What is truth? What is memory? Do we determine our own truths? Do we choose our memories? Readers will ask themselves: What is my truth and how far will I go to defend it?
People, their oddities and their ordinariness, fascinate Samantha. She is completing her doctorate in neuro-psychology when she takes on the clinical study of Maria, an eighty-eight year old woman with inconsistent personalities and no verifiable past. Samantha has no idea that this patient will ultimately lead her to cheat on the man she loves, question the person she is, and kill in the name of mercy.
The only useful information Samantha receives in Maria?s chart is that she committed herself four years prior after a botched suicide attempt and that she is a seasoned storyteller. Dr. Wilder, Maria?s physician, in conjunction with Samantha?s advisor, allot Samantha three months to determine whether Maria makes up stories in hopes of fabricating a past where none exists, can?t help but create multiple lives for herself, actually believes that she?s experienced all the things she claims, or something yet unimagined. Samantha does diagnose Maria and that diagnosis is far from the only facet of this story that is not what it seems. Maria and Samantha learn to appreciate life and each other in a way that is heartrending, heartwarming and utterly unexpected.
