“Reviews Elin is somewhat older than me, but the fateful events of the 20th century European history have marked us as belonging to the same generation. We are wartime children, the war and the totalitarian terror are in us, in our memories. Elin writes about us, but also to us, writes our story, the story of a childhood partly spent in bomb shelters, fleeing from place to place, finding refuge in houses of friendly strangers. It's a story of helplessness and despair, but also a story of obstinate determination to survive and to preserve what is perhaps the most valuable the memory, be it written as Grandfather's papers or unwritten, as the experiences of a child thrown into the tragic turbulence of the war and state terror. --Jaan Kaplinski Estonian poet, philosopher, and culture critic. This book by Elin Toona Gottschalk is not just her family's saga. She writes touchingly and intimately about our country Estonia and the fate of its people during a time of difficult and complicated choices. This was a painful period in Europe when people had to flee hostile foreign powers that occupied their homelands. She describes how hard it was for her family to begin a new life far from home with only the knowledge and skills that they had brought with them. They realized that they had to survive these trying times and to maintain their confidence in the future. This family's story is also the story of Europe before the end of the war and the difficult years that followed. A movingly written and empathetic book inspiring hope. --Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of the Republic of Estonia A richly detailed, unsentimental memoir of a schoolgirl, torn from home and thrust into the brutal and cynical vortex of World War II, in a time when love, hope, and motherland seemed like childish illusions. --Priit J. Vesilind, former senior writer, National Geographic About the Author Elin Toona Gottschalk comes from a distinguished family. Her grandfather was the highly respected poet Ernst Enno, and her mother and father both were well-known actors in pre-World War II Estonia. Following a short stint in acting, she turned to writing and has had a successful literary career which includes many prizes. The President of the Republic of Estonia honored her with a medal, White Star V Class, for literary services to Estonia while it was occupied by the Soviets.”

—