Shortly after his mother dies of breast cancer, Michael Blumenthal discovers that she was not his biological mother. As fate would have it, his adoptive father, a German-Jewish refugee raised by a loveless and embittered stepmother, has inflicted on his stepson a fate uncannily similar to his own. With these revelations, the "mysteries" that seem to have permeated Michael's childhood are laid bare, triggering a quest for belonging that will infiltrate the author's entire adult life.