A riveting dual narrative of love, loss, and identity, centering on two children separated by decades, who, bound by a secret, find themselves locked away in the same attic years apart. EARLY 1900s: Taken from his homeland, twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of the time locked away in the attic of a large house by the sea. The only time Celestine isn't bound by the confines of the small space is when he is acting as an unpaid servant to English explorer Sir Richard Babbington. As the years pass, he desperately clings to memories of his family in Africa, even as he struggles to remember his mother's face, and sometimes his real name ... 1974: Lowra, a young orphan girl born into wealth and privilege, finds herself trapped in the same attic. Searching for a ray of light in the darkness of the attic, Lowra finds a message carved on the wall, written in an unidentifiable language, and under the floorboards an old-fash-ioned pen, a porcelain doll, and a beaded neck-lace. Providing comfort for her when all hope is lost, these clues will lead her to uncover the secrets of the attic.