As a little girl, Rebecca Berlin loved listening to her grandmother, Gemma, tell the fairy tale of Briar Rose. Now, as Gemma lies on her deathbed, a grown-up Rebecca asks her to tell the story one last time. Instead Gemma makes a startling confession that forever changes the fairy tale for Rebecca. Pulling her granddaughter close, Gemma whispers, "I am Briar Rose."

Her family thinks she is delirious. But Rebecca senses Gemma is telling the truth. To prove it, she embarks on a journey from modern-day New York to wartime Poland, to the ruins of a Nazi death camp. What Rebecca discovers there is more than a fairy tale come to life. It is an extraordinary revelation of courage, compassion, and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.