I looked at the photos one by one, taking in details, arranging and rearranging them, shuffling and stacking different ones, as if I were giving myself a tarot reading that I didn’t like the answers to. One photo in particular stood out because I saw new details every time it showed up in the various spreads I’d made on the kitchen table.

It was a young woman with long hair in a thick braid slung over one shoulder. I’m no fashionista - historical or otherwise - but it loo...