Maureen Sherry graduated with a BS from Cornell University and worked on Wall Street for twelve years. She went on to receive an MFA from Columbia University in nonfiction writing. Several years ago, she and her family moved into a historic apartment, where she found herself wondering about the family living there before them. She added to the history of the apartment by embedding, with the help of an architect, a mystery that would eventually be solved by her children. The apartment and her four children are the real-world inspiration for this book.