This memoir tells the story of the author's life in Israel, New Jersey, and San Francisco. In particular, her life in Israel as a young adult was marked by the tragedy of losing her fiance to the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Angela Neff describes the memoir in a short description on the back cover: The pain is so unbearable she has to leave Israel. But no matter where she lives, the love and loss of her life in Israel never leave her. The scent of jasmine is that particular fragrance of the Middle East, of hot summer nights, of streets in various Israeli cities, and symbolizes her journey and her loss. It is also a tale of finding herself as an adolescent, a young woman, a mother, a wife, a writer.