Setting a deeply personal story against the tragic sweep of European history, this is at once a touching love story, an unforgettable account of the minutiae of day-to-day wartime existence, and a tribute to the survival power of the human spirit in the darkest of circumstances. It is the story of Ilse, a German-speaking Jew born between the wars in the Sudetenland. The emotional heart of the book resides in her love for her family - both her younger sister, whom she protects and cares for in person, and her parents, whom she attempts to free from persecution in Europe - and for Fred Tisch, the celebrated songwriter with whom she falls in love.