How heavy is the burden of a secret? A sweeping, sensitively told family novel about life choices that can tear us apart—or bind us together forever. Enna and Jale live in the Elbe marshes. They live to the rhythm of the tides, observe cormorants and oystercatchers—and count the days until their mother, Alea, is released from prison. But when the day finally arrives, not only does Alea vanish without a trace, but so does Jale. Determined, Enna scours the Altes Land region in search of them, unaware that this journey will change her forever.