This is the story of one family's struggle to survive World War I. Otto and Hedwig Kruger have three children: August, Elsa, and Hannah, who has just turned sixteen. Otto is a successful taxi driver in the city of Dusseldorf, Germany. Hedwig runs her home with love and an iron hand. August is a history professor in a local university. Hannah is still in school. Our story opens on a beautiful July day in the summer of 1914. Elsa and her husband Georg, who immigrated to America four years earlier, have returned home for a long anticipated vacation. The primary purpose of the trip is to introduce their six-month-old son, Gus, to his family. Elsa and Georg have applied for American citizenship but must live in the United States for one more year before becoming citizens. They are traveling on German passports. This is not a story of war itself, but rather of the ravages that war inflicts on society. We see how civilians deal with starvation, deprivation, the prejudice against women when they are forced into the workforce and with injury and death. We grieve with wives and mothers who have lost their husbands and sons to battle. We understand how older men grieve because they feel helpless to further the war effort. This is a story of a family who love each other, the secrets they keep from one another and the sacrifice that all must make. It is a story of survival and ultimate triumph."