This is a masterful blend of history, travel and poetic narrative, tracing the author's journeys to some of the most difficult destinations in the world; the Cui Chi Tunnels in Vietnam, Tiananmen Square in China, Hiroshima in Japan, and Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland; First Nations sites such as Mosquito Lake on Moresby Island, Haida Gwaii and Chinlac, and a deserted Carrier village at the confluence of the Stuart and Nechako Rivers, where the Chilcotin massacred the Carrier in 1745. These places where violent eruptions occurred throughout the history of humanity have created deep cracks in the emotional bonds between the people who were there, as well as forever transforming the spirit and essence of the land where the violence occurred. In this first book by Adrienne Fitzpatrick, she struggles with how to speak the unspeakable, and questions what it is that we find so compelling about the places we are drawn to. The answer, she finds, lies in the memories that are stored in the earth. This is an intimate, powerful story in which Place is the main character and we are taken along to bear witness to these sites that still hold the sadness and secrets of the past.