What if someone disappeared from your life without giving any explanations? What if you were barely eight when this happened? And what if the person who vanished was your mother? Anastasia moved to England and got married to Peter far away from her native country, Russia, escaping a life of abuse and poverty. One day, she finds an old recipes notebook which belonged to her mother: the discovery takes her back with vivid clarity to the day her mother disappeared when Anastasia was not even eight yet. How can she move on with her life without knowing what happened almost twenty years earlier? The red notebook holds the key to the mystery which shaped her life and she has to face up to the past to find out what happened to her mother. She has to go back to Russia, her country, where she had to fend for herself most of her young life. Her quest is far from straightforward and not without its dangers, and will take her to the limits of her strength and determination. What she will find will change her forever. What does not kill you makes you stronger. This book has been inspired by my love for Russia and by my general admiration for human beings' resilience when they find themselves in extreme situations.