Japan, 1957. To strengthen the family business, the father is going to marry seventeen-year-old Naoko Nakamura to the son of a business partner, but the girl’s heart forever belongs to another. When it turns out that Naoko wants to connect her life with a despicable gaijin - a foreigner, an American sailor, and even carries his child, the parents expel their daughter from the family. Naoko has to make a difficult choice, and its consequences will affect the fate of several generations. America, present day. After burying her father, Tori Kovacs finds a letter in his papers with a shocking confession that erases everything she knows about him and her family. Wanting to find out the truth, Tori sets off on a long journey - to a remote seaside village in Japan, where she will have to confront the demons of the past .This novel is a poignant story of love and fortitude, confrontation with ruthless traditions and public opinion, the bitterness of loss and hope for happiness.v 1.1 - Japanese characters have been added in chapter 22