A STUNNING DEBUT ... AN EPIC FULL OF EMOTION, CONTROVERSY, AND INTRIGUE. LONGLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL FICTION COMPANY'S 2022 BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD Watch the official book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFz18l2bHM&t=17s (Copy link) 1845: Chased by demons of his past, John Dallington flees his Irish homeland in hopes of silencing the throes of his guilty conscience by creating a new life on the American continent. But when the death of his wife leaves his heart and faith shipwrecked, he doubts whether God's eyes see the pain inside his soul, and he sets out to create a mask that will hide the link to everything he once loved. 1851: Innocent, lonely, and craving to be cherished, eleven-year-old orphan Kate Fletcher attends her First Communion service with a heart full of trepidation and awe. She knows that when she grows up she must be pleasing to God and to his Church, and she will do so by devoting her life to becoming a Sister of Mercy. But when the time of Final Vows arrives, her predictable future is suddenly overturned by an unexpected request for service, and she finds herself questioning both God and the Church. Set against the backdrop of the nineteenth-century Irish immigration movement and the American Civil War, this fascinating story follows the lives of Kate and John as they collide amidst the turmoil and treachery of a war-torn Washington, DC, where they both are forced to grapple with questions about their pasts, their choices, and the will of God.