“When her family’s apartment in Vienna is bombed, Christel Goth and her family lose everything. They are offered the use of a summer villa in the suburbs, ...”
“They walk there in just the clothes they stand up in. The war is ending, and there is a precarious existence eking out food stores, and anticipating horrors from the oncoming Russian army.”
“But when they come, the worst the soldiers do is get drunk and fire their guns. It’s a tense time, and Christel’s active curiosity leads her into all sorts of dangerous places.”
“But a chance offer saves her family. They move to the safety of a wealthy suburb, camping out amongst the chandeliers and family portraits of someone else’s house.”
“Living on the edge of the city in an undamaged house that was taken over by a Russian Major and his staff, the narrator and her family are somewhat protected.”