Since she adopted him as a puppy 15 years earlier, Jenna Blum and Woodrow have been inseparable. Known to many as “the George Clooney of dogs” for his good looks and charm, Woodrow and his “Mommoo” are fixtures in their Boston neighborhood. But Woodrow is aging. As he begins to fail, the true nature of his extraordinary relationship with Jenna is revealed. Jenna may be the dog parent, but it is Woodrow, with his amazing personality and trusting nature, who has much to teach her. A divorcée who has experienced her share of sadness and loss, Jenna discovers, over the months she spends caring for her ailing dog, what it is to be present in the moment, and what it truly means to love.

Peter Rashkin, the owner of Masha’s and its head chef, is a survivor of Auschwitz. Running the restaurant consumes him, as does his terrible guilt over surviving the horrors of the Nazi death camp while his wife, Masha, and two young daughters perished. Then June Bouquet, an up-and-coming young model, appears at the restaurant, piercing Peter’s guard. Though she is 20 years his junior, the two begin a passionate, whirlwind courtship. When June unexpectedly becomes pregnant, Peter proposes. But over the next 20 years, the indelible sadness of his horrific memories of the past will overshadow Peter, June and their daughter Elsbeth, transforming them in shocking, heartbreaking and unexpected ways.