In the House of Orphans lives a young woman whose only identity is the number 29. She dreams of becoming one of the Chosen. Those who are Chosen from birth are given names and inherit homes in the Land of the Desired. But Orphans have been rejected or abandoned, and only on Adoption Day, which happens annually, do they have the chance to gain names of their own. When the day arrives and 29 is once more passed over, she faces an uncertain future. She'll be eighteen soon-too old for adoption. Her only option will be to live in the Valley of the Solitary, a dark place filled with numbers and faces, not names and family. But then she receives a shock: someone sends a letter addressed specifically to her, complete with a map. She soon finds herself on an unexpected journey on the Path of the Unknown, facing struggles and hardship. But what she discovers about herself leads her to a future she could never have imagined. This novel tells the story of an orphaned young woman who sets out to learn the truth about her past and what that entails for her future.