A #1 New York Times Bestselling Author A Newbery Medal-Winning Author A Norendy Tale (Book 2) At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta's mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly , invisibly. While her mother cleans rooms, Marta slips down the back staircase to the grand lobby to chat with the bellman, study the painting of an angel's wing over the fireplace, and watch a cat chase a mouse, all the while dreaming of the return of her soldier father, who has gone missing. One day, a mysterious countess checks in, promising a story -- in fact, seven stories, each to be told in its proper order. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father's disappearance lie in the countess's tales?.