The Innocuous Smile

Some loves cross oceans. Others cross time. In 1990s Istanbul, Leiza uncovers a hidden chest of poems-achingly beautiful verses of love and loss. Her search for the author leads her into the heart of a century-old love story that spans from the cliffs of the Grand Canyon to the oceans of the First World War.

In 1916 South Carolina, 15-year-old Anna loses her dearest friend. Grief-stricken and falling into depression her family make the heart felt decision to send her away to live with her aunt-a nun-on the majestic cliffs of Arizona. There, amid canyons and quietude, she meets Emmanuel: a young man from Chicago escaping from the looming war.

Their connection is immediate, spiritual-eternal.

But war, distance, and fate have other plans. Torn apart by circumstance, Anna and Emmanuel's story unfolds through poems, letters, and memories with haunting echoes of longing.

The Innocuous Smile is a lyrical, time-slip novel of soulmates, possible reincarnation, grief, and enduring love-where each chapter pulls at the heart and each poem reveals a truth deeper than memory.

This is a story to be felt in the heart, long after the final page is turned.

Love doesn't die. It remembers.