A Novel of Family Secrets, Hidden Art, and the Power of Memory

In the shadowy corners of a crumbling New Orleans house, art conservator Sofia Delacroix makes a discovery that will unravel everything she thought she knew about her family. When her enigmatic Romanian grandmother Elena dies, leaving Sofia an inheritance she never expected, Sofia finds more than just peeling wallpaper and faded memories—she uncovers a secret attic studio containing forty-seven breathtaking paintings that Elena created but never showed to anyone.

These aren't just artworks—they're visual love letters spanning decades, chronicling the life Elena was forced to abandon when she fled Communist Romania in 1947. Through Elena's hidden canvases, Sofia discovers the existence of Anca, the daughter Elena left behind and never stopped painting, never stopped loving, never stopped trying to bring to America.

But this revelation threatens to shatter the carefully constructed life Sofia's mother Margaret has built on forgetting their Romanian past. As Sofia delves deeper into Elena's secret correspondence and travels to Bucharest to find the aunt she never knew existed, she must navigate a family minefield of guilt, trauma, and the weight of unspoken histories.

The Art of Letting Go is a luminous exploration of how trauma travels through generations and how families cope with loss in profoundly different ways. At its heart lies a fundamental question: Is bringing hidden family together worth destroying the peace that comes from forgetting the past?