A Best Historical Fiction of Spring Pick by Amazon, PopSugar, AARP, and BookBub! A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the terrible injustice that tears them apart, by the USA Today bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things and The Last Year of the War .   California, 1938— When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser’s daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calvert’s spacious house with a secret, however—Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she’d never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place that seeks to forcibly take her baby – and the chance for any future babies – from her. Austria, 1947— After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitler’s brutal pursuit of hereditary purity—especially with regard to “different children”—Helen Calvert, Truman’s sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother’s peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser’s daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers a shocking American eugenics program—and learns that that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home. Praise for Only the Beautiful “ Only the Beautiful is an emotional journey of grief, hope, and second chances… Meissner pulls no punches in comparing America’s treatment of people with disabilities with the Nazis’ actions a few years later, leaving the reader with the emphatic message that everyone has a moral obligation to speak out against governments doing horrible things. This one resonates.” – Historical Novels Review “ Susan Meissner is a master of the genre…[ Only the Beautiful ] is set in 1930s California and explores our country’s brief but troubling fascination with eugenics via the story of Helen.” – San Diego Union-Tribute " Uncovers the horrors of eugenics movements through the stories of two women in 20th-century America.” - PopSugar “ The lives of two women intersect in this powerful tale about the love between mothers and daughters.” – BookBub “ Meissner delivers a nuanced and heartbreaking tale; expect to read through tear-filled eyes as the story concludes.” –Library Journal (starred review) “ Meissner unfurls an emotionally rich narrative… Readers will be riveted.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review) “ Richly drawn characters and heartbreaking, historically accurate situations combine to make a powerful reading experience.” –Booklist Susan Meissner is a former managing editor of a weekly newspaper and an award-winning columnist. She is the USA Today best selling author of The Nature of Fragile Things, The Last Year of the War, As Bright As Heaven, A Bridge Across the Ocean, Secrets of a Charmed Life, A Fall of Marigolds , and Stars over Sunset Boulevard, among other novels. 1 Sonoma County, California February 1939 The chardonnay vines outside my open window are silent, but I still see in my mind the bursts of teal and lavender their summer rustlings always called to my mind. That sound had been my favorite, those colors the prettiest. The leafless stocks with their arms outstretched on cordon after cordon look like lines of dancers waiting for the music to start—­for spring to set their performance in motion. Looking at them, I feel a deep sadness. It might be a long time before I see again these vines that had for so long been under my father’s care, or hear their leaves whisper, spilling the colors in my mind that belong to them alone. Perhaps I will never see this vineyard again. The Calverts won’t welcome a future visit from me. Celine Calvert has already made it clear that after today she is done with me. Done. For a moment the words if only flutter in my head, but I lean forward and pull the window shut. What is to be gained by wishing I could turn back the clock? If I had that power, I would have done it before now. I wouldn’t even be living with the Calverts if I had the ability to spin time backward. I’d still be living in the vinedresser’s cottage down the hill with my parents and little brother. The doorbell rings from beyond the bedroom. Shards of heather gray prick at the edges of my mind. I hear Celine cross the entry to open the front door and invite the visitor inside. Mrs. Grissom is here to take me away. It’s almost a year to the