Not a typical 1950s mother, Molly's mom is a writer d a mystery. The girl's uncle, meanwhile, is a possible miracle worker who cured a sick boy. Molly acutely feels her family's quirks, especially when vigils are set up on their lawn. The situation makes the teen an oddity among her San Jose peers, prompting her to investigate what makes her mother so silent about her past, even while Uncle Stephan is investigated by the Catholic Church. In alternate chapters to Molly's, her mother Elaine's story unfolds. Orphaned by consequences of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, Elaine struggles to keep herself and her brother out of orphanage. A position reading to an elderly, and well-off, blind man, changes her life in many ways, both good and bad. The real miracle is the way McQuerry intertwines here medical mysteries, the story of an adopted middle-aged man, and both Elaine's and Molly's younger siblings' fascination with birds and wings. This elegant historical fiction will appeal to thoughtful readers, who, like Molly, are intrigued by the way the past and present connect.