"A glorious, life-affirming story. I read it in a day. I''m going to buy it for so many people this year!" --Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of Let Me Lie

A heartwarming story about a curmudgeonly but charming old woman, her estranged grandson, and a colony of penguins that proves it''s never too late to be the person you want to be...and that family is what you make it.

After a disastrous first meeting with the grandson she never knew she had, eighty-four-year-old Veronica McCreedy wants to find a worthwhile cause to endow with her millions. Although she has health, wealth, and wit, Veronica has been alone for a long time, her only connection to her past a box of diaries from when she was a teenager during WWII...and a locket filled with a strand of hair from every person she has ever loved and lost.

After learning about a research team studying endangered penguins in Antarctica, Veronica tells the scientists she''s coming for a visit--and won''t take no for an answer. Despite a discouraging first experience (a penguin attacks her favourite designer handbag), Veronica warms to the birds. She even convinces the team to rescue an orphaned baby penguin who swiftly becomes part of life at the base. Veronica''s closed heart starts to open.

But when she becomes ill, her grandson Patrick comes to Antarctica for one last attempt to get to know his grandmother. Together, Veronica and Patrick--and even the scientists--begin to really learn what family, love, and connection are truly all about.