"The Syrian Jewelry Box" shares a journey of transformation from betrayal and loss to forgiveness and love. You see, Ms. Burns was adopted, but she didn’t find out until she was fifteen, and it came as a shock. Her whole life and world were shattered by this discovery. But she prevailed and triumphed over her identity crisis and feelings of betrayal and abandonment. And learned to forgive and love. Her story chronicles an exotic journey through the Middle East and Europe, and serves as a metaphor for her personal journey in overcoming the shock of betrayal by those she trusted the most. Through the power of love you can heal and through that same love you can accept.

On the heels of Ms. Burns’s discovery of a shocking family secret, she and her family pursue her father’s dream; an exotic drive through the Middle East and Europe, which serves as a metaphoric journey for the woman Carina becomes---a silent nomad searching for identity.

A young American growing up in the Middle East, Carina Rourke enjoys a blissful innocence until, at age fifteen, she is captivated by an obsessive desire to peek inside of her mother’s forbidden jewelry box. There, Carina discovers a shocking family secret arising from her clandestine mother's past in post-World War II Germany. On the heels of her discovery, she and her family pursue her father’s dream: an exotic drive through the Middle East and Europe, which serves as a metaphoric journey for the woman Carina becomes—a silent nomad searching for identity. When they reach Paris, Carina is entranced by the city’s temptations. French pastries become a dangerous addiction and an accomplice in silence . . . and so does the love of a mysterious Tunisian. Inspired by her past, The Syrian Jewelry Box: A Daughter's Journey for Truth chronicles a teenage heroine who triumphs over her identity crisis and learns the power of love.