First I will thank Bookish for the opportunity to read this story. It's a memoire of a Jewish German woman, Elsa as she leaves Germany to go to Italy in the early Nazi uprising years. It's the story of what life was like for her and her husband, Paul, in Italy and making Italy their home. Then Hitler starts his domination and Elsa and Paul feel they need to flee the country and try to get to America where their children have gone before them. The story does get repetitive and somewhat dragging but there are a couple of lines that make this a memoire to pass on as it's based on the author's grandmother's story. The first line I liked was her saying, "The next generations have their lives to live, and my only advice is: the sooner they begin the better. It is all right to be a little selfish. From my perspective, the good years should be enjoyed. Life passes in the blink of an eye." The experiences Elsa and Paul went through to live a life were sometimes very trying and scary...other times very peaceful and content. The other quote I liked was the end of the book. She would relate life as moving from a dot-to-dot creating a picture of her life. "Fate has a way of connecting the dots, an invisible hand that guides from one to the next, sometimes gently, sometimes forcibly, but always watching, always there. I have always prayed for the invisible hand. Fate is what connected me to you." This was a nice story and had a perspective of world events that was worth the read.