Excerpt from What Is Visible by Kimberly Elkins, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Choose." I tap Helen's hand.

"Still thinking."

What a serious one! The firmness of her fingers marks her as quite unlike other children I have known; she seems more like an adult in her faculties.

"Tell me," she writes. "Tell me about you."

My story? Everything? Heaven knows there are parts not suitable for a child. But maybe I could try, invoking the voices of others to join in, since much of the last fifty years is still a mystery to me. I fear this is my last season, so I will try. Yes. For Helen.

From the book What Is Visible: A Novel. Copyright (c) 2014 by Kimberly Elkins. Reprinted by permission of Twelve/Hachette Book Group, New York, NY. All rights reserved.