At first, when beginning this book, I thought it to be rather depressing. But I pressed on as it is the "All Iowa Reads" selection for this year. As you get deeper into the story, you become more engrossed in the lives of this family.
Beginning with the disappearance of the two youngest girls, you realize this is a family that experiences it's share of hardships. Two individuals from Germany begin a new life in America, joining their lives to start a new life and raise a family. Taking place after WWI, this family of German descent is treated with suspicion by their neighbors and the local townspeople. You experience the story of the two lost girls from five different viewpoints; the oldest sister, the father, the brother who came back from the Great War, the older lost sister, and the youngest lost sister. I especially found the part about the factory, and the difficulties of working there, in Chicago intriguing. It is very interesting how the family moves forward and form varying degrees of closeness to each other because of the different tragedies they have endured. I thought it was totally unfair that the youngest sister was thought to be dead when at least two members of the family knew she was alive. This would be a great book for a discussion group.
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