Carly May was adopted and has never found out anything about her own biological roots, yet tracing genealogical roots for other families is how she makes a living. She has been hired by Winifred Simmons y Castillo, aunt of the governor of New Mexico, to write a history of her family, but only of the female descendants. This is highly unusual; then, when Carly arrives in Taos, she finds that the governor's father has died, and no one is truly mourning...

"Award-winning master critic Robert Gottlieb takes a singular and multifaceted look at the life of silver screen legend Greta Garbo, and the culture that worshiped her"--

"When you read this, I'll be dead ... " These are the troubling words Serena Charter's grandmother has written on a note accompanying four pages of a centuries-old illuminated manuscript delivered after the old woman's passing. Seeking clues to the mystery laid out before her, Serena turns to Erik North, a reclusive manuscript appraiser with a passion for the past