Watermark: The truth beneath the surface

Forensic Librarian Dr. Vela Ostofvold, profiles rare books. Through the study of ephemera, inscriptions and notations left by each reader, another story beyond print accumulates.

In her quest to find a Glossographia, a dictionary published in 1656, she discovers Persolino’s Rare Bookstore. The owner’s daughter Amelia soon becomes a friend and an emotional bodyguard; challenging Vela’s belief that she is responsible for her father’s absence.

Vela finds a cache of letters written from India. Interwoven in the exotic travelogue of Maharajas and fire dancers in the desert she finds clues to solving the mystery of her paternity.