Two Jewish sisters from Vienna are torn from their homeland in 1939, finding refuge in Sweeden. Each with her own foster family, the girls expect to quickly reunite with their parents and flee to America. But as the war intensifies the girls remain, one with a foster mother who is cold and unforgiving. Will they ever see their parents again?

The first book in a quartet featuring the Steiner sisters. The books were bestsellers in Sweden and were adapted into a popular television series.