In her most powerful novel yet, Jodi Picoult asks how history can shape us and whether the past sins can ever be forgiven.

Sage Singer is a young woman who has been damaged by her past. Her solitary night work as a baker allows her to hide from the world and focus her creative energies on the beautiful bread she bakes.

Yet she finds herself striking up an unlikely friendship. Josef Weber is a quiet, grandfatherly man, well-respected in the community; everyone's favorite retired teacher and Little League coach.

One day he asks Sage for a favor: to kill him. Shocked, Sage refuses.

Then Josef tells her that he deserves to die - and why.

What do you do when evil lives next door? Can someone who's committed horrendous acts ever truly reckon themselves? Is forgiveness yours to offer if you aren't the person who was wronged? And most of all - if Sage even considers his request - would it be murder, or justice?