This novel is based on the story of the author's brother and sister-in-law, who emigrated from the Ukrainian/Romanian border area, during World War II. In this tale of survival during wartime. Nick Hrab had just begun milking his family cow one morning when the invading Russian army sends him racing beneath a hailstorm of bullets. With half their family and half their village murdered, the Hrab family fights with the underground resistance for a short time before seeking shelter in Germany. Meanwhile, Hilda, the daughter of a locomotive engineer, is growing up on the sheltered island of Lindau, Germany, directly below the Swiss, German and Italian Alps. After her father is sent to Paris, she and her mother live in Munich, for a time, but the bombing is so heavy they must return to Lindau for safety, only to be caught up in the vengeance of their French and Turkish captors. After a night of Christmas dancing, where Nick and Hilda fall in love, they decide to go to America. Having given up everything for love, Hilda embraces the challenges of leaving everything behind to start a new life in America, while her mother-in-law secretly seeks to destroy her reputation and friendships abroad.