Edith was committed to an asylum as a 5yr old for distressing her parents by talking about her other life when she was a "big girl". Fifteen years later she's one of 2 survivors when her ward is destroyed in a fire. Intrigued? Me, too! Well... the book turns out to have almost as many problems as Edith (see comments below). That said, I happily polished it off in a couple of afternoons.