed curtains, mixing cocktails for two, they guard their private lives fiercely. Until someone guesses the truth . . . 1975- Ava Winters is keeping her own secret. Her mother has become erratic, haunted by something Ava doesn't understand - until, one sweltering July morning, she disappears. After her mother's departure, Ava receives a parcel. If she can discover where it came from, she may find her answers - and meet the woman at the heart of it all. . .

AT CARDS AND WITH WOMEN, BILL MAYNARD KNEW HOW TO CHEAT <br> On the mend after getting run out of Chicago, professional cardsharp Bill Maynard is hungry for some action - but not nearly as hungry as Joyce Rogers, the tantalizing wife of Bill's latest mark. Together they hatch an ingenious scheme to get rid of her husband. But in life as in poker, the other player sometimes has an ace up his sleeve...