A young woman discovers a delicious cache of heirlooms in an abandoned safe deposit box: bundles of handwritten letters, photographs, expired passports, both American and Italian, and twenty-two leather boxes, each holding a priceless piece of jewelry. Drawn to the mysterious woman in the photographs, Jane digs deeper into the woman's luxurious, golden life and the older, dashing man who occupies her pictures and letters. The details are both glamorous...

In this story based on true events, a treasured wooden chair is passed down from family to family, with each new owner carving the word "welcome" in a new language.