Katherine Dimancescu’s debut narrative offers readers a window into the lives of some of her well-known and also little known maternal ancestors who helped shape the New England communities they called home. Her narrative shares unexpected discoveries that arose when researching her colonial American roots. These discoveries included slave-owning ancestors in New England, 17th and 18th century diary keepers whose original diaries are intact in archives, persecuted Quakers including Mary Dyer (wife and mother of six children) who was hanged on Boston Common in 1660, an ancestor accused of manslaughter, and another forced to wear a scarlet “D”. She hopes to inspire her readers to rediscover and appreciate often overlooked chapters of New England’s rich colonial history and to enjoy researching their own family roots.