War, revolution and war again. This is the background against which Nina grows up, fleeing her homeland, Latvia, on three separate occasions. With family members tragically caught up in one or other of the terrible conflicts, Nina is thrown between helplessness and a need for normality, or, at least, some kind of control. Although she is surrounded by much hate and violence, there is also love, and she never relinquishes her belief that most people are essentially good.