MARIA (Hardcover)

1981, Paris. Eight-year-old Maria Alice knows the walls of La Maison Eugène Napoléon orphanage are not just high—they are unforgiving. Abandoned as an infant, her life is a cycle of fear, culminating in the annual adoption assessment that snatches her best friend, leaving Maria utterly alone. But fate offers a small, furry salvation: Andrey, a terrified puppy rescued from a drain. Their bond, a secret pact of fierce, unconditional loyalty, becomes Maria's lifeline against the orphanage’s cruel indifference. Years of quiet resilience buy her a new life, only for it to be devastated by a shocking deathbed confession. Sister Catherine Flora, the dying nun, reveals a shattering truth: she is Maria's birth mother. A heart-wrenching, yet ultimately uplifting, epic of resilience, sacrifice, and the profound, life-altering loyalty between a girl and her dog, Maria is a powerful testament to finding your true family not in blood, but in the unwavering hearts you save.