All families in the text have secrets: Some are buried to protect the guilty, and some are lost to time and family folklore. Sara’s journey to Sicily, which initially is planned as a quick trip to fulfill Rosie’s wishes, evolves into unearthing a time capsule of buried family secrets. The journey brings waves of unexpected experiences and emotions; the more Sara learns about the mystery, the more she becomes invested in finding the truth. Sara grew up knowing her ancestor Serafina as an almost mythological character. Serafina’s fate remained concealed for generations, creating a festering wound in the family history and the town’s folklore. By embarking on a quest to uncover the truth, Sara seeks knowledge and a sense of closure for her family but also unexpectedly finds healing within herself. Rosie states in her letter, “That’s what people do when they’re close to death. They try to learn more about the people they’re gonna meet on the other side” (14). Discovering the truth about Serafina’s silenced voice allows Sara to reclaim a lost part of her heritage and connect with a sense of resilience that transcends generations.

Sara has inherited much of what she knows about her family from previous generations.