The hidden life of Cecily Larson : a novel
(Book)

In a small town in Minnesota in 2015, Cecily Larson, 94, breaks her hip and, confined to a hospital bed, realizes time may be running out to share the secret she's kept for her entire life, which stems from her childhood. At age seven, Cecily was taken from a Chicago orphanage to be trained as a bareback rider in a traveling circus. Baker makes clear that the secret, which is revealed to the reader later on, will impact Cecily's widowed daughter Liz, her divorced granddaughter Molly, and her teenage grandson Caden, who has just started a research project on his family's DNA. At the same time in Florida and North Carolina, members of another branch of the Larson family are wondering about their own mysterious family history and start taking DNA tests.