Robert Sinclair and his wife, May, move to New York City's Gramercy Park area at the height of the Great Depression. Robert is a playwright, May an aspiring actress. As Robert attempts to begin his career and to keep the love of his glamorous wife, he also struggles to overcome the insomnia that plagues him--though, paradoxically, it's on his solo night walks around the city that his best ideas come to him. But finally, desperate for a good night's sleep, he consults Mrs. Amalfi, the Sleep Specialist, who has her own mysterious past. As a background to these characters' stories is the...

A HIGHLY UNUSUAL APPROACH TO A GENEALOGICAL MYSTERY In April 1910, a young woman named Inez Willick gave birth to a baby girl, put her up for adoption, and disappeared. When Inez's granddaughter began the search for her mother's mother, she didn't have much more than a name. But, as happens so often in genealogical research, she stumbled into an overwhelming bounty of information. Among her discoveries were another secret child, a close tie to one of America's titans of industry, and a second cousin in California with a cache of family photos. What remained elusive was a definitive answer to...