In the wise and beautiful second collection of literary short stories from the acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Light We Cannot See, and Cloud Cuckoo Land, 'Doerr writes about the big questions, the imponderables, the major metaphysical dreads, and he does it fearlessly' (The New York Times Book Review). Set on four continents, Anthony Doerr's new stories are about memory and memory loss, the source of meaning and coherence in our lives, the fragile thread that connects us to ourselves and to others. Every hour, says Doerr, all over the globe, an infinite number of memories disappear. Yet at the same time children, surveying territory that is entirely new to them, push back the darkness, form fresh memories, and remake the world. In the luminous and beautiful title story, a young boy in South Africa comes to possess an old woman's secret, a piece of the past with the power to redeem a life. In 'The River Nemunas,' a teenage orphan moves