Abandoned as a baby, Annika is found and adopted by Ellie and Sigrid, 聽cook and housemaid for three professors. Growing up in 聽early-20th-century Vienna, she learns to cook and clean and is perfectly 聽happy until a beautiful aristocrat appears and claims to be her mother, 聽sweeping her off to a new life in a crumbling castle in northern 聽Germany. Annika is determined to make the best of things, and it takes a 聽while for her to realize that her new "family" has many secrets, most 聽of them nasty.With the help of Ellie, Sigrid, the professors, and 聽friends old and new, Annika escapes from a ghastly fate and learns to 聽face the truth about her relatives.

Winding like a braid through this 聽story is a mystery involving a chest of worn costumes and junk jewelry 聽left to Annika by an old woman she has befriended. This is a rich saga 聽in the tradition of Frances Hodgson Burnett, full of stalwart friends, 聽sly villains, a brave heroine, and good triumphing over evil. Annika's 聽determination to do the right thing is both laudable and utterly 聽frustrating, especially when readers realize that her loyalty is 聽misplaced. Almost every character is distinct, but the ones that stand 聽out are the "regular folk," individuals whose sense of decency propels 聽them into amazing acts of courage. Vienna itself is colorfully 聽portrayed, brimming with pastries, coffee, and dancing Lipizzaner 聽horses.